Looking in Rearview Mirror Betting the NFL

The Buffalo Bills have lost three of their last four games and only covered two of last six contests. Opening the season 4-0 is looking a lot less impressive, considering the four victims were Seattle, Jacksonville, Oakland and St. Louis. The NFL has few secrets and teams have to adjust quickly once figured out. Opponents have determined the best way to stifle Bills offense. The Bills had a number of big plays with receiver Lee Evans, however defenses have started double-teaming him, focus on stopping the running game on early downs and man up on short passing game. Until the Buffalo coaching staff finds ways to adjust, hard to back the Bills.

East of Dallas, their might not be a more disappointing team in football than Jacksonville. This was supposed to be breakout season. The Jaguars are believed to be a physical running team, yet are 17th in rushing and 19th in stopping the run. They reached rock bottom is losing to Cincinnati last week as Cedric (Evinrude) Benson rushed for 104 yards, that’s right boat boy got a hundred plus. Jacksonville spent a lot of money on upgrading secondary, it hasn’t worked and the Jaguars are going nowhere in the AFC South.

Watching Dallas get whacked by the Giants, the thought occurred Brad Johnson should have retired at halftime. Tony Romo is far from the only problem with the Cowboys, as the offensive line is playing horrible considering the talent. Dallas is 3-11 ATS since last December and counting.

Looking at the schedule from opponent’s ability, Detroit has a shot at 0-16. Though it is unlikely to happen, they will be an underdog by a minimum of three points in any given game the rest of the year. The Lions have covered three of last four and will play five home games the rest of the way.

The Oakland Raiders, what a sorry franchise. Al Davis spent all kinds of money overpaying for free agents and since another season is being flushed, now he’s going to dump some of them so not to have to pay scheduled bonuses in the off-season. He’s like the guy in the commercial who buys the painting and wants to turn around and sell it. Lane Kiffen at least left with his sanity. Al, it’s time to step away, you are legend in the AFL and NFL, turn the reigns over and let somebody rebuild this team to when Pride and Poise actually meant something.

Quick Outs- Brady Quinn gets to start in Cleveland; will it matter if your best receiver keeps dropping touchdown passes?

The Baltimore defense was supposed to be great again, but rookies Joe Flacco and Ray Rice are two of the big reasons for the Ravens being 6-2 and 5-3 against the spread. Wonders never cease in the NFL.

By the end of Week 10, the Arizona Cardinals could have as big a divisional lead as the Tennessee Titans. Based on the past, Arizona is about as safe a bet as a 10-team parlay, yet the competition is so meager, they almost but can’t help but win the NFC West. The Cardinals still have to make two trips back East to Philadelphia and New England, however earning the number two position in the NFC is not out of the range of possibilities. As has been stated here several times this season, given time, Kurt Warner is still a Top 5 quarterback in the NFL.

With the current state of the Denver Broncos, is a 3-5 San Diego squad in the best position to win the AFC West?

I used to follow this all the time and started again. Take the top and bottom four teams in scoring average in each conference. When any two teams of the higher scoring teams play each other, play OVER and when the lower scoring teams play one another play UNDER. I let each team have somewhat of a track record, thus started with week five. The year to date record is 7-2 against the total.

Touchdown favorites in the NFL continue to be a lousy wager with a 14-16 ATS record and home underdogs are even worse at 15-21 against the spread.