NFL: TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Making money. That’s what this column is all about and that’s exactly what it does for those Sportsbook.com members that follow my lead.
My NFL Pick of the Week hits more often than not, producing 16 winners over the last 22 regular season weeks. And, while a disappointing 3-2 through five weeks this season, the streak is just starting after last week’s big win by the Arizona Cardinals.
Everybody and their mom loved the Buffalo Bills in the desert last week. The 4-0 Bills were getting pounded with money hand over fist by bettors banking on the young team improving to 5-0. Not so fast guys.
Buffalo had been bailed out by a couple of weak teams to go undefeated through the first four weeks but I knew that wasn’t going to happen in Arizona. Even if quarterback Trent Edwards didn’t leave the game after a crushing hit, the Cards were money in the bank last week.
If you want more money in your bank this week, take a look at the Cincinnati Bengals as they head into New York to play the Jets as 5 ½-point underdogs.
Cincinnati is bad folks. They’re 0-5, score 14.8 points per game (28th in the NFL) and 239.2 yards of offense per game; the only team worse is the Cleveland Browns.
Yes folks, the Bengals are bad but that doesn’t mean I won’t back them this week in New York. As bad as this team has been, they still have the talent to go out and win games. They proved that in recent games with an overtime loss to the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants and a nine-point loss to the Dallas Cowboys that was closer than the score indicates.
The play of quarterback Carson Palmer has picked up significantly in his last two starts. After a horrible opening two weeks, he threw for 286 yards and a touchdown against the Giants. Last week, he threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns against Dallas.
Palmer missed the team’s game against Cleveland two weeks ago and some practice this week, but will be ready to go Sunday. I’m betting that Chad Johnson (Ocho Cinco or whatever his official name is) will break out of his slump with a big game this week too.
The big man has been a mess this season with just 159 receiving yards and a touchdown. He doesn’t really have the right to be yapping that mouth of his but if he thinks it makes him play better, I’m all for the nonsense this week.
In fact, I’m for it every week. Good or bad, the guy is entertaining and he’s going to be especially entertaining this week when he reaches the end zone and helps me collect my pay day.
And even if he doesn’t show, you still got Mr. Reliable in T.J. Houshmanzadeh.
Just play like you have in Carson Palmer’s last two starts Bengals. Do that and you’ll put cash in my pocket and prove the 66% of early New York bettors wrong.
