Sports Betting

Can somebody tell me WHAT THE HELL Bill Cowher was thinking Monday night when he opened up the start of the 3rd quarter with an onsides kick, ESPECIALLY when his team was only down 16-7 versus the best offense in football?
In my opinion, this was TRULY one of the worst calls I have seen all year and probably in the last few years. Cowher basically was saying that he had ABSOLUTELY NO CONFIDENCE at all that his team could win this game. I may be overreacting but I call it a PATHETIC, DESPERATE, MORONIC, GUTLESS decision and I hope he took his team out of the playoffs with that call. He should have been given a skirt instead of a team ball afterwards!
YOU CANNOT MAKE A DECISION LIKE THIS DUE TO THE FACT THAT IF THE COLTS RETRIEVE THE KICK LIKE THEY DID AND SCORE A TD LIKE THEY DID, THE GAME ENDS RIGHT THERE…..Game Over right after that kick was made… WHAT A DISGRACE!
Now you may be thinking that I'm just upset because maybe I played the Steelers last night, but that’s not the case,…well not entirely, I cant lie, I did have the Steelers but AT LEAST GIVE YOUR TEAM A CHANCE, AN OPPORTUNITY to compete throughout the second half, that’s a lot of football left.

In addition, The Steelers being down 16-7 at halftime wasn’t truly indicative of how the game was moving. The colts came right out and scored a TD, then went up 10-0 with a field goal. The Steelers scored a TD making it 10-7, BUT lets not forget:
1) The Steelers missed a chippie FG which may have made the game even closer2) THE WORST PART, is that Indy didn’t even score another TD the entire half until Ben Roethlisberger's last minute INT that Indy turned into a TD with seconds left.
Like I said…the game was CLOSE! It was a 6 point game until the Roethlisberger INT at the end of the half. HOW does that make a guy like COWHER think to himself that he has to do something dramatic like an onsides kick or he has no chance to win?
I am not just saying this but if I owned the Steelers, I would not only fire him but I would make sure he was demoted to Head Coach of the Taxi Squad each week! Either that or Head Coach of womens field hockey! OH WAIT!!! I almost forgot…After the kick is caught by Indy and they score right away…BILL COWHER with his game face that he always has on, was worse than ever…His normal spitting routine got out of control. I could have sworn that he had enough spit on his face to fill a cup of water…I couldn’t even watch, it was almost like he got the Gatorade jug poured over his head but with water instead. Ok back to my point.
I Know I keep repeating myself but to make matters worse later in the game Pitt is down 23-10 with almost 12 minutes left and Cowher decides to go for it on 4th and 5? Ok I can understand this decision MAYBE but I personally think he screwed up again!!! We are not talking 4th and inches or 4th and 1 or 2...BUT ITS 4th and 5!!….If he kicks the field goal, the score would have been 23-13 and yes, still a long way from winning, but by going for it, they now needed 2 TD's versus a TD and FG for the tie. I can sit here all day and play the "if he did this, if I did that " game but all Im saying is I was in shock and I can’t believe that others arent making a big deal about this as I am.
Ohhhh, and lets not forget that the 3 teams battling it out with Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Cincy and San Diego all WON!! GOOD MOVE BILL….Losing to the Colts is nothing to be ashamed about but you made a statement to the other teams in the league that you think your team cant win versus the big boys.
http://www.sport-betting-links.com

Sports Betting

Grab The Points
Sunday December 4, 2005Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns +3Bet Cleveland +3 or more. This line opened up making the Jaguars 2.5 point favorites on the road and was quickly bet up to -3. My question to this move is; why? The Jaguars find themselves in a very difficult spot, and despite the fact they have been playing well on both sides of the ball, we will take the points with the field goal home dog in this contest. The Jaguars are decimated at the skill position as Byron Leftwhich, with his broken bone joins an already banged up Fred Taylor on the injury list. Although, enough players have stepped up to get this team some wins recently, one has to assume that it will end here. This will be the Jaguars 3 straight road game as well as their 5th in 7 weeks, but more importantly this will be the 3rd consecutive time they will lay points on the road. Although they have come up with big road favorite wins the past 2 weeks. The physical and emotional strain of three straight road games should catch up to them here. The Browns meanwhile are just 4-7 SU and 5-6 ATS but one thing that can be said about them is that they come to play each and every week, so you can expect another solid performance from them. At home they have allowed just 27 points their past 4 games and actually sport a winning record of 3-2 in Cleveland. The defense is allowing just .6 of point more points than that of the highly regarded Jaguars team and we look for them to key on back up starter David Garrand and force him to beat them through the air; a spot where they allow just 159 yards per game. The Jaguars will have to come up with another solid road performance to win and cover this line and history is any indication of the future; as it usually is, then the Browns should get not only the cover here, but the straight up victory. Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions +3 Bet Detroit Lions+3 This game is a simple tale of two teams headed in opposite directions. While the Vikings are surging and making a move to challenge for the playoffs, the Lions have completely gone into the tank and it eventually lead to the firing of head coach Steve Marriucci this past week. The problem on the Lions side of the ball has never been talent. It is there on both the offensive and defensive side, but it just seems that this team can't get enough positive energy or emotion going to have a successful 16 game season. Why are they good value in this instance, you may ask? The reason is simple. This is a week where they should truly be motivated and come to play. The firing of coach Mariucci should give them a bolt in the arm and a jump in their step for the short term at least. In this game, at home, as an underdog, able to play the part of spoiler I look for their best performance of the year, especially on the defensive side of the ball, a spot where they have shown signs of being good. The underdog has completely dominated this match up series covering 11 of the past 14. The Vikings come in with just one good road performance this season (in Green Bay). Detroit actually is better in yards allowed, time of possession, red zone percentages, the kicking side of special teams and discipline. Although we don't see the Vikings being as bad as they were early, we definitely do not believe they are as good as they have played the past month. With the Vikings somewhere in the middle, they look to not over power the Lions the anywhere on the field and thus home field advantage and a field goal amount of points spotted, the Lions are the way to go in this one.
http://www.sport-betting-links.com

Sports Betting

Vikings vs. Lions

The Vikings have somehow put together 4 consecutive wins since QB Brad Johnson took over at the helm and now find themselves traveling to Detroit in a dangerous spot as a road favorite. The Vikings at (6-5) are still alive in the NFC playoff hunt holding on by a thread but technically have a shot to catch the division leading Bears as they are 2 games out with 5 games left in the season. The Vikings are a poor road team at (2-4) but lets be a little objective here as they have faced 5 of the BEST teams in the NFL...in the Bengals, Giants, Atlanta, Chicago and Carolina, BRUTAL!....

Both Detroit and Minnesota have 2 of the worst offenses in the league while Detroits defense is considerably better and after losing to the Vikes in Week 9 27-14 I feel that payback will be a big factor in this 2nd meeting after all that Detroit has gone through this past week.
The Lions (4-7) fired HC Steve Mariucci this week and replaced him with new HC Dick Jauron. The Lions will also be starting the BETTER QB of the 2 in my opinion, Jeff Garcia over Joey Harrington. Detroit will get up for this game as their pride will take over and upset a Vikings team that may be looking ahead. I love playing on a team in the first week with a new HC as past history shows the odds are with them. In addition, the Vikings are not worthy of being 3 point favorites let alone versus a division foe in the 2nd meeting of the season. This will be a close game but Detroit Wins and knocks Minny out of the playoffs!
TAKE THE LIONS (+3) over the Vikings!


The Jags (8-3) have now won 4 straight games and 6 of their last 7 as they battle for an AFC wild card spot in what has turned into a very tight race with Denver, San Diego, KC, Pittsburgh , and Cincinnati all in the hunt. The Colts at 11-0 have basically wrapped up 1st place. With any luck, New England will win the divison in a poor AFC East. This basically leaves 4 spots for the 6 aforementioned teams.
The Jaguars have played well on the road this year posting a 4-2 record and this may be the year they get over that hump they keep talking about. They still seem to play teams (regardless of strength) down to the wire every game but a W is a W.
The Browns (4-7) on the other hand are having a rather poor season despite putting a somewhat respectful defense on the field most Sundays. The Jeckyl and Hyde Browns seem to be in disarray at times as they beat Miami 22-0 one week, Lose to Minnesota the week after, and early in the season let's not forget the Brownies BEAT THE BEARS! Not too shabby. The past 4 weeks as mentioned above, the Browns have won, lost, won , lost and now they will follow the pattern and beat the Jags.
Jacksonville is playing their 3rd consecutive road game and have been road favorites every time including this week. Remember the Jags have trouble winning by 3 every week let alone doing it 3 times straight on the road. Jags backup QB Garrard who is 1-2 in his NFL career played well last week but he will have more to think about as the Browns defense can get nasty at times, particularly at home.
We won with the Titans over Jags with them covering at the gun 3 weeks back and then we won on the Jags last week, so people may be confused as to why we are all over the place when it comes to Jax Jags.
Simply put, this is a VERY BAD SPOT FOR THE JAGS playing their 3rd straight on the road.. Throw in the fact that the Browns are coming off a loss, Jax's defense is soft up the middle and the Browns battering ram of a RB Rueben Droughns is quite possibly the best up the middle runner in the NFL, the Jags are playing their backup QB, Browns are getting points to boot AND…….Ya Gotta love the fact that the JAGS have INDY on deck!!! SANDWICH GAME CITY!
TAKE THE BROWNS (+3) over Jags
http://www.sport-betting-links.com

Sports Betting

AFC playoff picture
As the divisional leaders expand their lead, the playoff picture gets clearer. But just what is that playoff picture? Sure, you can look at the standings and get a vague idea of who will be in the playoffs. Indianapolis is a lock, New England’s in a weak division, as is Seattle. But what about the other teams? The teams that won’t win the division? Who could sneak into the playoffs?
Today we’re looking at teams that aren’t in playoff contention right now, but could appear in that wild-card slot in the future.

First, let’s eliminate the teams that are obviously going to make the playoffs. For these teams, it’s essentially a guarantee.
Indianapolis Colts (10-0) - they have a 3 game lead in their division, haven’t been beaten, and only need 4 wins in their last six games to clinch home-field advantage, never mind just a playoff spot (barring the Broncos running the table of course).
Seattle Seahawks (8-2) - they need one more win and a St. Louis loss, and then they’ve won their division. Well the St. Louis loss might not come for two or three weeks, Seattle is going to make the playoffs.
New England Patriots (6-4) - they’re in what very well could be the weakest division in football besides the NFC North. They have a two game lead over their nearest competitor (Buffalo Bills), and they still have to play Buffalo, the weak New York Jets, and Miami. Kansas City and Tampa Bay could cause a problem, but the Patriots should make the playoffs.
Those teams have pretty much etched their name in the playoff bracket. A case could be made for the Denver Broncos, but they’re in a very good division, so it’s unlikely.
Now let’s eliminate the teams that have no shot at making the playoffs, or the shot is so unlikely they may as well be done.
Miami Dolphins (3-7)New York Jets (2-8)Cleveland Browns (4-6)Baltimore Ravens (3-7)Houston Texans (1-9)Tennessee Titans (2-8)Oakland Raiders (4-6)Philadelphia Eagles (4-6)Green Bay Packers (2-8)New Orleans Saints (2-8)St. Louis Rams (4-6)Arizona Cardinals (3-7)San Francisco 49ers (2-8)
None of those teams will make the playoffs.
Now let’s look conference by conference at the teams vying for those playoff spots.
AFC
The AFC is an extremely competitive conference, and as such, a difficult one to predict. To get a better look at the playoff picture, first you pick the divisional winners, and then move onto the wild card.
AFC East - New England Patriots (6-4)No team is going to beat the Patriots for the divisional title, so that’s one playoff spot.
AFC North - Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3), Cincinnati Bengals (7-3)Pittsburgh’s schedule isn’t that friendly - they still have to play Indianapolis (at the RCA Dome), Cincinnati and Chicago. Their last three games are against the Vikings, the Browns and the Lions, and all three of those should be wins.
Cincinnati’s schedule is slightly better. The only winning teams they have left are the Steelers and the Chiefs, and the Chiefs are in the last week of the season, when Kansas City’s season might already be over.
Divisional Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
AFC South - Indianapolis Colts (10-0)Jacksonville won’t be able to catch the Colts, so they’re fighting for that last wild-card spot.
AFC West - Denver Broncos (8-2)It’s very unlikely that either San Diego or Kansas City will catch the Broncos, leaving them with the division title, and the Chargers and Chiefs fighting for that wild-card spot.
Wild Card:
Cincinnati, Jacksonville, San Diego, and Kansas City are all left fighting for the last wild-card spot. Cincinnati has a fairly easy schedule, and should finish the season at 11-5 or 12-4.
The Jaguars schedule is softer than most pillows - they play Arizona, Cleveland, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Houston, and Tennessee. Indianapolis should be the only team that beats them, giving them a 12-4, maybe 11-5 record.
San Diego does not have a nice schedule. They have Washington, Oakland, Miami, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Denver. Miami is the only game that jumps out as an easy win, and that might not be so easy. They’d have to run the table to make the playoffs, and that’s not going to happen. They’re out of the playoffs.
That leaves Kansas City. If you thought San Diego’s schedule was hard, you haven’t seen anything yet. The Chiefs get to play New England, Denver, Dallas, New York Giants, San Diego and Cincinnati. Every game they play is against a playoff caliber team. They’re out of the playoffs.
Here’s how the AFC playoffs look, barring a small miracle:
Home Field Advantage: Indianapolis Colts1st Round Bye: Denver BroncosDivisional Winner: Pittsburgh SteelersDivisional Winner: New England PatriotsWild Card: Cincinnati BengalsWild Card: Jacksonville Jaguars
http://www.sport-betting-links.com

Sports Betting

NFC playoff picture
First, the divisional leaders:
NFC North - Chicago Bears (7-3), Minnesota Vikings (5-5)The Vikings could catch the Bears, but it’s unlikely. However, the schedule is in the Vikings favor. Their last six games: Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Chicago. They could conceivably win 4 or 5 of their last six.
Chicago on the other hand has Tampa Bay, Green Bay (twice), Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Minnesota. It’ll be tough to beat Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, or Atlanta. They should beat both Green Bay and Minnesota.
Division Winner: Chicago Bears (10-6)
NFC East - New York Giants (7-3), Dallas Cowboys (7-3)The Giants schedule isn’t doing them any favors. They have Seattle, Dallas, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Washington and Oakland. They’ll be hard pressed to win all of them, but they should win 4, putting them at 11-5.
Dallas doesn’t have an easy schedule either, playing Denver, New York Giants, Kansas City, Washington, Carolina, and St. Louis. They’ll beat St. Louis, and probably Washington, but probably only win 2 of the other four, putting them at 11-5.
Division Winner: New York Giants (11-5) - due to a win over the Cowboys
NFC South - Carolina Panthers (7-3), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3), Atlanta Falcons (6-4)This division is wide open for the taking. All three have very good teams, but one of them won’t make the playoffs.
The Panthers have to play Buffalo, Atlanta (twice), Tampa Bay, New Orleans and Dallas. They’ll have a tough time beating a desperate Falcons team twice, and Dallas may pose some problems. They should finish at around 11-5.
Tampa Bay has to play Chicago, New Orleans (twice), Carolina, New England, and Atlanta. They’ve already beat Atlanta - in Atlanta, and could do it again at home. They should be able to walk over New Orleans both times, but New England and Carolina will give them some problems. They should go either 3-3 or 4-2 down the stretch, finishing at 11-5 or 10-6.
The Falcons have Detroit, Carolina (twice), New Orleans, Chicago and Tampa Bay left. They won’t beat Carolina twice, but they should be able to get wins over Detroit and New Orleans. That might be the only wins they get, finishing 10-6 or 9-7.
Divisional Winner: Carolina Panthers (11-5)
NFC West - Seattle Seahawks (8-2)The Seahawks will win this division hands down.
Wild Card
That leaves the two wild card spots for Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Dallas, and Minnesota to fight over.
Minnesota already lost to both Tampa Bay and Atlanta, so if they finished tied with either team they’ll be bypassed. Result - Minnesota out of the playoffs.
Dallas has one heck of a schedule to go through, and won’t finish any better than 11-5, and could very easily fall to 10-6. However, they should be able to grab the wild card spot, as either Tampa Bay or Atlanta will fall behind them.
That leaves the Bucs and the Falcons for the last wild card spot. The Buccaneers are a game ahead, have a softer schedule, and have already beat the Falcons - in Atlanta. It will be extremely difficult for the Falcons to catch them, especially with two games against the Panthers. That gives Tampa Bay the last wild card spot.
Here’s the NFC Playoff picture:
Home Field Advantage: Seattle Seahawks1st Round Bye: Carolina PanthersDivisional Winner: Chicago BearsDivisional Winner: New York GiantsWild Card: Dallas CowboysWild Card: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
http://www.sport-betting-links.com

Sports Betting

As the divisional leaders expand their lead, the playoff picture gets clearer. But just what is that playoff picture? Sure, you can look at the standings and get a vague idea of who will be in the playoffs. Indianapolis is a lock, New England’s in a weak division, as is Seattle. But what about the other teams? The teams that won’t win the division? Who could sneak into the playoffs?
Today we’re looking at teams that aren’t in playoff contention right now, but could appear in that wild-card slot in the future.

First, let’s eliminate the teams that are obviously going to make the playoffs. For these teams, it’s essentially a guarantee.
Indianapolis Colts (10-0) - they have a 3 game lead in their division, haven’t been beaten, and only need 4 wins in their last six games to clinch home-field advantage, never mind just a playoff spot (barring the Broncos running the table of course).
Seattle Seahawks (8-2) - they need one more win and a St. Louis loss, and then they’ve won their division. Well the St. Louis loss might not come for two or three weeks, Seattle is going to make the playoffs.
New England Patriots (6-4) - they’re in what very well could be the weakest division in football besides the NFC North. They have a two game lead over their nearest competitor (Buffalo Bills), and they still have to play Buffalo, the weak New York Jets, and Miami. Kansas City and Tampa Bay could cause a problem, but the Patriots should make the playoffs.
Those teams have pretty much etched their name in the playoff bracket. A case could be made for the Denver Broncos, but they’re in a very good division, so it’s unlikely.
Now let’s eliminate the teams that have no shot at making the playoffs, or the shot is so unlikely they may as well be done.
Miami Dolphins (3-7)New York Jets (2-8)Cleveland Browns (4-6)Baltimore Ravens (3-7)Houston Texans (1-9)Tennessee Titans (2-8)Oakland Raiders (4-6)Philadelphia Eagles (4-6)Green Bay Packers (2-8)New Orleans Saints (2-8)St. Louis Rams (4-6)Arizona Cardinals (3-7)San Francisco 49ers (2-8)
None of those teams will make the playoffs.
Now let’s look conference by conference at the teams vying for those playoff spots.
AFC
The AFC is an extremely competitive conference, and as such, a difficult one to predict. To get a better look at the playoff picture, first you pick the divisional winners, and then move onto the wild card.
AFC East - New England Patriots (6-4)No team is going to beat the Patriots for the divisional title, so that’s one playoff spot.
AFC North - Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3), Cincinnati Bengals (7-3)Pittsburgh’s schedule isn’t that friendly - they still have to play Indianapolis (at the RCA Dome), Cincinnati and Chicago. Their last three games are against the Vikings, the Browns and the Lions, and all three of those should be wins.
Cincinnati’s schedule is slightly better. The only winning teams they have left are the Steelers and the Chiefs, and the Chiefs are in the last week of the season, when Kansas City’s season might already be over.
Divisional Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
AFC South - Indianapolis Colts (10-0)Jacksonville won’t be able to catch the Colts, so they’re fighting for that last wild-card spot.
AFC West - Denver Broncos (8-2)It’s very unlikely that either San Diego or Kansas City will catch the Broncos, leaving them with the division title, and the Chargers and Chiefs fighting for that wild-card spot.
Wild Card:
Cincinnati, Jacksonville, San Diego, and Kansas City are all left fighting for the last wild-card spot. Cincinnati has a fairly easy schedule, and should finish the season at 11-5 or 12-4.
The Jaguars schedule is softer than most pillows - they play Arizona, Cleveland, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Houston, and Tennessee. Indianapolis should be the only team that beats them, giving them a 12-4, maybe 11-5 record.
San Diego does not have a nice schedule. They have Washington, Oakland, Miami, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Denver. Miami is the only game that jumps out as an easy win, and that might not be so easy. They’d have to run the table to make the playoffs, and that’s not going to happen. They’re out of the playoffs.
That leaves Kansas City. If you thought San Diego’s schedule was hard, you haven’t seen anything yet. The Chiefs get to play New England, Denver, Dallas, New York Giants, San Diego and Cincinnati. Every game they play is against a playoff caliber team. They’re out of the playoffs.
Here’s how the AFC playoffs look, barring a small miracle:
Home Field Advantage: Indianapolis Colts1st Round Bye: Denver BroncosDivisional Winner: Pittsburgh SteelersDivisional Winner: New England PatriotsWild Card: Cincinnati BengalsWild Card: Jacksonville Jaguars
http://www.sport-betting-links.com