2011 NFL Preview: NFC Teams with New Looks

The NFL regular season is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for with some teams in preseason. Redskins: Mike Shanahan looks to bounce back from a lousy first season, a coach Bill Belichick has said many times is the best in the league. He certainly is an above average offensive... 

Jim Feist’s 2011 College Football Top 1-20

20. Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles (8-5 SU/6-6 ATS in 2010) have an uptempo attack under Coach Larry Fedora, with a strong offense (36.8 ppg) and a below average defense (29.5 ppg allowed). They return senior QB Austin Davis (20 TDs, 6 INTs, 3,103 yards), plus speedy senior WR Kelvin Bolden (722 yards) and sophomore RB Kendrick Hardy (903 yards, 6.5 ypc). This offense averaged 200.8 yards rushing and 252.5 passing, one of the best in the country. Southern Miss usually plays a tough schedule, but... 

2011 NFL Preview: AFC Teams with New Looks

The NFL season is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for with some teams in preseason. Ravens: The Ravens are off a 13-6 SU, 14-5 ATS, 10-8 SU, 9-8-1 ATS and 12-4 SU, 8-7-1 ATS seasons under John Harbaugh, which makes him 31-20-2 ATS in the NFL. Expectations are high as a balanced... 

The Information Revolution in Sports Betting

There is no magic in Las Vegas when it comes to identifying soft numbers and winning edges. The key is finding information. There are all kinds of information that pop up during the week for any particular sporting event, such as injuries, weather, coaching changes, revenge situations, or a quarterback change. Even a team getting delayed to a game is something handicappers would look at very carefully. Many times during the basketball season a storm or problems with a plane being delayed at an airport... 

2011 AFC North Predictions and NFL Futures Betting Odds

You know exactly what you’re going to get from the AFC North each year: Blood and pain. Pittsburgh will again be a Super Bowl threat. Baltimore will again be the able challenger led by a violent defense. Cleveland and Cincinnati? Yeah, they suck just as badly as they have for the past 20 years. In a way it’s comforting, especially as an NFL handicapper. Not much is secure and stable in pro football and in NFL betting. So being able to rely on the physicality of the Steelers and Ravens and the... 

College Football Difference Maker: Depth!

The college football season gets underway in two weeks. An area of college football dynamics that’s important to understand early in the season is depth. This doesn’t refer to how many star players a team has, but whether a team is stocked or thin with above-average players at a lot of positions. Large schools with a long tradition of winning football are usually heavy with depth. These would include Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Nebraska and defending national champion Auburn. For the most... 

Green Bay Packers Superbowl Repeat

Firstly, let’s start off with an ecstatic cheer for the NFL football season getting geared up and ready to roll. I never considered the horrific thought that football wouldn’t start on time, and thankfully for all the fans, it will be, without missing a beat. Welcome back NFL! Now, onto the “Packer Backers.” Last season, the Pack made it into the playoffs with a 10-6 respectable record, placing 2nd in the division and grabbing their playoff berth via the 6th wild card slot. Outperforming... 

Analyzing NFL Win Totals 2011

The football season is fast approaching and, as always, there are significant changes on the field and the sidelines to examine. Futures lines are out for the projected win totals of pro teams. Three years ago in this column, the Steelers were projected over/under 9 wins. I wrote, “The Steelers won the title in 2005 and made the playoffs in 2007 with the top-ranked defense. There is plenty of talent again for second-year head coach Mike Tomlin. Tomlin kept a lot of things in place that Bill... 

Reasons to Bet Pre-Season NFL

Hey sports fans, Joe D here. I want to go over a few reasons why playing pre-season football can be very lucrative and will allow you to go into the regular season with a bankroll. Up until a few years ago, it was more effective flipping a coin during the pre-season than it was to doing your homework on a matchup. A few things have changed since then to make the exhibition season profitable. For starters, coaches. Some new coaches bring in a new philosophy or want to establish a winning tradition... 

2011 NFL MVP Predictions and Odds

We continue our look at some NFL player props with the biggest regular-season award of them all: the league’s Most Valuable Player. We will offer some predictions for the NFL MVP along with futures odds for 2011. And in essence, the MVP has become the NFL’s version of the Heisman Trophy. By that I mean the MVP is only going to go to a quarterback or running back on one of the sport’s best teams. Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, the MVP award has gone to a player other than a quarterback or running... 

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