After a week off for all the teams of the PLL, it’s back in action this weekend. The teams will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where every team will be in action for the first neutral site games of the season. Action for Week 4 of the PLL will be found on ESPN+ Friday night and Saturday evening. Let’s take a look at every Week 4 game with the Premier Lacrosse League picks and best bets.
PLL: Updated 2024 Premier Lacrosse League Championship Odds and Best Bets
PLL: Premier Lacrosse League Picks and Best Bets for Week 4
New York Atlas (-2.5) vs Maryland Whipsnakes (+2.5)
Friday night at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, the only undefeated team in the Atlas takes on a Whipsnakes team they beat 17-13 in Week 1 at home. That was the second game of the weekend for the Atlas, who have now won all four games by at least three points.
The Atlas are the current league champion favorites and are led by MVP front-runner Jeff Teat (-450). The Atlas offense has been elite through three weeks.
The Whipsnakes followed up their Week 1 loss with another loss against the Boston Cannons in Week 2. Week 3 brought them the struggling Philadelphia Waterdogs.
The Waterdogs took them to overtime, but Maryland finally came out ahead for their first victory of the season. The Whipsnakes seemingly have so much potential, which we’ve seen over the last few seasons, but they haven’t lived up to it this season.
In their first matchup of the year, the Atlas easily won by four points. They still haven’t won a game by less than three points. I don’t see any reason that starts this weekend. Expect Jeff Teat and this Atlas offense to be firing on all cylinders after the bye week.
Pick: Atlas -2.5 (+105)
Boston Cannons (-1.5) vs Utah Archers (+1.5)
The Friday night cap at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+ features the only two teams that enter Week 4 with 2-1 records. The Boston Cannons are second in the Eastern Conference to the Atlas.
This will be the first meeting of these teams in 2024. The Cannons were the first victims of the Atlas in Week 1 and have won their next two games, but not convincingly. Boston’s offense has been impressive, but their defense needs some work.
The Archers are atop the Western Conference standings heading into Week 4. They started the season with a nail-biting win against the Waterdogs, and then in Week 2, #1 overall pick Brennan O’Neill went nuclear on them late in the game to give them their first loss.
They followed that up with a low-scoring win over the Chaos in Week 3. 2021 PLL defender of the year Graeme Hossack returns to the lineup this week, which should give a huge boost to an already tough defense.
This game seems like a true toss-up, so much so that depending on the book you look at, either team is favored. Neither team has quite lived up to their true potential so far this season, but the Archers have impressed me just a little more. Head over to FanDuel, where you’ll find the Archers as the underdog.
Pick: Archers +1.5 (-122)
California Redwoods (+1.5) vs Denver Outlaws (-1.5)
This one kicks off the Saturday games. It’ll be the only ESPN2 game of the week at 6:00 p.m. ET. Each of these teams has only played twice. The Outlaws enter the game with a record of 1-1.
After a week one throbbing by the Chaos, #1 overall draft pick Brennan O’Neill showed up big time at the end of their game vs a tough archers team. If that’s the O’Neill we see the rest of the season, these Outlaws could be good fast.
The Redwoods are 0-2 after losing a close one to the Chaos in Week 2. In Week 3, they got a tough draw, taking on the unbeaten Atlas. They lost that game 20-15.
The Redwoods defense could easily be the worst in the league, and their offense doesn’t look much better. Could be a long year for Redwood fans.
Give me the Outlaws here. They are going to have some bumps in the road against better teams, but the young superstars should shine against this Redwood defense.
Pick: Outlaws -1.5 (+115)
Philadelphia Waterdogs (-1.5) vs Carolina Chaos (+1.5)
The weekend caps off at 8:30 p.m. ET back on ESPN+. Despite being winless, the Philadelphia Waterdogs enter this game as the favorites. All three Waterdogs games have been lost by a single point each. Two of the three have gone to overtime. The biggest question still remains their faceoff game.
The Chaos come in 2-2, with their two wins being over the teams ranked in most power rankings as the bottom two teams in the Redwoods and Outlaws. Carolina’s defense has been top-notch thus far, but missing a few stars has hurt the team.
This is Philadelphia’s chance to right the ship. This team is three points away from being on the 3-0 side of things and us telling a whole different story. I’m riding with the dogs again this week.
Pick: Waterdogs -1.5 (+114)