DOUBLE DRAGON
49'ERS -PK (-125)
Sixth Sense
Opinion
San Francisco PK ARIZONA 40
SF was shut out at home for the first time since 1977, 21-0 by TB. Both teams averaged 3.9ypr but TB ran the ball 24 more times and rushed for 162 yards to just 71 for SF. SF was out passed 5.7yps to 3.2yps, including allowing six sacks. Overall, they were out gained 4.5yppl to 3.4yppl although the game wasn’t even that close, knowing TB ran the ball 24 more times while SF threw the ball 13 more times. TB controlled the clock by about 13 more minutes than SF. Arizona was beaten handily at KC, 31-13. They were out rushed 5.5ypr to 5.1ypr but did manage to rush for 101 yards. They were out gained badly in the passing game, 8.0yps to 5.9yps and out gained overall, 6.6yppl to 5.6yppl. Again, those numbers are skewed because Arizona threw the ball 24 more times, while KC ran the ball nine more times.
SF averages 3.9ypr against 4.2ypr, 6.1yps against 6.2yps and 5.2yppl against 5.4yppl. They allow 3.7ypr against 4.2ypr, 6.3yps against 6.0yps and 5.1yppl against 5.3yppl. Arizona averages 4.3ypr against 4.1ypr, 5.0yps against 6.2yps and 4.7yppl against 5.3yppl. They allow 4.4ypr against 4.2ypr, 7.0yps against 6.2yps and 5.8yppl against 5.3yppl.
I don’t have any situation on this game. Numbers favor SF by three points and predict about 43 points. SF has shown they are not capable of rising up and taking advantage of a golden opportunity to win this weak division. Reports are Mike Singletary isn’t able to make adjustments during the game when the opponent makes their own adjustments. If that is the case, then this team is hopeless in trying to do anything significant this year. Prior to last year, this game had been high scoring in Arizona, where these two had combined to score at least 51 points in the four previous games played here – 2005 contest was played in Mexico. SF has struggled on the road this year going 0-4 SU in road/non-neutral games. I still believe SF is the better team so I’ll lean that way but it’s a weak lean. SAN FRANCISCO 23 ARIZONA 20
Don Wallace Sports
4* San Francisco -1
Wunderdog
San Francisco -1.5
Crown City Sports
3* Pittsburgh Penguins -115
Chris Jordan
500 Dime UAB -8
100 Dime SF 49ers
Teddy Covers
Heat
TCU
Jimmy Boyd
4* SF 49s -1
3* Rockets +9
3* Minnesota -14
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
10* 49ers / Cardinals Over
10* Rockets
6* Oilers / Senators Under
Evan Altemus
1* Houston +8.5
Dallas has continued their trend of being a bad against the spread team as a large favorite and a great road team. They have been able to post a good straight up record at home, going 6-3 but have a poor 2-5-2 against the spread home record. Houston got a motivational boost last night in getting a 1 point home win against Oklahoma City. Dallas is coming off of a big home win against Miami in their last game, so they will be sluggish enough in this game to allow Houston to keep it close. The Rockets have also played well against Dallas, beating them in the last two match-ups last season. Houston's biggest problem is a lack of down low presence with Yao Ming being out, but Dallas isn't a dominant front court team and won't be able to exploit that problem as much. Houston will keep the game close enough to cover.
1* Oklahoma City -3.5
New Orleans is starting to hit a wall now after their great start to the season. They have lost three out of their last four games straight up, with those losses coming against Utah, San Antonio, and the LA Clippers. The Hornets have also failed to cover in six out of their last seven games, with three point spread losses to the best teams they have played in Dallas, San Antonio, and Utah. New Orleans is also only 5-3 straight up on the road this season. Both teams will be playing their third game in four days tonight, but the Thunder have a better situation coming into this game. They will be motivated coming off of a close 1 point loss last night against Houston when Kevin Duran missed a shot at the buzzer. New Orleans suffered a very tough loss to San Antonio last night after having a big halftime lead. I feel that it will be very hard to bounce back from that tough loss in a game that they really had circled, especially after leading by so much. They also have to travel the very next day after coming off of a long 4 game road trip. Oklahoma City has played two lesser quality opponents in the last few days and get to play this game at home. The Thunder match up well with Chris Paul and David West of the Hornets with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Look for Oklahoma City to get the home win.
Brett Atkins
Cardinals
Craig Davis
Cardinals
Joel Tyson
Cardinals
Trace Adams
Cardinals
Chuck O'Brien
SF 49ers
Derek Mancini
SF 49ers
Anthony Redd
SF 49ers
Antony Dinero
Niners at Cardinals
Pick: Cardinals +2.5
Arizona and San Francisco on a Monday night? What have we done to deserve this? Clearly, if we're going to be subjected to a game like this, you may as well cash in on it. The call here is that Arizona will scrap at home, winning the turnover battle and taking advantage of Troy Smith's inability to stretch the field in order to manage this result. Back Arizona plus the points and the under for the in-game parlay.
Rocketman
4* Pittsburgh Penguins
Ben Burns
10* NFC West TOY - 49ers / Cardinals Under
10* Blue Chip - Wizards / Heat Under
8* Personal Favorite - Carolina
I'm playing on CAROLINA. In a series which is typically dominated by the home team, I feel that getting the home team at close to a "pick'em" price provides us with very solid value. The Hurricanes are an awful 0-8, with one tie, their last nine trips to Dallas. They lost their last season by a score of 2-0. However, the games played here at Raleigh have been an entirely different story. In fact, the Canes are a profitable 6-1 the last seven times that the teams played here, incl. 2-0 the past few seasons. They won last year's meeting here by a score of 5-3.
Including last season's loss here, the Stars are an ugly 29-49 (-12.6) the past 2+ seasons, when playing a road game with an O/U line of 5.5. During the same stretch, the Canes have gone a slightly profitable 39-30 (+3.4) when playing a home game, with an O/U line of 5.5.
The Stars are currently on a bit of a roll and they just beat the Blues in back to back games. They didn't play all that well in those games though and won them due in large part to goalie Kari Lehtonen "standing on his head." I'd expect Lehtonen get the call again here. However, it should be noted that Carolina's Cam Ward is also an excellent goalie. Additionally, note that Lehtonen was just 1-5-1 with a 3.56 GAA in seven games at Carolina while playing with the Thrashers.
True, the Canes are off a shootout loss vs. the Capitals yesterday. That was a 'day' game though and they're not a team which is typically bothered by playing the second of back to back games. They're 20-15 (+7) in that situation the past 2+ seasons. During that stretch, they've also gone 30-22 (+9.3) when coming off a divisional game, including a perfect 4-0 their last four. I expect them to improve on those stats here, continuing their home ice dominance in this series.
The Duke's Sports
Arizona (+2) for 1.5 Units
San Fran has covered 4 of last 5 in this series but we don't like the fact that a shaky road team (SF) is laying points tonight. The dog in this series has covered in 7 of the last 8 games. The Cardinals have not successfully replaced Kurt Warner at QB but do have an advantage with former All-Pro Derek Anderson at the controls as he is starting to find rhythm with Fitzgerald and Breaston on the other hand, SF's Troy Smith starts his first "true" road game for SF on enemy ground. Smith did not look good at home vs TB last week with a 51.5 rating. We do realize that the AZ defense has been very shaky and can't strengthen our selection because of it. We do, however, believe that tonight's spotlight on MNF, revenge mode, and with the chance to, amazingly, stay in the division race will bring out the best in this bunch, which has some talent. And against their division, AZ is 11-1 ATS off a non-division game and back-to-back SU losses. They also play the dog role well at 20-8 ATS and show some resilience with an 11-4 ATS mark at home off a SU loss. Whisenhunt is a sweet 9-1 ATS at home vs an opponent off a SU non-division loss. SF, on the other hand, has come up empty as a small road favorite at 0-6 ATS and they're just 2-8 ATS as chalk vs a sub .500 team with revenge off a SU loss. AZ the call.