Betting Roundup of Each Division
By LARRY JOSEPHSON
A quick tour of the league with the countdown clock bearing down toward Thursday’s opener:
AFC EAST – Buffalo has less than a week to find a way to move the ball. Head coach Dick Jauron says he’s not looking back, and the team is committed to a no-huddle offense even though the offense’s architect, offensive coordinator Turk Schonert, was fired last week.
The official line goes like this: With Terrell Owens injured, the preseason didn’t provide a decent body of work to judge the offense. But reports out of Buffalo indicate that offensive players were concerned after the team scored zero touchdowns in games against Pittsburgh and Detroit.
Judging from blogs, the fan base which only a month ago was excited about the offense is now depressed. Bills are 10.5-points dogs at New England on Monday night.
AFC NORTH – Minus pocket crusher Albert Haynesworth, Tennessee reportedly will blitz a lot more than it did last season. The Titans open at Pittsburgh Thursday (Steelers giving anywhere from 5.5 to 7), and for the second straight year the Steelers have concerns about their offensive line. Pittsburgh’s O-Line gave up 49 sacks last season, a major concern given the fact that Ben Roethlisberger looks like he’ll be starting the season less than 100 percent.
AFC SOUTH – Indianapolis’s slow start opened the door for Tennessee to win the division last season, and now the Texans are hoping that the Colts or Titans will take a step back and clear the way for Houston to challenge for a wild card after back-to-back 8-8 seasons.
Predictions of 9-7 or 10-6 are in the air, but folks in the self-proclaimed energy capital of the world would be wise to recall the New Orleans Saints, another on-the rise team which finished 8-8 in 2004 and followed that up with 3-13 in ’05. Houston gives 4.5 to the Jets at home on Sunday.
AFC WEST – Before Shawne Merriman’s latest brush with the law, there appeared to be nothing the Chargers could do to screw up the division. And there still might not be.
KC and Denver could be both in the bottom five of the entire league, and sharp objects are being taken away from Raider fans after the Richard Seymour deal. SD gives 9.5 to the Raiders in Oakland on Monday night.
Barring an injury to Philip Rivers, the Chargers should be near double-digit favorites in every division game this season.
NFC EAST – Just a hunch here, but with Wade Philips’s job security at about 2 on a scale of 10, Dallas will stop letting Romo be Romo, become more of a run-oriented team and let its eighth-ranked (last season) defense do what it does best. Fourteen interceptions and 12 fumbles (seven lost) by your starting quarterback has a way of toning down the game plan a bit - especially with Marion Barber waiting for handoffs. Boys give anywhere from 4 to 6 in their opener at Tampa Bay.
NFC NORTH – Fun game right off the bat in Green Bay. Love him or hate him, Jay Cutler got the job done when he went in to Denver and showed jeering Broncos fans what the team let get away.
The Bears may get worn down by their mediocre receiving corps, but Aaron Rodgers should put up huge numbers again for the Packers. Minnesota still has the division’s best defense. GB gives 3.5 to Chicago.
NFC SOUTH – Opening lines gave Carolina 3 points at home against Philadelphia, but it didn’t take long for the public to bet that down to a single point, despite the Panthers’ pee-poor 0-4 preseason. Still, there are storm clouds in Charlotte, where the starters who produced a 12-4 season and division title in 2008 have been sluggish and unproductive.
NFC WEST – The Rams appear better, the Seahawks appear healthier and the 49ers have some decent talent. Duck hunting with Dick Cheney is safer than betting the Cardinals to run away and hide again in this division. Matt Hasselbeck has had so many injuries that it’s hard to see him playing 16 games, but if he can stay clear of hospitals, the Seahawks can make a run at Arizona. Seattle gives anywhere from 7 to 9.5 to the Rams in the opener.
Wake up, Al. You just got hosed again
The consensus seems to be that Al Davis got snookered – again – by the Patriots in the Richard Seymour deal. Oakland gets a five-time Pro Bowler who has three Super Bowl rings, but at 29 he’s teeing it up on the back nine.
Seymour has also played the equivalent of almost an entire season in 12 playoff games, and you have to wonder how motivated he’ll be in Oakland, even playing for a contract.
The Pats had to figure out a way to pay NT Vince Wilfork, and they also like three or four of their young defensive linemen. The Pats will probably take that 2011 No. 1 from Oakland and package it for lower-round picks, adding depth and keeping salaries low.
Combined with the trade of Mike Vrabel and the retirements of Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi, the deal helps make the Pats get younger on defense.
Can someone put the Gini back in the bottle?
The role of Herman Edwards will be played by Eric Mangini, at least this season. OK, after Romeo Crennel the Browns needed some discipline. But did they need this type of nonsense from Mangini, who is trying to out-Belichick Belichick in secrecy?
Everyone knows Brady Quinn will be the starting quarterback, and keeping that under wraps won’t do a thing to inflate the trade value of Derek Anderson.
Say what?
LenDale White ate himself out of a starting job last season and never saw rookie Chris Johnson charging at him in the rear view mirror. Johnson will still start for Tennessee, but White is in better shape as he eyes a new contract, and his mouth is in befuddling mid-season form.
White had this to say about Steeler fans who criticized him last year when he stomped on a Pittsburgh “terrible towel” following the Titans 31-14 win in Nashville:
“I do whatever I want at your house or my house. Because I can buy the house I’m usually at. See what I’m saying?”
Not really, but translators say that the comment was a threat to stomp on more towels when the Titans take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh Thursday night in the NFL opener.