Tag: Pro Bowl

No Shortage Of Football Matchups Out There This Week

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Football is the dominant force at most online sportsbooks, and there is a slew of matchups this week that you should have on your radar.

NFL

San Francisco at St. Louis Thursday night NFL Network – The 49ers and Rams are both 1-2 heading into this Thursday night game, but San Fran’s struggles have to be the story as they have looked terrible in losses to Seattle and Indianapolis. The Niners are favored by three on the road in this NFC West clash.

New York Giants at Kansas City Chiefs – The winless Giants are coming off a whipping at the hands of Carolina, and are four-point underdogs on the NFL betting lines against the unbeaten Chiefs, who had a long week off after a big win in Andy Reid’s return to Philadelphia last Thursday.

Philadelphia Eagles at Denver Broncos – The Eagles’ fast-paced offense has been up and down in three weeks under Chip Kelly, leading to a 1-2 record so far. The Broncos will likely be undefeated after a Monday night game at home against Oakland, and they’ve been red-hot to start 2013.

NCAA

LSU at Georgia –The sixth-ranked Tigers are 4-0 as they travel to Athens to battle the 2-1 Bulldogs, who are three spots behind LSU in the rankings. This will be Georgia’s third game against a top-10 team after a loss at Clemson and a win over South Carolina. UGA is favored by three.

Oklahoma at Notre Dame – This will be OU’s first road game of the season as the 14th-ranked Sooners are favored by 3.5 points at #22 Notre Dame, who are 3-1 after eking out a win over Michigan State at home.

Ole Miss at Alabama – The top-ranked Crimson Tide have a 16.5-point edge on the betting lines over the visiting #21 Rebels in this SEC tilt between unbeaten teams, and Ole Miss have played three of their first four away from home.

http://www.wagerweb.ag

Sunday Night NFL: Chicago Bears at Pittsburgh Steelers

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The Pittsburgh Steelers are 0-2 for the first time in 11 years and their season will essentially be over if they lose at home on Sunday night against the 2-0 Bears. With an offense that’s scored 19 points and rushed for 75 yards, and a defense that’s yet to record a takeaway, Pittsburgh doesn’t appear to have an easy solution to its struggles. The winless record is bad enough but Pittsburgh has looked sloppy, out of sync and overmatched the first two weeks of 2013. They lost in the opener 16-9 at home against the Tennessee Titans, a team that finished 6-10 last season, and followed that up with a 20-10 loss to the Bengals last week, a game that wasnâ??t as close as the final score indicates. <p>

The Steelers have turned the ball over four times through two games â?? two interceptions, two fumbles â?? and the defense hasnâ??t forced a single turnover. The clubâ??s -4 ratio is second worst in the league. Through two weeks of the regular season the Bearsâ?? offense (No. 14) actually outranks the defense (No. 17), a feat the offense was unable to accomplish during the majority of the Lovie Smith era. The Bears are still on the plus side of their turnover ratio (+1, good for 11th in the NFL) thanks to the defense, but the unit ranks a pedestrian No. 14 in rushing defense and No. 17 in passing defense, despite the clubâ??s 2-0 record to begin the season. Sunday nightâ??s game could present the Bears with an opportunity to get back on track defensively. The Steelers have averaged a woeful 9.5 points per game — fewer than all but two teams in the league — and rank second-to-last in the league in total offense and rushing offense. Pittsburgh is also converting only 28 percent of its third-down chances. In the second year under offensive coordinator Todd Haley, Ben Roethlisberger has completed 58.6 percent of his passes. He’s thrown two touchdowns and two interceptions while being sacked seven times. Only Cleveland (16) and Jacksonville (11) have scored fewer points, and the backfield foursome of Felix Jones, LaRod Stephens-Howling, Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer has rushed for 70 yards on 27 attempts. <p>

The Steelers could get a boost by the possible return of Roethlisberger’s favorite target, tight end Heath Miller, who is just about ready after tearing his ACL late in the 2012 season. Rookie running Le’Veon Bell remains out with a foot injury, however. The Steelers have rushed for fewer than 100 yards in eight consecutive games, the franchise’s longest streak since 1935. Chicago leads its all-time series with the Steelers, which dates back to 1934, with a 20-7-1 mark. The rivalry has been much more evenly contested in the modern-day NFL, though, with the teams splitting 10 meetings since 1971. This is only the Bears’ second trip to Heinz Field and just the fourth meeting between these two teams since 1998. Jay Cutler is 2-0 against the Steelers in his career and will be aiming for his third straight game with a passer rating over 100.0 against them. <p>

QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER is 15-1 at home vs. NFC w/ 22 TD passes vs. 8 INTs & 95.7 ratingâ?¦RB JONATHAN DWYER averages 5 yards per carry vs. NFCâ?¦WR ANTONIO BROWN had 8 rec. for 76 yards w/ TD in last game vs. NFC. WR EMMANUEL SANDERS had team-high 78 rec. yards last week. WR JERRICHO COTCHERY (398) needs 2 rec. to reach 400 career. WR DEREK MOYE posted 1st career TD vs. Cinâ?¦LB LAMARR WOODLEY (53) needs 1 sack to surpass GREG LLOYD (53.5) for 5th-most by Steeler since â??82. LB LAWRENCE TIMMONS aims for 3rd game in row w/ sack vs. NFCâ?¦S RYAN CLARK leads team with 20 tackles in â??13. WAGERWEB TRENDS: Bears are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games after accumulating more than 250 yards passing in their previous game. Bears are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall. Bears are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a S.U. win. Steelers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss. Steelers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss. Steelers are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 home games. Steelers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games in Week 3.

Written by WagerWeb for VegasTopDogs.com

NCAA Baskall Betting Tips: Who to Bet On/Against Off Win or Loss

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Which college basketball teams are the best and worst
against the spread off a straight up win and straight up loss? Two weeks ago, we
gave the Margin of Cover (MOC) breakdown. Renamed “sweat barometer” in Chad
Millman of ESPN’s column, MOC is similar to scoring margin, but it is measured
by how much a team covers or fails to cover the point spread, many sports
handicappers believe MOC is invaluable in isolating under and overvalued teams.

The teams are ranked using that same MOC statistic.

As of: games
entering Feb. 11

Minimum number of lined applicable games: seven

Here are the top teams to bet on off a win according to their MOC

Team ATS Record Margin of Cover

Miami Fl 14-3 +9.2

San
Francisco 7-1 +8.1

Towson 9-3 +7.3

Florida 12-5 +6.0

Colorado St. 9-6 +5.7

Southern Miss 10-6 +5.5

Cal
Northridge 10-3 +5.2

Western Mich 10-4 +5.0

These would be the
best teams to best against off a straight up win according to MOC

Team
ATS Record Margin of Cover

Marshall 0-10 -10.8

Drexel 1-8 -7.8

TCU 0-7 -6.6

Cleveland St 3-7 -5.3

Oregon St 2-8 -5.1

Here are the top teams to bet on following a straight up loss according
to their MOC

Team ATS Record Margin of Cover

G Washington 8-0
+9.2

UL Lafayette 8-5 +6.2

South Dakota 8-6 +5.5

Toledo
7-2 +5.3

CS Fullerton 6-4 +5.2

Nebraska 8-3 +5.2

These
would be the best teams to best against off a straight up loss according to MOC

Team ATS Record Margin of Cover

SE Missouri 2-7 -6.7

CS
Northridge 2-7 -5.8

Alabama 1-7 -5.6

Morehead St 4-6 -5.3

Southern Illinois 5-9 -5.0

Not surprisingly, a disproportionate
number of teams are from smaller conferences as most pro gamblers believe the
lower profile the team, the better the opportunity. There is no discernable
pattern as to general rules of thumb to whether it is better to bet on or
against a squad based on their previous game result.

Written by Joe
Duffy of VegasTopDogs.com

NFL Pro-Bowl Snub List

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The NFL Pro Bowl is slowly approaching (I know, makes me sad as well). It is still the boring lame game that no one is tuning in and watching. The NFL Pro Bowl game is certainly one of the worst, to the point as of where Goodell was considering stopping it all together, which I would be okay with if it was decided. The players need to participate, at least give 75%.

Big arms in the pocket, leaping receptions, sweet dipping and dodging as a RB breaks through the O-line, smooth clean hits on players, that make us say “ooh and ahhh”, it’s like watching a real game. Wouldn’t that be nice? Let’s take a look at who has played the best ball is who should be in the game.

Of course, what makes a Pro Bowl is completely one-sided, is it from the attractive teams, or individual skills based on their season? But, as I have said before, many times over, I’m done complaining about it (not in fact, I will for all time complain). It’s meant to be the apex performers in the game; I want to see the guys that really belong there, instead of the guy who just sells a ton of jerseys.

So moving on, I am going to start with the offensive side of the ball first, we have the AFC Pro Bowlers. Skill position starters are QB Peyton Manning (absolutely), RB Arian Foster (completely) , FB Vonta Leach (no question) WRs AJ Green (agreed) Andre Johnson (ehhhh) and TE Rob Gronkowski (unconditionally)

Most are okay, except in particular Andre Johnson, I recognize he had a huge season with 1598 YDs, 112 catches, but found the endzone merely 4 times), but lets look into it deeper.

AFC key reserves are RBs Jamaal Charles and Ray Rice (Charles was fantastic, Rice was good) Reggie Wayne and Wes Welker (11 TDs collectively between them both) Tom Brady and Matt Schaub (Schaub is a very overrated QB to me).

Let’s take another look at who got I feel got snubbed here who deserved it more. How about Ben Roethlisberger (3265 YDs, 26 TDs and only 8 ints) over Matt Schaub at QB? Why didn’t Stevan Ridley (1263 YDs and 12 TDs) make it at RB over Ray Rice (less Yds and fewer TDs), Demaryius Thomas (1434 YDs, on 94 catches and 10 TDs) over Reggie Wayne (a lesser amount of YDs, TDs and YPC)?

In the NFC, we have QB Aaron Rodgers (utterly), RB Adrian Peterson (undeniably) FB Jerome Felton (conclusively) WRs Calvin Johnson (indisputably) and Brandon Marshall (undoubtedly) TE Tony Gonzalez (of course) Pretty solid starters, not much issues with their starting squad.

But the NFC reserves include RG3 and Matt Ryan (both had superior seasons) RBs Marshawn Lynch and Frank Gore (great backs, without question) WRs Julio Jones and Victor Cruz (solid) and TE Jason Witten (got even better as the season went on).

More problems in the NFC, where is Drew Brees at QB? I understand he had thrown quite a bit of picks, but he threw the ball 670 times and finished with league leading 5177 YDs 43 TDs, and only 19 picks, for that many attempts (2.8% int pct.). Victor Cruz is an immensely talented WR; but how about Dez Bryant (1382 YDs, and 12 TDs, 15.0 YPC). Vincent Jackson and his 1384 YDs and astounding 19.2 YPC should have been strongly considered as well.

On defense, AFC, some guys that didn’t make it that I think should have gotten more deliberation are Cary Williams, CB (75 tckles, 4 ints, and 17 PD) Devin McCourty, CB (82 tckles, 5 picks, 13 PD and 3 FF), and from the NFC, Richard Sherman, CB (64 tackles, 8 ints, 24 PD, along with 3 FF) Chad Greenway, LB (148 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 pick, 2 fumble recoveries) Charles Johnson, DE (12.5 sacks, 7 FF, and 100 YDs lost 2nd in NFC)

Written by Tony Karpinski of VegasTopDogs.com