Archive for December, 2012

It’s the last week of NFL regular season action. I’m not too crazy about any individual games. Week 17 can be unpredictable when teams don’t have anything to play for except pride. I think the strategy this week is to utilize teasers on teams that are big favorites and are playing for playoff position. Broncos (-9), Patriots (-3.5), Seahawks (-3.5), 49ers (-9.5), and Texans are all games which I like with the line teased down. The Saints and Steelers are two individual spreads that I think are worth taking. Good luck this week and when you bet on SuperBowl.

Baltimore Ravens (+1) over CINCINNATI BENGALS — Both teams are in the playoffs and the playoff seeds are pretty much set. You don’t know what kind of effort you’ll get from the teams when playoff position has pretty much been determined. The Bengals are locked in the 6th seed and the Ravens aren’t able to play for a 1st-round bye.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS over Cleveland Browns — No line is released but I really like the Steelers in this one. Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden are out. Neither team has anything to play for but pride.I’ll take Steelers anything less than a touchdown.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (+7) over Houston Texans — This is a tough one as the Colts locked up a wild card and will be playing on the road in the playoffs regardless of the outcome here. The Texans are playing for home-field advantage. If the Texans lose, the Patriots or Broncos could secure home-field advantage in the playoffs. I believe that the Colts will give a solid effort and try to win this game to enter the playoffs with momentum. The Texans should win this game and I would …

General rules for bowl game predictions. Rule 1: Almost always bet the underdogs. You can go back something like 26 years and if you would have blindly bet all bowl game underdogs you would have had a profitable bowl season every year. Currently, favorites are 3-2 against the spread so far this bowl season. Rule 2: Strongly consider betting the better rushing team. This comes down to a simple timing thing. Its easy to run the ball than throw it. Most teams have several weeks off between games and most of the time it takes passing offensives a little longer to get rolling in bowl games simply because they need to get their timing back. Rule 3: Strongly consider betting the better defensive team. You will have to do you homework in to follow this rule because many of the teams playing have never played each other, come from different conferences, and the stats can be misleading.

Western Kentucky (-6.5) vs. Central Michigan: In general, I tend to fade the MAC in bowl games as they have performed terrible over the past few years. After looking at CMU, there isn’t much to be impressed by here despite winning their last three games of the year to become bowl eligble. Their defense has given up almost 200 yards rushing per game, which is terrible considering they play in the MAC. WKU’S rushing attack is strong averaging 186 yards per game. With the new coach for the bowl game, I expect him to stick with the bread and butter and keep the ball on the ground with a huge dosage of running plays. WKU’s coach for the bowl game has had previous experience stepping in for coaches that bolted prior to the …

We are back with our weekly picks against the spread. Sorry for missing last week, I was out of town. I’ll be in touch with Brandon to see if he’s working on his COLLEGE BOWL SPECIAL. During the last BOWL SPECIAL, Brandon was 10-3 ATS. You’ll definitely want to check his picks out when they hit the wire. We’re still a few weeks away from Bowl Season, but we have some NFL action this week and the battle for playoff contention is heating up. During this time of year, I like to pick teams that have something left to play for against those that don’t. For example, Redskins over Browns and Seahawks over Bills. Both teams are road favorites, but I like them this week.

Cincinnati Bengals (-5.5) over PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — I’m an Eagles fan and the BOO birds are out. The Eagles snapped an 8-game losing streak stifling the Bucs in Tampa last week, but I’ve been so fed up with them this year that I just expect them to lose out the rest of the year.

Green Bay Packers (-3) over CHICAGO BEARS — Packers are 4-0 ATS against the Bears. I was tempted to take the home dog, but I gotta go Packers here. They just have the Bears number.

New York Giants (-1) over ATLANTA FALCONS — The Falcons have cooled off. 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games. Giants recently laid the smack down on the Saints and Packers and look like they’re running on all cylinders.

Minnesota Vikings (+1) over ST. LOUIS RAMS — The Rams defense has been solid over the last few weeks, but A.P. has just been running wild and the Vikings are still in playoff contention.  What would keep …

In week 12 we hit our top play in a teaser featuring Bengals (-2.5) over Raiders and Broncos (-3.5) over Chiefs. Sorry I could get my NFL betting picks up earlier this week, but it’s better late than never.

CHICAGO BEARS (-3.5) over Seattle Seahawks — Confidence: 8/10 — DA BEARS. Have to go Bears here at home.

Minnesota Vikings (+9.5) over GREEN BAY PACKERS — Confidence: 5/10 — Packers can easily lay a beating on the Vikings, but I think there’s a 50/50 shot of the Vikings ending up in the money with the points. Packers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 following a straight up loss. I would rather tease Packers to (-2.5).

San Francisco 49ers (-7.5) over ST. LOUIS RAMS — Confidence: 7/10 — 49ers had a let-down game at home against the Rams the last time they played which ended up in a tie. Last week’s defensive performance from the 49ers against the Saints restored my confidence in them and Colin Kaepernick has given their offense a bit of a spark.

NEW YORK JETS (-4.5) over Arizona Cardinals — Confidence: 7/10 — There aren’t too many teams lousier than the Jets, but the Cardinals are one of them, and there couldn’t be a better opponent to take out some season frustrations on.

Carolina Panthers (-3.5) over KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Confidence: 7/10 — The Chiefs are headed towards getting the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, don’t screw it up by starting to win now.

DETROIT LIONS (-4.5) over Indianapolis Colts — Confidence: 6/10 — The public is favoring the Colts (+4.5), but I’m liking the Lions here. The Lions had two super tough opponents at home in the Packers and Texans in the …