The NFL, like all major sports organizations, wants sports gamblers to pay an “integrity fee” on their wagers, with anywhere from 1-4% of the bet going to the league. It’s difficult to fathom how the NFL can assert that it deserves to receive the fee to ensure the integrity of the game when it has become quite clear that it doesn’t understand what integrity means. Case in point, this past Sunday’s NFC final matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams.

With under two minutes left in the game, Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis receives a vicious open-field hit from behind by Rams’ cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman. Video of the play has been shown on social media countless times, including by NFL Humor on Twitter. Take a look for yourself if you haven’t already seen it – The shot heard around the world.

There are field judges all over the place and the only way anyone could have missed the penalty is if they were blind. The lack of a yellow flag being thrown has many now saying that there had to have been some type of under-the-table deal within the league afoot – whether at the executive level or the referee level – to prevent the Saints from winning.

The lack of proper officiating – or even subpar officiating – has at least sports gambling expert predicting that the NFL is soon going to be faced with a lawsuit. In a Twitter post, Darren Roven of the Action Network asserts, “Fully expect a class action lawsuit to be filed against the NFL in the next 24 hours as a result of people claiming losses from bad call in Rams-Saints game. Don’t know how convincing the claims will be, but have no doubt they will be made.”

It’s a chalk final four in the NFL playoffs, and in the AFC Championship Game the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs are 3-point favorites over the No. 2 New England Patriots. The winner likely would be a short underdog against either the New Orleans Saints or Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

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Rather amazingly, it’s the first time Kansas City has hosted an AFC title game – not like that franchise hasn’t had success in the past. This also could be an official changing of the guard in terms of the biggest star quarterback in the NFL. That has been the Patriots’ Tom Brady for years, but the 41-year-old could be set to cede that title to 23-year-old Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes.

In his first season as the starter, Mahomes became just the second quarterback ever to have a season in which he threw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. The other was Brady’s former rival, the retired Peyton Manning. Brady has had a 5,000-yard season and a 50-TD season, but never at once. Brady is also a three-time regular-season MVP, an award Mahomes is all but a lock to win the night before the Super Bowl.

No sixth seed has reached or won the Super Bowl since the Green Bay Packers in the 2010 season. No team has repeated as Super Bowl champion since the 2004 New England Patriots. Both streaks will continue because the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles blew a 14-0 lead at the No. 1 New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Round and lost 20-14.

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So, the Saints will host the NFC Championship Game for the second time in franchise history with the No. 2 Los Angeles Rams as visitors on Sunday.

The Saints’ only other trip to this game was following the 2009 season when they beat the visiting Minnesota Vikings in overtime. Drew Brees and company would go on to beat Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts to win the franchise’s only Super Bowl. It’s also just the second Saints-Rams meeting in the playoffs as they met in the Wild Card Round in the 2000 season.

If you like big upsets, well, you might have to wait for the NCAA Tournament’s March Madness to get your fix in a major sporting event. That’s because the NFL‘s conference championship Sunday is completely chalk with the top two seeds in the AFC and NFC facing off. It’s also the first time in the Super Bowl era that the top four offensive teams in the league all made the final four.

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While the numbers have changed from the Divisional Round, the order of favorites to win Super Bowl LIII on the first Sunday of February in Atlanta hasn’t changed. The NFC top-seeded New Orleans Saints are +175 to win the second Super Bowl in franchise history. They would be right at home in Atlanta as they play there once per season against the NFC South rival Falcons.

New Orleans has never lost a home playoff game with Drew Brees as its starting quarterback with the No. 2 seed Los Angeles Rams (+350) heading to the bayou for Sunday’s first game. For a while this season, the Rams were Super Bowl favorites, but that changed when they lost in New Orleans 45-35 in Week 9. Los Angeles had little problem dumping the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round as Sean McVay became the youngest head coach to ever win a playoff game at age 32.

There were seven new teams in the 2018 NFL playoffs compared to last year, but as we head to the Divisional Round there’s just one newbie among Sunday’s two games.

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That new club would be the AFC fifth-seeded Los Angeles Chargers, who visit the No. 2 New England Patriots in Sunday’s first game. The Patriots are just 4-point favorites, which seems a bit low considering how dominant the team has been at home overall and especially in the postseason since Tom Brady took over as quarterback.

New England was the NFL’s only unbeaten team at home this season and has won its past 15 (12-3 ATS) at Gillette Stadium by an average margin of nearly 16 points. Brady is 19-3 at home in his playoff career and has never lost to the Chargers, regular season or playoffs, in seven starts.

Saturday’s Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs will showcase the league’s two best offenses from the regular season in the AFC top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs and NFC No. 2 Los Angeles Rams after both had byes in the first round.

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While the Chiefs are the AFC’s top seed, they aren’t even the hottest team in their own matchup Saturday afternoon against the No. 6 Indianapolis Colts. The Colts started 1-5 and have lost just once since, becoming only the third club ever to reach the postseason after a 1-5 start. The Colts were slight Wild Card dogs at the Houston Texans but largely dominated in a 21-7 victory that showcased the Colts’ vastly improved running game and defense.

Indianapolis also has never lost to Kansas City in four playoff matchups, including rallying from 28 down to win 45-44 in the last postseason meeting following the 2013 season. Oddsmakers don’t care as the Chiefs are 5-point betting favorites. Kansas City is an impossibly bad 1-11 SU and ATS in its past 12 playoff games. The Colts are 3-9 ATS in their past 12 January road games.

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) last May, states across the land are scrambling to get into the sports gambling business. Several states have already passed their own sets of laws to oversee the activity, while several more are expected to introduce legislation this year. Even before the Justices reached a decision, professional sports leagues such as the NFL and NBA were vocalizing their opinion that sports wagers should include an “integrity fee” paid to the leagues in order to allow them to police their games and ensure teams didn’t try to rig the outcome. They have argued that the fee could be anywhere from 1-4%, which could result in millions of dollars more added to their piggy banks. In the case of the NFL, perhaps they need to consider charging the league’s teams the integrity fee – not sportsbooks.

The NFL (and others, but we’re only interested in the NFL right now) has a rule, the Personnel (Injury) Report Policy. Per the policy as it was released in 2017 (in pdf), “The Personnel (Injury) Report Policy has been a cornerstone of public confidence in the NFL for many decades. The credibility of the NFL, teams, owners and team personnel requires full compliance with and uniform enforcement of the policy. The intent is to provide full and complete information on player availability. It is NFL policy that information for dissemination to the public on all injured players be reported in a satisfactory manner by clubs to the league office, the opposing team, local and national media, and broadcast partners each game week of the regular season and postseason.”

That opening structure seems to be cut-and-dry and doesn’t allow for much leeway in its interpretation. It is surprising, then, that the Pittsburgh Steelers overtly lied on a recent injury report, concealing the fact that wide receiver Antonio Brown wasn’t going to miss the game against the Cincinnati Bengals for injuries, but, rather, because of an internal team dispute.

As Mike Florio of NBC Sports points out, “As one league source has observed, ‘overt lying’ on the injury report is a much bigger problem than Brown’s antics, because shenanigans with the injury report speak to competitive issues, about which the league office should be very concerned. It’s unknown whether the league office actually is concerned or will take action; the NFL has not responded to an inquiry from PFT regarding the situation.”

Entering Week 16, just two playoff spots have been clinched in the AFC (no division titles) with three spots up for grabs in the NFC (but just one division crown remaining).

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Two games again on Saturday this week, starting with the Washington Redskins at Tennessee Titans. Both are alive for a wild-card spot and in their respective divisions, although it’s still unlikely either makes the postseason. Tennessee is a 10-point favorite and covered seven of its past nine at home.

In prime time, the Baltimore Ravens visit the Los Angeles Chargers in what could be a wild-card round preview. The Ravens currently hold down the AFC’s final playoff spot, while the Chargers are assured no worse than a wild-card spot but could be the conference’s No. 1 overall seed as well. Los Angeles is a 4.5-point favorite but has covered just two of seven at home this season.

Entering Week 13, a majority of the league still has something to play for this season. That’s because 20 teams are either in the playoffs or within one game of a postseason position. Yet, it’s an interesting week with most games featuring one of those teams still having motivation for 2018 against one playing out the string.

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For example, the Carolina Panthers visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carolina has lost its past three games but is still in the wild-card chase, while Tampa Bay is closing a disappointing season under embattled coach Dirk Koetter. The Panthers have the NFC’s best December record over the past five years at 17-7 and are 3.5-point road favorites on Sunday. Carolina has covered its past five in Tampa, winning four.

The Houston Texans are in control of the AFC South and have become the first team in league history to win eight straight games following an 0-3 start. Could be a bit of a trap game Sunday for the Texans as they are on a short week and hosting the improving Cleveland Browns, who are +6. Houston has failed to cover its past seven December games.