Colorado Crush vs. Utah Blaze AFL Betting Preview

[Shame About Ray]

AFL playoff betting continues on Saturday afternoon offering online sportsbettors another chance to make some profit when the (6-10) #5 Colorado Crush head to Salt Lake City to take on the (6-10) #4 Utah Blaze in the first American Conference Wild Card game of the weekend. This will mark the fifth consecutive season Head Coach Mike Dailey has led the Crush to the playoffs. They are 5-3 all-time in postseason play with a championship in ArenaBowl XIV. The Blaze are making their third playoff appearance in as many seasons as a franchise, but are still in search of their first postseason victory.

Needing a win or some help going into Saturday’s action, the Crush put on a defensive showcase, holding the lowly Kansas City Brigade to just 27 points in their 51-27 home win and cover. Even though the betting line saw Colorado go from 10.5-point favorites to 7.5-point favorites at the close, the cover was never in doubt as the Crush took advantage of several Quincy Carter miscues to set the offense up with short fields on numerous possessions. The offense has been up and down all season, but despite several injuries at the WR position, Coach Dailey has to have confidence that veteran QB John Dutton can lead his team to victory.

Perhaps the hottest team in the AFL is the Utah Blaze. After opening 0-9, they went into Arizona last week knowing that a victory would assure them of hosting a first-round playoff game, but a loss would leave them on the outside looking into the playoff picture. They came through in a big way for their AFL bettors, as they demolished the lofty 7.5-point spread in a convincing fashion upending the Rattlers by a 62-45 final count. QB Joe Germaine finished 2nd in the regular season in every major statistical category, and all three of his wide receivers finished in the top-10 in receptions. There is no doubt that the Blaze can score, but their defense has been questioned since their inception. They’ve shown some promise recently, limiting opponents to 51.3 PPG in their L/4, and an effort like that on Saturday should see them through to Round 2 with ease.

The betting trends all seem to point to a Utah victory. All three games that these teams have played in their history have been won and covered by the Blaze, including their 71-36 victory on May 10th as 1-point home underdogs. Colorado has only scored 50 points in two games in Utah in their history, while Utah has averaged 61.

If there’s one thing working for Colorado, it’s their playoff history. Utah has been blown out in both of their previous playoff appearances (0-2 ATS), while Colorado is 7-1 ATS in their eight overall playoff games.

Oddsmakers tagged the Blaze as 6.5-point home favorites in this Wild Card showdown. The ‘total’ in this game now sits at a lofty 119. All betting trends point to the under in this one, as all three previous match-ups between Utah and Colorado have gone under the closing ‘total.’ Colorado has also played 7 of their 8 playoff games under the ‘total,’ and both of Utah playoff games played to the low side of the closing ‘total’.

BetUS.com offers all the Wild Card Arena Football lines your heart desires, so be sure to login and get your wagers down in what should be a heated clash between a pair of American Conference rivals!!!