The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t going to make the playoffs and have had a train wreck season. This wasn’t unexpected. A local writer for the KC Star pointed out, “The Chiefs aren’t built to win football games. They’re built to be $32 million under the salary cap while Arrowhead Stadium undergoes renovation.”
If you’ve every played billiards or chess, you know that the best players don’t simply go shot to shot or move to move. Rather, they think two or three moves ahead. A pool player uses the current shot to smartly set up his next shot, and so on. There’s a similarity in sports wagering, as well. A successful handicapper should have a good eye for short term wins, and to think moves ahead for potential long term gains.
What characterized the Detroit Lions of 2007? A team that started 6-2 and had postseason visions, only to collapse and miss the playoffs. It was a team in a total tailspin the second half of the season. They couldn’t win (1-7) or cover games (1-7 ATS). Teams can feel helpless when the wheels fall off or they suffer a crushing defeat. It takes a good coaching staff to get a team to focus and prepare itself mentally the following week.
Everyone talks about the great parts of football teams. The Broncos’ new-look passing attack, QBs Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb, or coaches like Andy Reid, Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin. But sports bettors can also find winning ATS opportunities by going AGAINST certain things. The Arizona Cardinals, for instance, have been a lousy team on the road the last few years. With that in mind, here is a look at some truly bad things about the NFL as we just finished up Week 3.
It’s not your imagination: The Dogs have been barking loudly this NFL preseason. In Week 1 the dogs were 9-5-2 against the number, which is not unusual with the first look at all the teams. But Week 2 was even more extreme, with the underdogs going 11-4 ATS (with one game lined at PK’em).
Two of the biggest surprises were the Raiders and Dolphins covering (though not to me, as I had Miami as a big play). Oakland had to travel 3,000 miles to play at Tennessee and play the Titans, who have done well in the preseason under Jeff Fisher. Don’t be fooled by the Raiders rolling up 380 yards, as most of it was on the ground (224 yards). One plus is that young quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s mobility allowed him to use his feet to escape trouble and allow his receivers to break their routes to come back to the ball. That’s a plus in preseason against second stringers, but could be less so in the regular season against onrushing NFL linemen.
