2008 NFL Football Week 5 Betting Picks and Tips
The season only gets interesting as we enter the month of October.
The 2008-09 NFL football season resumes this Sunday for Week 5 and after four weeks of football, we found out that the Packers made a huge mistake in giving up on Favre, Al Davis is really not fond of NFL coaches and Terrell Owens is the same Terrell Owens that we knew back in Philly.
And as we enter the fifth week of NFL football, as always, we have some good games for you that may very well earn you a dollar or two that will finally let you take your girl out to McDonalds. Let's start with this game between the Carolina Panthers and the assholes who took out Tom Brady for the rest of the year, the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Kansas City Chiefs, thanks to the woeful AFC West, can still end up tied for second best if they win over the Panthers this Sunday. They are 1-3 after four games and if the Chargers, who are currently sitting behind division leaders Denver Broncos, lose for some reason to Miami, they will let the Chiefs catch them behind the Broncos' asses.
Unfortunately, the Carolina Panthers are on the verge of their best five-game start since opening 5-0 en route to their only trip to the Super Bowl in 2003. Yep, these guys have been on fire on the field lately. That's why were picking those guys to win by a touchdown over Kansas City.
Next, a pair of the league's stingiest defenses will clash on Sunday in Baltimore when the Tennessee Titans look to improve upon the fastest start in franchise history against the Baltimore Ravens. Tennessee (4-0) has won a league-high seven straight dating to last season. They are still undefeated after four weeks and they haven't even trailed in the second half to anyone so far. The Ravens on the other hand, already lost to a Steelers team missing some of their key stars last Monday night. And with an undrafted rookie quarterback like Joe Flacco leading Baltimore against Tennessee, I'm not expecting these guys to stop the Titans' road to perfection just yet.
Tennessee Titans by a field goal.
The Chicago Bears will look to build on their latest victory on Sunday when they visit the winless Detroit Lions, who will play their first game in eight years without Matt Millen as the team's president. It has been well documented that the Bears this season could've been easily at 4-0, and against Philly last Sunday night, we saw how good the Bears can really be, getting to McNabb and denying him of any window he needs to get to his receivers. The Lions, on the other hand, have fallen behind 21-0, 21-0 and 21-3 in the first half of their first three games, respectively. This is a team without virtually anything going for them and with the Bears coming to Ford Field, it will only get worse.
Chicago Bears by 3.
Next, we have the Green Bay Packers looking to avoid a third straight loss when they host the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is doubtful for this one and the visiting Falcons are in perfect position to steal a win at Lambeau Field. Fortunately for the Packers, the Falcons are a miserable road team, averaging only 13.5 points on the road last season that landed them fifth worst in the NFL.
Our pick? Green Bay Packers edge out a three-point win over the birds.
A shaky start through the first few weeks of the season has the Indianapolis Colts in an unfamiliar position in the AFC South. At the other end of the field, another disappointing beginning for the Houston Texans has again relegated them to the division's cellar. They face-off this Sunday at Reliant Stadium and while the Colts may be struggling, I don't expect them to lose to the fucking Texans. (C'mon, who ya' kidding?) Peyton Manning is looking to finally turn this season around and having Houston this Sunday gives him the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Indianapolis Colts by two touchdowns.
The San Diego Chargers this Sunday will face-off with a Miami Dolphins team that may have found something within their offense that could surprise people this year, the ''Wildcat'' formation. For all ya'll who have no idea what that is, that's Miami having runningback Ronnie Brown taking direct snaps, throwing the football downfield and allowing him to set franchise records in rushing touchdowns. We all saw that two weeks ago when the Dolphins ended up with a shocking win over the Patriots. Will it work against the Chargers? I don't think so.
The Miami Dolphins may have taken advantage of an inexperienced quarterback like Matt Cassel but with an up and coming star QB like Phillip Rivers coming to town, he'll let Warren Sapp fuck him in the ass first before he lets the Dolphins take advantage of him too like they did Cassel.
San Diego Chargers by a touchdown.
The undefeated New York Giants will look to remain perfect Sunday when they host a Seattle Seahawks team expecting Deion Branch and Bobby Engram to make their season debuts. New York is one of three undefeated teams remaining. However, the Giants, who also had their bye last week, won't have their top offensive threat in this contest, with Plaxico Burress set to serve a one-game suspension. Fortunately for them, both Branch and Engram will have to shake off rust first and I'm not expecting these two to have that huge of an impact for Seattle when they take on the defending Super Bowl champs.
New York Giants by a touchdown.
Another huge game in the very competitive NFC East is set this Sunday as the 3-1 Washington Redskins visit the 2-2 Philadelphia Eagles. Since dropping their first game of the season to the defending champions from New York, the Redskins have won three straight games, including that huge win over the Cowboys in Irving, Texas. And while the Redskins already scored a win over the high-scoring Cowboys, the Eagles haven't yet, losing to that Dallas team three weeks ago at Texas Stadium. And as if that wasn't enough, losing to the Bears last week didn't help Philly one bit in the power rankings.
This could be one of the games to watch this week. Our pick? Washington Redskins by three.
The Denver Broncos will hope to find some answers defensively as they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday in a match-up of teams trying to maintain their spots on top of their respective divisions. Denver gave up 28.0 points and 421.7 yards per game in its first three contests, but averaged 38.0 points and 432.0 yards to go undefeated in that stretch. Although they had a hiccup last week, losing to Kansas City big 33-19, the Broncos still are one of the remaining good teams you can catch in the AFC.
Pick the Denver Broncos to get back to the win column with a win over Tampa Bay. After all, Denver is 8-1 every time they play the Bucs. Broncos by three.
The Buffalo Bills will once again try to extend their incredible undefeated streak as much as they can when they take on the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday. The Bills beat the Rams 31-14 last Sunday, improving to a perfect 4-0 record thanks to the breakout season quarterback Trent Edwards has been having. The Cardinals on the other hand, ended up limping back home after an East coast trip that cost them two straight games to drop them to 2-2.
I guess you can say that while the Buffalo Bills still have their Cinderella season running, reality has already set in for Arizona. Bills by a field goal.
We have a high-scoring contest this week as the Dallas Cowboys will try to bounce back from last week's loss Sunday when they host the still winless Cincinnati Bengals, who'll probably play without Carson Palmer again. Dallas looked like one of the favorites to come out of the NFC through their first three games. The Cowboys were averaging 32.0 points and 440.0 yards per game and their defense was coming off a stellar performance in a 27-16 win at Green Bay back in Week 3.
However, Dallas was not as sharp last Sunday, suffering a 26-24 loss to Washington in Texas. The offense gained a season-low 344 yards, while the defense yielded a season-high 381, resulting to Terrell Owens complaining again like the guy we loved to hate back when he was in Philly.
Fortunately for the Dallas Cowboys, the woeful 0-4 Bengals are coming to town and this is probably the perfect opportunity for T.O. and Tony Romo to vent all their frustrations on a Bengals defense that allows basically anything to score on them as if they were Paris Hilton's ass.
Dallas Cowboys by two touchdowns.
Looking to bounce back from a humbling defeat before their bye week, the New England Patriots will look to get back to the win column when they visit the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday. It's time to return to the ground game for the Patriots and with the 49ers, who have one of the worst run defenses in the league after four weeks, standing in front of them, I see no reason for Bill Belichick not to use his tailbacks on this one. Besides, they can't afford to have Matt Cassel screwing things up for them again right?
New England Patriots by seven.
Sunday Night Football, just like last week, will have another good ol' fashioned face-off between offense and defense. This time, the tough ground game of the Jacksonville Jaguars will test just how good the Steel Curtain of the Pittsburgh Steelers really is and with all these stars missing for the Steelers, I have a feeling Jacksonville will be on their way to win their third straight game of the season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers already lost two runningbacks, premiere back Willie Parker and Parker's backup, rookie runningback Rashard Mendenhall. Add that to the guys they already lost on the other end of the ball and you have a team trying to salvage the season with third stringers and signed free agents.
Bad news for Pittsburgh, good news for Jacksonville. The Jaguars have this irritating ''possession football'' going for them where they try to hold on to the football for as long as they can, not letting the opposing team have a chance of scoring with it and with Pittsburgh already losing some of their key stars, Jacksonville should have a field day on the ground.
Jacksonville Jaguars by seven.
Next, we have Monday Night Football as two struggling teams will look to finally get their season back on the right track when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Superdome looking to be more destructive as a hurricane when they play the New Orleans Saints.
The Minnesota Vikings have yet to show us the defense that landed them the No.1 ranked defense in the league last season. The New Orleans Saints, on the other hand, have surrendered 1,488 yards, the fifth-highest total in the league, through their first four contests, and while that defense has been better against the run, limiting opponents to 122.8 per game, it's still one of the worst in the league today.
Without any defense whatsoever coming from both squads, I guess you can say that this game will be won on the offensive side of the ball and when it comes down to that, the Saints should be in a better position to win it with Saints quarterback Drew Brees having a field day against what was once the best defense in football.
Drew Brees completed 23 of 35 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns against the 49ers last week, connecting twice with Lance Moore and once with rookie Robert Meachem, who had two receptions for a season-best 99 yards. The Saints were successful despite playing without injured receiver Marques Colston and tight end Jeremy Shockey and with the Vikings D yet to rediscover the defense that made it the best last year, the Saints should have no problem wining this game this Monday night.
New Orleans Saints by three.
Who will win Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida? Bodog sportsbook has the odds.
New York Giants 17.00
New England Patriots 4.50
Dallas Cowboys 7.00
Indianapolis Colts 8.50
Want more odds? Visit Bodog sportsbook for more football betting odds and the best betting lines on some of today's biggest sporting events.