Never in my years of assessing the NFL and have I seen so many bad teams. Usually you have 2 to 3 teams which are rubbish. Even in the NRL season in Australia this season we had Cronulla Sharks and the Sydney Roosters at the bottom, but that's about it. In the NFL this season if you were to put the teams in tiers of teams you should never back, even with your enemies money! Those teams in no order are; The Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccs, St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs and probably Detroit Lions though they are triers. I know Tennessee Titans are win less, but I still don't think they deserve to be in this bottom tiered group. How a team with Chris Johnson at running back and Jeff Fisher as Head coach is going so bad is beyond me. Week Two I lost a fortune on backing the Titans as specials at home against Houston Texans, they lost 34-31. Now if your a fan of any of these teams, you might say something like Oakland Raiders beat the Eagles as 13.5 dogs, but to me this is an anomily and if they faced each other again even in Oakland, I think it won't happen again! Oakland loosing to the Hot Dog eating NY Jets illustrate that the Raiders got McNabb on a very bad day. So if you ask me about parity in the NFL, there ain't any!
So you know the teams to back against blindly. Meaning if any of the above teams were to play and you were desperate for a bet, just back against them. So the next question is, if these are the bottom tiered teams, who will win the comp?
Straight up I believe that the New Orleans Saints deserve to be outright Superbowl favourites. The offense is as good as ever and their defense has improved from last year under the tutelage of Gregg Williams. No surprise either that I say that the Indianapolis Colts are up there as well. Peyton Manning is having a MVP year and throwing to a bunch of no-name wide receivers. His Colts defense is also on the up and Jim Caldwell seems to have really settled as head coach. Now without going down the order of betting, which any idiot can do. And making this as my easy Superbowl matchup...
I will say that I do not believe in third pick overall Minnesota Vikings. Before last week's loss (week 7) to the Pittsburgh Steelers they got into $10 just behind the New England Patriots ($8). I backed the Steelers in this game at $1.48 they ended up starting at $1.36. What Pittsburgh showed is that a little pressure on the old boy Favre, he will revert back to his intercepting way. Remember last year at the NY Jets, after about 7 weeks the Jets came into Superbowl favourites at $6.50... I may not be expecting the exact same result this year, but come the playoffs, I think Minnesota more than any team can lay an egg and get booted out by any team in the Playoffs.
So then where's the value? I don't think its with the NY Giants who have now shown, that once they had to play 'decent teams" they have been shown wanting. New England Patriots? Na, I don't think Tom Brady is 100% yet and I don't think Brady and Moss are on the same page just yet. Sure they might get there, but even if they gel, I have big questions on both their offensive and defensive front lines.
So you know the teams to back against blindly. Meaning if any of the above teams were to play and you were desperate for a bet, just back against them. So the next question is, if these are the bottom tiered teams, who will win the comp?
Straight up I believe that the New Orleans Saints deserve to be outright Superbowl favourites. The offense is as good as ever and their defense has improved from last year under the tutelage of Gregg Williams. No surprise either that I say that the Indianapolis Colts are up there as well. Peyton Manning is having a MVP year and throwing to a bunch of no-name wide receivers. His Colts defense is also on the up and Jim Caldwell seems to have really settled as head coach. Now without going down the order of betting, which any idiot can do. And making this as my easy Superbowl matchup...
I will say that I do not believe in third pick overall Minnesota Vikings. Before last week's loss (week 7) to the Pittsburgh Steelers they got into $10 just behind the New England Patriots ($8). I backed the Steelers in this game at $1.48 they ended up starting at $1.36. What Pittsburgh showed is that a little pressure on the old boy Favre, he will revert back to his intercepting way. Remember last year at the NY Jets, after about 7 weeks the Jets came into Superbowl favourites at $6.50... I may not be expecting the exact same result this year, but come the playoffs, I think Minnesota more than any team can lay an egg and get booted out by any team in the Playoffs.
So then where's the value? I don't think its with the NY Giants who have now shown, that once they had to play 'decent teams" they have been shown wanting. New England Patriots? Na, I don't think Tom Brady is 100% yet and I don't think Brady and Moss are on the same page just yet. Sure they might get there, but even if they gel, I have big questions on both their offensive and defensive front lines.
Though they are all from the same Division, I like Baltimore Ravens ($26), Cincinnati Bengals ($40)and in order the Pittsburgh Steelers. I know they all can't win, but if you like to back more than one selection and want a price bigger than $13 (Steelers) I think these three teams represent the value. Carson Palmer for the Bengals who happens to be the highest paid QB in the League is playing like one of the premiere QB's he always promised to be. Across the entire team they are playing hard and fast. After their most unlucky loss in week one against the Broncos I thought then Bungles are back, but they have fought hard and already beat their two tough division rivals.
As for the Ravens it's not too late to turn around their season and make the playoffs. They were unlucky against the Minnesota Vikings missing a 44yard FG to win the game. For mine, they need to get back to Ravens football which is all about defense and though Flacco is doing his thing by scoring. The Ravens need to start keeping teams under 17pts and then let the Offense do their own thing. As for the Steelers, well they have Big Ben who owns two rings and they are playing well without Troy Polamalu who is back.
Really outside of these 5 selections I have nothing for you. I mean Romo is still yet to win a playoff game and nothing suggests to me that can instantly change if they make the playoffs. Green Bay Packers secondary are not up to the challenge, Arizona Cardinals as always don't have the defense to repeat as NFC Champions. Broncos I will say are a "good" team and though I thought they would win their first four games and then loose the next four, they have beaten the Patriots and their defense is flying. I still question whether they have the QB and rookie Head Coach to do the job.
Alright moving on the the NBA Season Preview... last year I gave you the LA Lakers with the only team built and able to beat them being the San Antonio Spurs. And this year the West is the same. Last year Manu Ginobili got injured for the playoffs and though they competed, if Parker or Duncan get struck down by injury they are gone (again). Spurs as an 'outside' chance of challengeing Kobe's boys, but knowing them they will get knocked out of the playoffs by a Dallas or Portland or something.
As for the Ravens it's not too late to turn around their season and make the playoffs. They were unlucky against the Minnesota Vikings missing a 44yard FG to win the game. For mine, they need to get back to Ravens football which is all about defense and though Flacco is doing his thing by scoring. The Ravens need to start keeping teams under 17pts and then let the Offense do their own thing. As for the Steelers, well they have Big Ben who owns two rings and they are playing well without Troy Polamalu who is back.
Really outside of these 5 selections I have nothing for you. I mean Romo is still yet to win a playoff game and nothing suggests to me that can instantly change if they make the playoffs. Green Bay Packers secondary are not up to the challenge, Arizona Cardinals as always don't have the defense to repeat as NFC Champions. Broncos I will say are a "good" team and though I thought they would win their first four games and then loose the next four, they have beaten the Patriots and their defense is flying. I still question whether they have the QB and rookie Head Coach to do the job.
Alright moving on the the NBA Season Preview... last year I gave you the LA Lakers with the only team built and able to beat them being the San Antonio Spurs. And this year the West is the same. Last year Manu Ginobili got injured for the playoffs and though they competed, if Parker or Duncan get struck down by injury they are gone (again). Spurs as an 'outside' chance of challengeing Kobe's boys, but knowing them they will get knocked out of the playoffs by a Dallas or Portland or something.
Really the LA Lakers are morals to win the West, I also think that since they gave LeBron the MVP last season, so Kobe Bryant only has to have a half a decent season to get it this year. If Ron Artest plays well, Kobe will be credited with mentoring him and Shaq will take some of the credit in Cleveland from LeBron.
As for the winner from the East, I think the Boston Celtics will actually beat the Cavs. The big question mark I have over the Celtics is health! Not so much injuries during the regular season which I think they will cruise through and can finish second without breaking a sweat. But the question is, will they be healthy for the Finals? For example they could loose Kevin Garnett (and like Manny in the the MLB for a third of the season) yet still win and still make a playoff run, as long as the big three (KG, Allen and Pierce) come back at the right time and plays healthy - they will be fine. Keeping Rondo was a great move, Glen 'Baby' Davis should get better, and even with all his technical fouls Rasheed Wallace (pictured with KG) should help the Celtics win the East. Loosing Baby Davis for being a Baby at the beginning of the season should be fine, there's a lot of easy wins in the East. Also I know people are saying that the Celtics are in turmoil, well so were the Denver Broncos at the beginning of the season, when you have good vetrans and leadership, turmoil is not an issue and the ability will shine through.
As for the winner from the East, I think the Boston Celtics will actually beat the Cavs. The big question mark I have over the Celtics is health! Not so much injuries during the regular season which I think they will cruise through and can finish second without breaking a sweat. But the question is, will they be healthy for the Finals? For example they could loose Kevin Garnett (and like Manny in the the MLB for a third of the season) yet still win and still make a playoff run, as long as the big three (KG, Allen and Pierce) come back at the right time and plays healthy - they will be fine. Keeping Rondo was a great move, Glen 'Baby' Davis should get better, and even with all his technical fouls Rasheed Wallace (pictured with KG) should help the Celtics win the East. Loosing Baby Davis for being a Baby at the beginning of the season should be fine, there's a lot of easy wins in the East. Also I know people are saying that the Celtics are in turmoil, well so were the Denver Broncos at the beginning of the season, when you have good vetrans and leadership, turmoil is not an issue and the ability will shine through.
Prediction Boston Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals 4-2
Finally we have the World Series, where I will make it simple and say Yankees in 5. The key to this series is CC Sabathia vs Cliff Lee. The Yankees will use CC Sabathia three times if they have too, and outside of Cliff Lee I don't think the Phillies have much pitching to offer. J Happ just won the National League Rookie of the Year by the Associated press. But Minnesota and the Angels could not stop this Yankee hitting, nor could the rest of the league, so I don't think Phillies will suddenly. Yankees have the extra game at home and even if you walk A-Rod all series, it's not like the rest of the order is the Pittsburgh Prospects! I have been a massive Cliff Lee fan and I think he and Tim Linecum have been the best National League pitchers by a mile. But pitching against the National League is a different kettle of fish and this Yankee lineup is awesome except for Nick Swisher who is useless. The Yankee Stadium jet stream also helps the hard hitting lineup, and though Phillies have some great hitters like Ryan Howard, it's like this lineup was made for this stadium perfectly!
The other concern I have is that the Phillies bullpen is absolute rubbish right down to their closer Brad Lidge. Sure Yankees Chamberlain is rubbish, Phil Hughes is shakey but this does not compare to the Phillies relief. Atleast when they give the ball to Mariano Rivera it's lights out, even if he has to picth 2 innings per game. The Phillies fans are always on knife edge and far from confident when the starters leave the game. This can get into players and managers heads, making matters worse.
Yankees to win the first game at home, maybe loose the 3rd game at Citizens Bank in Phillies, then Sabathia to start game four and right the ship to lead the series 3-1 and finally with the wind out of the Philadelphia sails Yankees win game five.
Oh and don't worry about the Florida Gators and Teebow, they will still win it. They will win the SEC Championship game and win the BCS Title.
Catch all my US Prices at Betchoice.com.au
The other concern I have is that the Phillies bullpen is absolute rubbish right down to their closer Brad Lidge. Sure Yankees Chamberlain is rubbish, Phil Hughes is shakey but this does not compare to the Phillies relief. Atleast when they give the ball to Mariano Rivera it's lights out, even if he has to picth 2 innings per game. The Phillies fans are always on knife edge and far from confident when the starters leave the game. This can get into players and managers heads, making matters worse.
Yankees to win the first game at home, maybe loose the 3rd game at Citizens Bank in Phillies, then Sabathia to start game four and right the ship to lead the series 3-1 and finally with the wind out of the Philadelphia sails Yankees win game five.
Oh and don't worry about the Florida Gators and Teebow, they will still win it. They will win the SEC Championship game and win the BCS Title.
Catch all my US Prices at Betchoice.com.au
