Behind the Lines Volume IV

Behind The Lines Vol. 4

A major story in the NFL so far is the injuries.There’s a number of marquee starters on the sidelines fora good deal of time and we’re only entering the third weekend.Now it’s not nice to gloat over the misfortune of othersbut if there ever was a case of karma coming around to bite someonein the ass, look no further than Kellen Winslow Jr. The ClevelandBrown TE, who already has one of the biggest mouths in the leagueeven though he hasn’t done a damn thing, broke his leg duringan onside kick attempt in the closing minutes of the Cowboy gamelast week. Another beauty, Jeremy Shockey of the Giants, misseda big chunk of time last year, and this year he’s alreadycomplaining about his role in the offense. At this rate, expectTerrell Owens to get struck by lightning soon.

There are also a couple of starting quarterbackswho will be on the sidelines this week. Namely, Mark Brunell ofthe Redskins and Tommy Maddox of the Steelers. Rookie Ben Rothlisbergerwill get his first NFL start for Pittsburgh when they travel toMiami to face the Dolphins.

Let’s have a quick recap of Week 2. The morning started likeit was going to be a record breaker for the books. They won justabout every game except the Indy-Tennessee matchup but that wasbasically all straight money since every other game you couldparlay it to turned out to be a loser. There were some Shockers.Chicago holding Green Bay to 10 points? Kurt Warner and the Giantsmanhandling the Redskins? Denver only able to muster 6 pointsafter scoring 34 in the opener? It was one right after the other.

However the tide turned in the late action witheverybody and their brother taking the Jets over San Diego. Thatwas the oddsmakers gift to the public, and that combined withNew England, Seattle and Dalls made for a nice recoup in the afternoon.

In this space last week we were looking at theUSC-BYU game on Sat. night. A buy up to 28 points on the homedog would have at least gotten you a push but we didn’t realizejust how bad the Cardinals were as they stunk it up to a Patriotsteam that didn’t even bring their B game. QB Tom Brady playedas if he had slept with every one of his rumored girlfriends thenight before the game and it still didn’t matter. Oh well,let’s take a look at this week’s featured matchups.

Philadelphia @ Detroit – Sun. 1:00 PM EST

The line opened at -3.5 and has been hammeredever since. Some places now stand at Philly -4.5, I see some 5’sand even a 5.5. And looking at the Sports Insights bet graph,it’s easy to see why. A monstrous 85% of the straight moneyis in on the Eagles and almost 80% of the ‘junk’ money.I’ve already seen 2 spaces that have Detroit as their upsetspecial of the week. If you got down at 3.5 early in the weekthis is a prime spot for a middle. Wait for a 6, or buy the halfpoint and you’re in terrific shape.

If you didn’t get the 3.5 there’s anotheroption: run. I hate games like this. Everybody is looking forthe Eagle letdown because they won on Monday night. And yes, Detroitis a tough home team. But the jury’s still out on them. Theybeat Chicago and Houston. I’d like to see a little bit morebefore I bet the farm on them.

Green Bay @ Indianapolis – Sun. 4:15 PM EST

Do you think Peyton Manning went to his Seniorprom? If he did, was it with a girl or one of his assistant coaches.I mean, is there a more single-minded athlete out there today?I remember an article in Sports Illustrated way back when he wasstill at Tennessee and they had some comment along the lines of,“Manning is so focused he never bothered to learn somethingso routine as using a can opener.” Uh, excuse me? A f!@#$%gcan opener? It was meant as a compliment in the sense that allhe does as think about football, but all I remember thinking wasthat’s just a tad on the freaky side.

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That all being said, the play here is Indy. Thisseason they’re going to have offensive output that will rankup there with the ’99 Rams. Last week they put the smackdownon Tennessee, AT Tennessee with a 21 pt. 4th quarter explosion.Manning and Marvin Harrison will pass Joe Montana-Jerry Rice,Steve Young-Jerry Rice, and Jenna Jameson-Ginger Lynn as the mostprolific scoring tandem we’ve ever seen. The game openedat 5.5 and has since gone up to 6. Don’t wait because itisn’t coming back down with 68% of the straight bets alreadyon Indy.

Dallas @ Washington – Mon. 9:00 PM EST

Some of my favorite all-time football memoriesrevolve around this rivalry. The Tom Landry credit card commercialwhere he closes with the, “Because you never know when you’regonna be surrounded by Redskins,” line. Everson Walls andMichael Downs trying to break up the Fun Bunch celebration. GaryHogeboom, the list goes on and on.

And now the Redskins return home after that inexplicable meltdownagainst the Giants. Patrick Ramsey will start in place of theinjured Mark Brunell and he’ll have a full week of practiceunder his belt getting all the reps.

The game opened at Wash -2 and has since beenbet down to -1 at most places. 58% of the public has come in onthe underdog Cowboys on straight bets but the parlays are split50-50. If Dallas can pull this off on the road, it’s notgoing to be by much. Tease them with Denver on Sunday for someeasy money. Enjoy the games this week … T.B.