SPORTS WAGERS-RANDALL THE HANDLE
PHILADELPHIA –3 +1.10 over Indianapolis
We prefer Kevin Kolb over Michael Vick but how can anyone question Andy Reid? Isn’t football all about match-ups and we’re assuming that Reid likes Vicks legs over Kolb’s’ arm in this particular match-up. The Eagles are coming off a bye week and under Reid the Eagles have won 11 straight after the bye. More incredibly, Reid is 40-38 lifetime before the bye and 72-32 after his intermission week. Now the rested Eagles will play a banged up Colts squad that’s coming off a huge Monday night win over Houston and traveling on a short week. That’s a low-percentage angle for any team the and while you can never count out Peyton Manning, one can’t ignore the fact that the Colts are just not as strong as they’ve been in previous years. They’ve had a very easy road schedule (Houston, Denver, Jacksonville, Washington) and lost to both Jax and Houston. They had a three-point win in Washington and a 27-13 win over Denver. They have not played a single team in the upper echelon of the league and they have some key AFC match-ups coming up in the next few weeks that include Cincinnati, New England and San Diego. Philly has won three of its four road games this season and they also whacked the Falcons in its last game at home before the bye. More than all of that, however, is once again that Andy Reid is 11-0 after the bye and that sticks out and it can’t be a coincidence or fluke. Play: Philadelphia –3 +1.10 (Risking 2 units).
MINNESOTA –8 over Arizona
Brett Favre is exactly like Randy Moss in that they both need more attention than a two-year-old. Favre goes about it a little more subtly and that’s the only difference between the two. Enter the Arizona Cardinals, a team that Favre knows he can once again look like a hero against. He’s been battered and criticized all season long and this is the week he can silent the critics and read about how great he is after the game. Adrian Peterson will tear up this soft run defense and everything will be right again for at least a week in Minnesota. The Cards are not a bad team; they’re a putrid one. All of its three wins has been pure luck. When they beat the Chargers 30-20 the offense didn’t score a single TD. Its other two wins came against the Rams in week one and the Raiders in week three and the latter was also a fluke. The Cards run defense ranks 29th, its pass defense ranks 23rd, its offense ranks 28th overall and they don’t travel well. They’ve already lost 41-7 and 38-10 on the road and they’re even worse when they have to travel to a different time zone. The Vikes have played New England, Green Bay, Dallas and the Jets over the last four weeks and they take a huge step down in class when facing this pathetic offense and even worse defense. This has blowout written all over it and anything less than a 24-point win would be a complete shocker. If you make just one wager this week, this should be it. Play: Minnesota –8 (Risking 3.06 units to win 3).
CLEVELAND +4½ over New England
Laying road points in this league is always a risk and this one brings even more risk simply because when you play the Patriots, you’re almost always going to pay a premium to do so. At first glance the Patriots look like a strong play and you can be damn sure that the “squares” will be all over them this week, especially when you throw in the Belichick vs Mangini angle. Thing is, the odds makers are fully aware of the public’s propensity to wager on the Pats and they didn’t make a soft line. Fact is, the Patriots are coming off four intense games in a row that started on a Monday night vs Miami and continued in successive weeks against Baltimore, at San Diego and last week vs the Vikes. Also note that the Patriots have the Steelers on deck next Sunday night in prime time. Meanwhile the Brownies are just 2-5 but they’ve had an extremely difficult schedule. Its last six games have come against Kansas City, Baltimore, Cinci, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and New Orleans. They’ve been in every single game and probably should’ve won at least three of those. They’re coming off a road win in New Orleans and QB Colt McCoy is getting better with each passing quarter. The Brownies are on the verge of being a playoff contender and a real threat. Everything is coming together for them slowly but surely. Give us the points in a favorable situation and don’t be a bit surprised of these Brownies win outright. Play: Cleveland +4½ (Risking 2.2 units to win 2).