Who will climb back up to .500?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the WTNE and Band Aids are undefeated. Whoopie for them. They’ll never lose again and they can start printing playoff tickets in September. What a boring story.

Travis Kelce (his mom is at left) scored a TD when Taylor Swift came to watch him play. Thumbs up that he'll have a repeat performance if she shows up again.

The more interesting storyline heading in to Week 4 of the JSFL is what happens to the six teams at or below .500. Do they find the spark that turns the season around? Or, are they just counting down the days to the 2024 Fire Sale and start worrying more about their fantasy hockey team? Or, worse yet, their 2024 fantasy baseball team(s)?

Those six – the Packers, Invaiders, Tirades, Spread Beaters, Gerbils and Rangers – face unique challenges this week. And four of them – the Gerbils and Rangers and the Packers and Spread Beaters – face each other in what might be the a way-to-early “make-or-break game of the season.”

But, you know us pundits like to make mountains out of mole hills. The other two – the Invaiders and Tirades – draw the two unbeaten teams and would love nothing better than to hang a one in the loss column. The Invaiders draw WTFN and the Tirades draw the Band Aids.

Only the Gerbils are winless. The other five are all at 1-2 as the Thursday night matchup between Green Bay and Detroit kicks off.

The final game on the slate features two 2-1 teams (the Recliners and Blazing Saddles).

One scheduling note: There is only one Monday night game this week (the Seahawks at the Giants), but there is an early start Sunday as the Jaguars and Falcons kick off across the pond at Wembley Stadium in London at 6:30 a.m.

Game of the Week

Recliners vs. Blazing Saddles, Recliners are 11-point favorites: This is the only battle of teams above .500 this week. Just think about that for a second. These two. Above .500. And one in particular, the Blazing Saddles, ESPN pegged to start dismantling before October dawned. Yeah, It has been a long and strange road we have been on over the past two weeks. And, once again, the Saddles come in a huge dogs. And, in the last two weeks, Blazye found a way to take advantage of low scores by opponents to post two straight wins. This one is shaping up the same way. Chris’ Recliners come in heavily favored by the three running backs (Tony Pollard, Zack Moss and Aaron Jones, one being his flex) and at tight end (Travis Kelce). Blayze has the edge at one of the WRs (DK Metcalf) and on defense. If Tay-Tay is at Metlife Stadium cheering on Kelce again, this one is over early. We will keep betting against the Saddles until we are broke. Take the Recliners and 5.

Best of the Rest

Packers vs. Spread Beaters, Beaters favored by 5: Anyone think there might be several side bets on this one? Pringle has the scoring edge at several positions (both running backs, Derrick Henry and D’Andre Swift, and both wide receivers, Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown). The Achilles Heel of the Beaters might be at QB as he plans to roll with Justin Fields again, but this time he draws the Denver Broncos defense that coughed up 70 points to Miami last week. Jeff will find a way to keep this one close. No one bets against the Pack. Take the Pack and 1.

WTNF vs. Invaiders, WTNE favored by 4: Why not just crown Jordan the champion? Because as goes Justin Herbert and Christian McCaffrey, so go the WTNEs and neither has faltered yet. Both are expected to put up big numbers once again and Jordan may not need much else. There is no reason to think this team won’t extend is unbeaten streak. After both Aaron Rogers and Saquon Barkley went down, the Invaiders have been looking for any starter to score touchdowns. None have the past two weeks and Vern has steamed as huge stockpiles of points have rotted on the bench. Take WTNE and 10.

Tirades vs. Band Aids, Band Aids favored by 8: If I were a betting man, I would think Bob Garcia has a heck of chance to go 4-0 this week. He is heavily favored at nearly every position (QB Patrick Mahomes and RBs Bijan Robinson and Kenneth Walker III). The only edge the Tirades have are with the 49ers receivers (Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk), defense (Philadephia, yay, defense!) and at kicker. This one has all the makings of a blowout. Take the Band Aids, and 10.

Dog of the Week

Gerbils vs. Rangers, Rangers favored by 1: Do we have to watch this one? Yes, us degenerate gamblers have to watch. And, those of us delighted to see Chuck flaming out and struggling will watch every minute of this one. The Gerbils, despite being a 1-point dog, are favored at most positions. Chuck is hoping Austin Ekeler is back against a soft Las Vegas run defense because James Conner looks to have some tough sledding against the 49ers defense (yay, 49ers!). The Rangers counter with Jalen Hurts, Justin Jefferson and Keenan Allen. He may not need much more than that. Here is to 0-4 for the Gerbils. Rangers by 5.