We're not sure we've seen a series where quarterback Tyler Palko wasn't throwing picks. But regardless of his horrible performance thus far the Kansas City Chiefs are going to keep him as the starter for Week 13.
"Tyler’s the starter," Haley said. "We’re getting Kyle (Orton) ready to play. He might have to play."
According to beat writer Adam Teicher, Palko was the first QB in the rotation during Wednesday's practice, and received 60 percent of the reps compared to Orton's 40 percent.
So Haley is still giving Orton enough reps to tell us Palko will get yanked if he stinks it up like he did against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week.
How bad has Palko been? Three weeks, three starts, no touchdowns six interceptions. That bad. If not this weekend expect to see Orton in Week 14.
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Betting Analysis: Amazingly as bad as Palko has been the Chiefs still covered the 10.5 spread against the Steelers last week. But that one's on the defense, who held Pittsburgh to just 13 points.
Palko is simply an INT waiting to happen, and we can't tell anyone to trust the Chiefs as a wager as long as he's under center. It doesn't help matters that the Chiefs face the Chicago Bears on Sunday, a team that has been pounding offenses all season. Even without Jay Cutler at quarterback, oddsmakers have opened the Bears as 7-point favorites in the Bodog Sportsbook.
Though it's tough to say the Arizona Cardinals will be able to compete with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, their offense will be 100 percent.
Quarterback Kevin Kolb was a full participant in practice Wednesday and he said that he expects to start. Barring an unfroseen set back, expect him to do just that.
Kolb hasn't exactly been lighting up defenses with his passing ability but backup John Skelton has been horrible while Kolb has been out with foot and toe injuries. It helps that Kolb will be returning when his running back, Beanie Wells, is on fire. Wells ran for 228 rushing yards off 27 carries versus the St. Louis Rams in Week 12.
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Betting Analysis: The Cardinals opened as 4.5-point underdogs in the Bodog Sportsbook, understandable considering the Cowboys have won four games in a row. However, Dallas has been horrible against the spread during that stretch, going just 1-3.
Meanwhile Arizona, despite all the struggles on offense, is 4-1 ATS in their last five. This seems like the makings of an easy cover for the Cards -- starting QB returning, hot running back, solid ATS performance vs. a bad ATS team -- but bettors should beware of a Cowboys squad that is top 10 in run defense and the fact that Wells has been nursing a bad knee all season. He was limited im practice Wednesday, just as he's been every week.
The Thursday night NFL game this week is one of unrealized expectations as the Philadelphia Eagles visit the Seattle Seahawks in a matchup of 4-7 teams that won their divisions a year ago but won’t be returning to the playoffs this season. Philly opened as a 3-point favorite on Bodog’s NFL betting odds and live betting is available.
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Philadelphia, the second-favorite to win the Super Bowl in the NFC behind Green Bay during the preseason, enters off a 38-20 home loss to New England that pretty much wrote the obituary on this season. It was the second game in a row the Eagles had played without starting QB Michael Vick and WR Jeremy Maclin. Still, Philadelphia jumped to a 10-0 lead before the New England offense scored on five of its next six possessions to lead 24-13 at halftime and the game was essentially over from there.
The Eagles won’t have either Vick or Maclin again, meaning Vince Young starts at QB for the third game in a row and Riley Cooper replaces Maclin again. Young did throw for a career-high 400 yards against the Patriots. NFL leading rusher LeSean McCoy has a toe injury but should start against Seattle. Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha also should play, but fellow CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a bust this season, is out again.
The Seahawks, defending NFC West champs, were dominating the Redskins for much of last Sunday’s game and took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter before imploding in a 23-17 loss. The struggles of QB Tarvaris Jackson continued as he completed a season-low 46.7 percent of his passes for only 144 yards. His passing yardage total has gone down the past four games.
The Seahawks badly miss Matt Hasselbeck off last year’s club. Jackson won’t have big free-agent signee WR Sidney Rice. He suffered a concussion in Sunday’s loss but has been a big disappointment when he has played; he was ruled out for the year Wednesday. The only true Seattle offensive weapon is RB Marshawn Lynch. He rushed for 111 yards, added 20 receiving yards and scored a touchdown for the seventh consecutive week in the loss to the Redskins. The Seahawks are No. 30 in the NFL in total offense, averaging 294.1 ypg. They have only reached 400 twice.
Seattle and Philly haven’t played since 2008. Eagles are 0-5 ATS in their past five vs. teams with a losing record. Seattle is 5-1 ATS in past six vs. NFC teams.
Even though they’re just 4-7 on the season, the Seattle Seahawks have overachieved in many games this season. One of the reasons is the play of wideout Sidney Rice, unfortunately Seattle won’t have the oft-injured playmaker for the rest of the season.
Rice was placed on injured reserve after suffering his second concussion in less than a month Sunday versus the Washington Redskins.
It’s not the first time Rice has had issue with injury, he had a labrum injury in his shoulder during the preseason that caused him to miss the first two games of the season, and had hip surgery in 2010 that caused him to miss the first nine games of that year.
On the season he had posted decent numbers, 32 catches for 484 yards, but displayed his breakout ability in many of the Seahawks games when Tavaris Jackson got things going.
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Betting Analysis: Rice wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard, but besides Marshawn Lynch he was one of the team’s few playmakers on offense. Besides Seattle’s home loss versus the Redskins -- the game where they lost Rice -- the team was rolling winning two of three and covering three games in a row. Jackson was never anything close to Peyton Manning in the passing game, the loss of Rice should add to his struggles. That will put the offense on the back of Lynch come the Seahawks’ Thursday Night matchup versus the Philadelphia Eagles, oddsmakers opened Seattle as 3-point underdogs.
We’d watch how Seattle moves the ball without Rice Thursday night before jumping back on their betting bandwagon.
When miracle maker Tim Tebow comes to Minnesota with his Denver Broncos the Vikings will likely be without its best weapon, Adrian Peterson.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter indicated on SportsCenter that Peterson, a top five NFL player, would likely not play in Week 13.
"I would say right now it's unlikely that Adrian Peterson ends up playing," Schefter said.
The usually durable Peterson has been nursing a high ankle sprain that he suffered in Week 11. If Peterson, who has 875 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season, can't go expect Toby Gerhart to get another start versus a formidable Broncos defense.
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Betting Analysis: The football gods may have handed Tebow another blessing. With rookie Christian Ponder starting at quarterback the Vikings need Peterson to execute their run-heavy gameplan. Last week Gerhart got the start and rushed 17 times for just 44 yards, that’s just 2.6 yards per carry. Hardly enough to replace Peterson in the offense. NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi candidly said Gerhart “looks too slow to ever be a full-time back, or even a good short-yardage back for the Vikings,” which is not a good sign for those looking for the Vikings to dethrone Tebow.
NFL betting odds has still opened the Vikings -1 favorites, however odds are not listed in the Bodog Sportsbook at this time.
The toughest obstacle for the Gerhart and the Vikings will be the underrated Denver defense. The Broncos have given up more than 15 points only twice in the last six games, maintaining solid D versus both the run and the pass. The key to the Denver D is rookie linebacker Von Miller, the kid has been all over the field, racking up 58 tackles and posting 10.5 sacks. If the Vikings can’t get the run game going, Ponder will be on the run all afternoon.
Another high-profile quarterback is available on the NFL’s waiver wire as the Minnesota Vikings have cut Donovan McNabb, at his request, and already the speculation is that the Bears will claim the Chicago native in hopes he can fill their quarterback spot with Jay Cutler out possibly for the season due to a broken thumb.
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The waiver system works in inverse order of records, meaning the worst teams get first shot at McNabb. This is why Kansas City got Kyle Orton when he was cut last week by Denver even though Orton, a former Bear, was also claimed by Dallas and Chicago – the Chiefs had the worst record of the three. The other team in desperate need of a quarterback is Houston, which has lost Matt Schaub and backup Matt Leinart to season-ending injuries. The Texans, who lead the AFC South as they attempt to reach their first postseason, will be starting rookie T.J. Yates this week against the Falcons. But Houston apparently doesn’t have enough money available under the cap to claim McNabb, who’d cost $1.5 million. The Bears do.
Chicago is starting inexperienced Caleb Hanie this week against the Chiefs; Hanie threw three picks last week against Oakland in his first NFL start as the Bears lost. At worse, McNabb would be an upgrade over Chicago backup QB Josh McCown, the player the Bears signed last week after they learned they could not get Orton.
McNabb was benched after six starts with the Vikings, who decided to let rookie Christian Ponder take over. McNabb had an 82.9 passer rating for the year and threw only two interceptions. His next team would be his fourth in just two seasons. The Bears rank 24th on the waiver claim order list, up six spots from where they were before their loss to the Raiders. What’s significant is they are two spots ahead of the Texans, who are 26th. The Cowboys, however, still are ahead of the Bears at 21. Dallas has concerns behind Tony Romo and thus might claim McNabb as it did Orton.
The 11-0 Green Bay Packers will look to continue their perfect season this Sunday in an afternoon game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
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Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been excellent this season, helming his team’s offense to what will certainly be a first-place finish. The Packers average 34.7 points per game, better than anybody else in the league, and are third in passing yards and fourth in total yards.
Rodgers himself has 33 touchdowns this season, which is a career high, and 3,475 passing yards, which by season’s end will likely grow to be another career high. However, Rodgers believes that these successes will be nothing without that Super Bowl ring to go with them.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning has been his usual spectacular self, leading the Giants to the league’s fourth-best passing offense, averaging 291.5 yards per game in the air. The good news is that Manning will be passing into what is amazingly the league’s second-worst pass defense. The Packers allow an average of 287.8 passing yards per game,
The Giants are losers of their last two games, most recently a 49-24 thumping at the hands of the Saints, and have fallen into second place in the NFC East. With games against the Packers, Cowboys and Jets left on the schedule, the Giants will be in tough to make the playoffs this season.
The Giants team has the worst-ranked rushing unit in the NFL, averaging just 82.3 yards, despite the fact the team has 10 touchdowns on the ground this season. With 97.2 yards per game, the Packers’ rushers rank 28th in the league. Expect an aerial attack from both sides on Sunday.
Thanks goodness that NBC is able to flex its Sunday night schedule late in the season as we might have been stuck with Colts-Patriots this week in prime time. Instead, we get what could well be a first-round NFC playoff preview when the Detroit Lions visit New Orleans, with the Saints as 9-point favorites on Bodog’s NFL football odds. Live betting will be available.
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If the playoffs started today, the Lions (7-4), losers of two of three and four of six, would be on the outside looking in. The good news is Detroit will be much better rested, having played on Thanksgiving. The bad news: Detroit was beaten 27-15 by the Packers and saw star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh suspended for two games for stomping on a Green Bay lineman. In addition, RB Kevin Smith, now the No. 1 tailback with the season-ending injury to Jahvid Best, hurt his ankle in the game. However, Smith should play in this one. Lions top safety Louis Delmas is out for Sunday's game, which isn’t good news against the NFL’s top-ranked passing offense. Detroit has been good against the pass, ranking No. 6 in the NFL.
New Orleans (8-3) looks very much like the only team that can give Green Bay a run for its money. The Saints are on a short week, having beaten the Giants 49-24 on Monday night. Drew Brees threw for four TDs and ran for another as New Orleans put up 577 yards of offense, the second-most in team history. Brees has 20-plus completions in an NFL-record 31 straight games and has passed for a TD in 38 straight games, second-longest streak in NFL history. He leads the NFL with 3,689 yards passing (on pace to break Dan Marino’s record) and has completed 70.2 percent of his passes.
The Saints are 5-0 at home this year (5-0 ATS) and only one of those wins has been by less than 11 points. The Lions are 5-1-1 ATS in their past seven road games. New Orleans is 2-7 ATS in its past nine December games.
Probably the most intriguing matchup of Week 13 in the NFL comes in New York (technically New Jersey) when the up-and-down New York Giants try to save their season and likely the job of head coach Tom Coughlin when they host the unbeaten Green Bay Packers, who are 7-point favorites on Bodog’s NFL football odds.
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Green Bay has won 17 games in a row (including playoffs) dating to last season. When did that streak start? When QB Aaron Rodgers returned from missing essentially two full games – both Packers losses – with a concussion and torched these Giants for 404 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-17 win in Week 16 of 2010. That victory basically got Green Bay into the playoffs and knocked the Giants out. The Pack haven’t lost since and Rodgers has been playing at an absurd level since.
It’s desperation time for New York (6-5), which has lost three in a row to fall a game behind Dallas in the NFC East – if the playoffs started today, the G-Men would be out. The Giants defense gave up 577 yards in Monday’s 49-24 loss at New Orleans, offsetting a good game from Eli Manning (406 yards passing, two TDs).
The Giants played Monday without WR Mario Manningham, LT Will Beatty and RB Ahmad Bradshaw and lost DE Osi Umenyiora, the team’s second-leading sacker, to an injury in the game. Beatty is done for the year, Manningham might be and Umenyiora is out at least a few weeks. Bradshaw is hoping to return Sunday to boost the NFL’s No. 32 rushing offense. Bradshaw broke a bone in his foot on Oct. 30 and hasn’t played since. New York averaged just 76.5 rushing yards per game, on 3.15 yards per carry, in November without him.
The Packers are 11-0 for the first time in team history and have the best start for a reigning Super Bowl champion since the 1998 Broncos started 13-0 (then lost to the Giants). Green Bay would officially clinch a third straight playoff berth with a win and take the NFC North with a win and Lions loss at New Orleans. Rodgers is first player in NFL history to post 100+ rating in 11 straight games. He has thrown at least two TDs in every game so far.
The Packers are 6-0 ATS in their past six vs. teams with a winning record. They are 8-2 ATS in past 10 road games. Giants are 0-3-1 ATS in past four home games and 1-6-1 ATS in past seven vs. teams with a winning record.
Not that anyone has much noticed, but the Houston Texans, who lead the AFC South by two games, are very much in the running for the AFC’s No. 1 seed come the postseason. But to get that, Houston will have to rely on rookie fifth-round pick T.J. Yates as its quarterback. The former Tar Heel makes his first NFL start Sunday against a surging Atlanta team that is a 3-point favorite on Bodog’s NFL odds.
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Yates entered last week’s win over Jacksonville when Matt Leinart broke his collarbone (starter Matt Schaub was lost for the season the week before) and went 8 of 15 for 70 yards in his NFL debut. Yates led a drive that resulted in a field goal and gave the Texans a 10-point lead at the break, but Houston compiled just 47 yards and two first downs in the second half. Expect a heavy dose of the run game with Arian Foster and Ben Tate from here on out for Houston (8-3), which ranks No. 3 in the NFL in rushing.
Atlanta (7-4) has thrust itself into the thick of the NFC wild-card race by winning two straight and five of six. QB Matt Ryan has been a different player of late. He threw six interceptions in Atlanta’s disappointing 2-3 start. But he has nine TD passes and only two interceptions the last four weeks. Last week in a 24-14 win against the Vikings, Ryan had a season-high passer rating (128.3) and completed 27 of 34 passes for 262 yards for the second-highest completion percentage (79.4) of his career. Ryan also has won five straight against AFC opponents.
Look for the Falcons to load up to stop the run, and Atlanta is No. 2 in the NFL in rush defense. Houston’s defense, meanwhile, leads the NFL with 268.4 yards allowed per game. Atlanta is 7-1 ATS in past eight road games vs. a team with a winning home record. Texans are 1-5 ATS in past six as a dog.
So are the Cincinnati Bengals a legitimate playoff contender or are they a bunch of smoke and mirrors? I would argue the latter. Here are the teams the Bengals have beaten: Cleveland (twice), Buffalo, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Seattle and Tennessee. Probably not a playoff team, much less maybe .500 team at the end of the season, in the bunch. But Sunday the Bengals get another chance to make a statement, this time at Pittsburgh. The Steelers are 7-point favorites on Bodog’s NFL football odds.
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Cincinnati (7-4) squeaked by Cleveland 23-20 last week after losing to Pittsburgh and Baltimore by a touchdown each in the previous two games. Cincy was down 17-7 to the Browns but won their third game of the season when behind by 10 points, tying an NFL record.
A win here would be huge for the Bengals’ wild-card chances, but it appears the future is bright regardless. QB Andy Dalton, the 35th overall pick out of TCU, and WR A.J. Green, the fourth pick from Georgia, already are one of the best rookie duos in recent decades. They've combined for five touchdown passes, the fourth-highest total for a rookie quarterback and receiver since 1950. The Bengals duo has accounted for 43 completions, fourth-most for rookies since 1991. Dalton already has set a Bengals rookie record with 16 touchdown passes overall. Peyton Manning holds the season record for a rookie with 26 in 1998.
Green, it should be mentioned, missed most of Cincy’s first loss to Pittsburgh and then that entire Ravens loss. In that 24-17 loss to the Steelers, Dalton was picked off twice in the fourth quarter. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was 21 of 33 for 245 yards with one touchdown and a deflected interception. He was sacked five times, matching his season high.
Pittsburgh (8-3) had a bye following the Bengals win and then beat Kansas City rather ugly 13-9 last week. The Steelers lost All-Pro safety reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Troy Polamalu to a head injury/concussion in the first quarter, but he is expected to play Sunday. And the Steelers are likely to get back the guy who had been their defensive MVP this season in linebacker LaMarr Woodley this week. He has been out with a hamstring injury but had 7.5 sacks in his previous four games prior to the injury.
These teams have split the past six meetings in Pittsburgh. The Bengals are 7-1 ATS in their past eight following a win. The Steelers are 8-1 ATS in their past nine following an ATS loss. Cincy is 2-8 ATS in the past 10 meetings.
It appears that the Chicago Bears will not face their former quarterback, Kyle Orton, at least at the start of Sunday’s home game against Kansas City but instead will see struggling Tyler Palko on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. Chicago is a 7-point favorite on Bodog’s NFL football odds.
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Palko, a lefty, has been nothing short of atrocious for Kansas City (4-7) since replacing an out-for-the-season Matt Cassel as the Chiefs’ starter. He has thrown six interceptions and lost a fumble in his two starts and the Chiefs haven’t found the end zone. In fact, Kansas City, which has lost four straight, hasn’t scored a touchdown since the third quarter of its Nov. 13 game against Denver. The Chiefs claimed Orton off waivers from Denver last week; the Bears also made a claim but had a lower priority. Don’t be surprised if Orton plays Sunday if/when Palko struggles as Orton had his first full week of practice and essentially split reps with Palko. The Chicago defense could be licking its chops against Palko as the Bears are third in league with 24 takeaways, including 16 in past five games.
Chicago (7-4) starts backup Caleb Hanie for the second week in a row with Jay Cutler possibly done for the year with a broken thumb. Hanie, in his first NFL start, threw three interceptions in last week’s 25-20 loss at Oakland, ending the Bears’ five-game winning streak. Hanie completed 18 of 35 passes for 254 yards and one pick really hurt as it came late in the first half when the Bears were deep in Oakland territory and on the verge of taking the lead. Look for plenty of RB Matt Forte, the NFL’s leader in yards from scrimmage, against the Chiefs.
This is the first meeting between the teams since 2007. KC is 6-1 ATS in its past seven as a dog. Bears are 4-0 ATS in their past four as a favorite.
The New York Giants have been giant killers before, but not today.
Aaron Rodgers led the Green Packers down the field with 58 seconds left, leading to a Matt Crosby field goal and 38-35 win, the 12th-straight this year. The Giants were the first team to test the Packers this year, Rodgers has rarely been in a situation where he's had to go Joe Montana on an opponent, but he proved he has the chops with a last minute drive that only took two passes to pull off.
Eli Manning did his best to keep up with the Packers offense, throwing for 347 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. But the Packers just had too many weapons, and it became a game of which QB would have the ball last. Obviously Rodgers did.
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Betting Analysis: Move along nothing to see here... except for defensive struggles. If the Packers have one flaw it's a D that 31st in total yards allowed, 31st in passing yards allowed and 17th in points allowed. That's bad for betting business, the only thing that can be trusted from Green Bay is the OVER. Green Bay has gone OVER in nine of 12 games.
As for the Giants, their play against the spread has us making Tom Coughlin faces every week. With a record of 5-6-1 ATS they simply can't be trusted to make you money every week.
The Packers face Oakland next week, who looked horrible versus the Dolphins while the Giants have a monster game versus the Dallas Cowboys coming up.
Tim Tebow can't pass? Who cares. Tim Tebow can barely run? Doesn't matter. Tebow's passes wobble? God will get it there. Tebow and the Denver Broncos have won five in a row and six of the last seven; today it was another dramatic, 35-32, win over the Minnesota Vikings. Tebow be praised!
Tebow had one of his better passing games of the season versus Minnesota, completing 10 balls for 202 passing yards along with two passing touchdowns. It was another close contest for Tebow, but this time the defense wasn't always around to bail the offense out. But Tebow and Co. stepped up, Willis McGahee chipped in with 111 rushing yards and one touchdown while the D did put one TD on the board from a pick six.
Next miracle will happen against another bad offense, the Chicago Bears.
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Betting Analysis: How can you bet against him? Oddsmakers are getting more fearful of giving Tebow and Co.'s underdog odds, evidenced by the +1 given versus the Vikings on the road today. The gambling gods are on Tebow's side too, five covers against the spread in row and a 6-1 ATS record as a starter. However, things are going to get tricky. The Bears are at Denver next week, and with Caleb Hanie at QB and RB Matt Forte likely out expect the Broncos to be listed as favorites for the first time since Week 7. Anybody can bet on Tebow "the underdog" as an underdog, but can you do it when he's a favorite? We may soon find out.
A potentially devastating injury hit the Chicago Bears during the first quarter of Sunday’s home game against the Kansas City Chiefs as running back Matt Forte, who was having easily the best season of his career, was hurt when it appeared Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson hit Forte on a knee with his helmet. Forte won’t return to the game and already there are worries that it could be a serious injury.
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In a potentially positive sign, Forte walked off the field under his own power, and sat down behind the team's bench area, where the team's athletic trainers examined the knee. He eventually walked to the locker room and was ruled out. Forte entered Sunday with 985 yards rushing and 490 yards receiving. Forte was leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage and left the game Sunday having rushed for 12 yards on five attempts.
Forte, a second-round pick in 2008, has never missed a game in his NFL career. Marion Barber replaced him Sunday. Forte is in the final year of his contract. The club negotiated with Forte in training camp and preseason for a long-term extension but the sides could not reach an agreement. So any significant injury could cost Forte millions of dollars. The Bears are expected to place the franchise tag on Forte if a deal cannot be worked out after the season ends.
Of course the Bears already are without starting quarterback Jay Cutler, who could be done for the season with a broken thumb suffered two games ago. Backup Caleb Hanie started Sunday for the second game in a row.
You have to be a pretty diehard football fan to tune into this week’s “Monday Night Football” game as San Diego (4-7) visits Jacksonville (3-8) in a matchup of two teams going nowhere and which will be led by new head coaches in 2012. The Chargers are 3-point favorites on Bodog’s NFL football odds and live betting will be available.
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The Jaguars fired head coach Jack Del Rio early last week and also saw the team sold, so it’s been quite a week for the franchise. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker is the interim coach, but it’s presumed a higher-profile coach will get the full-time job in the offseason. Tucker already has said that rookie QB Blaine Gabbert will remain the starter even though the former Missouri star is struggling big time. Gabbert, who was benched in last week’s loss to Houston, is just 2-7 as a starter. His rating is a dismal 62.2 and he has the worst completion percentage (48.5) of any starting QB. No wonder the Jags have the lowest-scoring offense (12.5 ppg) in the NFL. On the bright side, the Jags do have the AFC’s leading rusher in Maurice Jones-Drew (1,040 yards) and a defense that ranks in the Top 5 total yards allowed, passing and points allowed. San Diego has struggled against the run this season.
San Diego is easily the biggest disappointment in the NFL, having dropped six games in a row. Already reports are that Norv Turner will be fired as soon as the season is over, and GM A.J. Smith is in trouble as well. QB Philip Rivers was an NFL MVP candidate last year but has regressed, leading the NFL in interceptions with 17 and has fumbled six times. In last week’s 16-13 overtime loss to Denver, Rivers had his first game without a pick since Week 4 but was only 19-for-36 for 188 yards.
Last year the Bolts crushed the Jags 38-13 in Week 2 in San Diego. Rivers had one of his better games of the year, throwing for 334 yards and three scores (but also two picks). Jones-Drew had just 31 yards on 12 carries. San Diego had six takeaways, the most by a Chargers defense since 2007.
Chargers are 0-7-1 ATS in their past eight games following a loss and have covered just twice in past 11 as a road favorite. Jags are 1-4 ATS in past five as a home underdog. The home team has covered in the four previous meetings.
Betting expert Dave Johnson breaks down the best betting trends for NFL football week 14. The numbers were crunched and the scenarios were selected in order to find the trends to bump your betting profits into a higher income bracket. Johnson picked the Top 5 Best Betting Trends with over an 83% to 91% insane win percentage. Take a look at just one of these trends:
Win Percentage: 83%
Games: 12
Betting Trend: The total OVER is 10-2 in Eagles last 12 road games.
Trend Analysis: Two teams with no realistic hopes of making the 2012 playoffs. The Eagles are 4-8 and after last week’s loss to the Seahawks and sit last in the NFC East. The defense has been shoddy all season and has allowed 69 points in the last two games. The offense is still ranked #3 in the NFL and averages 412.6 yards per game. The Dolphins have won four of five with some inspired football. The offense has exploded the last five weeks for a total of 139 points or 27.8 points per game. Expect a shoot-out from two teams who can put some serious points on the board.
For the rest of the trends go to
Inspin-com: The premier source for Insider Sports Information
Coming off back-to-back wins over the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins, the New York Jets will look to make it three in a row on Sunday afternoon as they host the Kansas City Chiefs on the NFL betting board.
Get all your football odds at Bodog.
7-5 New York is sitting two games back of the New England Patriots in the AFC East standings, but the wins in the past two weeks at least has them in contention for an AFC Wild Card berth with four weeks to go in the season.
Against the Redskins over the weekend the Jets didn't get a great game from Mark Sanchez (19 of 32 passing for 165 yards with one TD), but running back Shonn Greene was able to rush for 88 yards and three scores to carry his team to the victory.
Santonio Holmes had a TD reception for the Jets that day, and Nick Folk booted two field goals.
The Chiefs beat the Bears by a score of 10-3 in Chicago in Week 13, but that victory only put them at 5-7 on the season – they're two games behind both the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West standings.
Tyler Palko completed 17 of 30 pass attempts for 157 yards for Kansas City in that low-scoring victory, with one touchdown strike to Dexter McCluster on the day. Ryan Succop kicked a 21-yard field goal in the third quarter.
At the Bodog Sportsbook for Sunday the Jets are listed as 9-point home favorites on the NFL odds board, with the total set at 36.5 points. The Jets are 5-7 against the spread on the year, while the Chiefs have covered in seven of their 12 games.
Get all your NFL betting lines for Week 14 at Bodog.
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Both the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys come off very different crushing losses last week, but by Sunday at around midnight the winner of their game at Cowboys Stadium will be the NFC East leader for now and in control of its own playoff destiny. Dallas is a 3-point favorite on Bodog’s NFL football betting odds.
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New York (6-6, 5-6-1) gave unbeaten Green Bay all it could handle last week, falling 38-35 on a field goal as time expired for the Giants’ fourth loss in a row. But there was plenty to build off of. Eli Manning played almost as well as the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, throwing for 347 yards and three scores, including the touchdown that led to the tying 2-point conversion with just under a minute left. And the Giants’ running game, ranked last in the NFL, managed 100 yards on 20 carries, a very good 5.0 ypc average. Ahmad Bradshaw returned from injury to run for 38 yards and clearly made a difference. And the New York pass rush, even without DE Osi Umenyiora (out again this week), snapped out of a funk with two sacks and six quarterback hits on Rodgers.
Dallas (7-5, 4-7-1 ATS) saw a four-game winning streak come to an end with a 19-13 overtime loss on Sunday at Arizona that saw some very questionable clock management at the end of regulation by Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Star rookie RB DeMarco Murray only had 12 carries for 38 yards – he had been a huge part of the Cowboys’ surge to first in the division. That Dallas offense will get a huge boost this week with the return of two-time Pro Bowl WR Miles Austin. He has missed the past four games with a right hamstring strain.
Look for the Cowboys defense to double-team Giants WR Victor Cruz. He has been the NFL’s top receiver the past three weeks, catching six passes for 128 yards and a touchdown against Philadelphia, nine for 157 and two scores against New Orleans and seven for 119 against Green Bay. Dallas has allowed a 100-yard receiver in the past three games after none in the first nine.
The winner here would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker but they meet again in Week 17. These two teams split last season, each winning on the road and both went over the total. The first meeting of 2010, a Giants win, was when Dallas QB Tony Romo suffered a broken collarbone that ended his season. The Giants are 9-2-1 ATS in past 11 as a road dog of 3 points or less. The Cowboys, amazingly, have covered in just three of their past 17 as a favorite. The underdog has covered in the past four in this series.
Nearly every season under head coach Norv Turner, the San Diego Chargers start slowly and then get hot at the end of the year. However, this year has gone the opposite route, with San Diego starting 4-1 only to lose six in a row. But the Bolts won on Monday night to end that skid and still have playoff hopes if they can win out, starting Sunday at home against sliding Buffalo. San Diego is a 6.5-point favorite on Bodog’s NFL football odds.
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It’s hard what to make of the San Diego (5-7, 3-9 ATS) after its 38-14 win at Jacksonville on Monday night. After all, the Jags were playing their first game under an interim head coach after the firing last week of Jack Del Rio. But at the same time, Jacksonville had the NFL’s No. 4 defense. And the San Diego offense looked better than it has in weeks. Quarterback Philip Rivers was 22-for-28 passing for 294 yards and three touchdowns – the NFL’s turnover leader didn’t throw a pick. And running back Ryan Mathews finished with 13 carries for 112 yards and a TD. It should be mentioned that Jacksonville’s defense was missing its top three cornerbacks. Still, the Chargers improved to 18-2 in December and January under Turner.
Buffalo (5-7, 5-6-1) was one of the NFL’s early surprises, but last week’s 23-17 home loss to Tennessee was the Bills’ fifth defeat in a row. Buffalo lost team MVP running back Fred Jackson recently for the season and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has slumped off after he was named the AFC's offensive player of the month in September. Fitzpatrick has 11 TD passes and 11 interceptions in his last nine games after throwing nine touchdowns with only three picks in the first three. The defense deserves its blame as well, allowing 31.4 ppg during the losing streak.
Buffalo hasn’t been in the playoffs since 1999 and will all but be eliminated with a loss this week. The Chargers are two games behind Denver and Oakland in the AFC West. These two teams haven’t met since 2008. Buffalo has covered just one of its past five road games. San Diego is 1-4 ATS in its past five as a favorite.
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"Tyler’s the starter," Haley said. "We’re getting Kyle (Orton) ready to play. He might have to play."
According to beat writer Adam Teicher, Palko was the first QB in the rotation during Wednesday's practice, and received 60 percent of the reps compared to Orton's 40 percent.
So Haley is still giving Orton enough reps to tell us Palko will get yanked if he stinks it up like he did against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week.
How bad has Palko been? Three weeks, three starts, no touchdowns six interceptions. That bad. If not this weekend expect to see Orton in Week 14.
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Betting Analysis: Amazingly as bad as Palko has been the Chiefs still covered the 10.5 spread against the Steelers last week. But that one's on the defense, who held Pittsburgh to just 13 points.
Palko is simply an INT waiting to happen, and we can't tell anyone to trust the Chiefs as a wager as long as he's under center. It doesn't help matters that the Chiefs face the Chicago Bears on Sunday, a team that has been pounding offenses all season. Even without Jay Cutler at quarterback, oddsmakers have opened the Bears as 7-point favorites in the Bodog Sportsbook.