Sports Betting Overview
The price per head bookie experts set the line for this game in double-digit points based primarily on the momentum that the Packers have built up in the first 12 games of the season. At 12-0, the Packers look to be the one team that could top the Miami Dolphins’ undefeated season and go all the way to 19-0. But before the Packers can start popping the Champagne bottles, it has to get past the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders are now in a dogfight with Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos for first place in the AFC West. The Raiders need every bit of help they can get and that includes being the team that ruins the Packers’ winning streak and sends Green Bay to a 12-1 record. But some things have to happen for Oakland before it can start to think it can compete in this game.

If the Oakland Raiders get running back Darren McFadden back in time to play this game, then the Green Bay Packers could be in trouble. While the Packers are 12-0, it is not a convincing undefeated season so far. The Green Bay offense is clicking on all cylinders and is the best offense in all of football. But the Green Bay defense has some holes, and the New York Giants exploited those holes in week 13, according to the price per head services. The Packers could do almost nothing about the Giants’ running game, and that is the way that you beat the Green Bay Packers.

Oakland Raiders
The Raiders need to get in a shootout to win this game. The Oakland defense is good against the run, but the Packers do not use a running game to win. It is all about Aaron Rodgers, and while the Raiders can play the pass, it cannot keep up with Rodgers. That means that quarterback Carson Palmer and the Oakland offense are going to need to go toe-to-toe against the Green Bay defense and put up points. The betonline sports experts know that Oakland can score points, and it looks like McFadden will be a go for this game against the Packers. With a strong running game in place, the Raiders stand a good chance of winning this game.

Green Bay Packers
Last season, the Packers went into the NFL playoffs with a weak defense and no running game. The result was that the Packers wound up winning the Super Bowl. This season, the Packers are going into the playoffs with a weak defense and no running game. The Packers say that they are not thinking about the undefeated season, but every team that has come this close admits that it comes into play. There is a desperation on the Packers’ sideline to improve the defense. That problem could be glaring in this game.

The Bottom Line
This will be a shootout. The Packers’ offense can score against any defense, and the Packers’ defense cannot stop a good running game. In the end, the smart bet in this game is on the Raiders with the points. But this could also be a Raiders’ win without the points as well.

Pick: Oakland Raiders

Sports Betting Overview

For the third year in a row, the New York Giants are experiencing a second-half of the season meltdown. The Giants won the Super Bowl in 2007 and then got to the second round of the playoffs in 2008. But in 2009 and 2010, the Giants watched the wheels fall off after week eight. With a week 12 loss to the Saints that dropped the Giants to 6-5 on the season after a 6-2 start, it is safe to say that it is happening again in New York. The Giants were completely demolished by the New Orleans Saints by a score of 49-24 on Monday night. On a short week, the Giants have to face the Green Bay Packers in a game that New York has to win.

The Green Bay Packers know that the price per head sports fans in Green Bay expect perfection, but no one expects 16-0. Considering the glaring weaknesses that the Packers have on offense and defense, the team continues to win and has amassed a record of 11-0. But the Packers faithful can hear the voice of Vince Lombardi echoing throughout the halls of Lambeau Field. “You gotta run the ball to win!” “Whassa matter with you guys? Can’t you stop the pass?” The Coach would have been pleased with the record, but he can see the problems mounting.

New York Giants

The bookie software can see the Giants’ problem from a mile away, and this time it isn’t quarterback Eli Manning. Normally the Giants’ collapse can be attributed to Manning’s interceptions and lost fumbles. But with a 406 passing yard performance on Monday night that included two touchdowns and only one interception, the problem is clearly not Manning. The problem is the Giants’ defense, and the problem is getting worse. Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees was able to put up 363 passing yards and four touchdowns on the Giants’ defense on Monday. The Saints, as a team, were able to rush for over 200 yards on the ground. The Packers will offer a similar challenge on offense that the Saints present. If that is how New York handles the Saints, then the Packers will be a nightmare.

Green Bay Packers

At 11-0, the Packers look like the perfect team. But the reality is that the Packers would not be 11-0 without quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A betonline.com review of the Packers’ running game shows that Green Bay isn’t even averaging 100 yards per game on the ground. The Packers’ defense is 31^st against the pass allowing an average of 287.8 passing yards per game. By all accounts, a passing team like the Giants should be a nightmare for the Packers. But the Packers always find a way to win, and when a team is experiencing the kind of bad luck that the Giants have been having, then that is just one more thing that plays into the Packers’ hand.

The Bottom Line

NFL fans in New York want to believe that the Giants can turn this thing around and challenge Dallas for the NFC East title. But history is not on New York’s side. With recent history showing that the Giants’ defense cannot contain a good passing game, it looks like the Giants are headed to 6-6 while the Packers are destined for 12-0.

Sports Betting Overview

The Houston Texans are at 7-3 and trying to pad its lead in the AFC South. The Texans had fought through some tough injuries this season. The most notable was the injury to wide receiver Andre Johnson. But the other receivers stepped up and the Texans got through it. But the injury to quarterback Matt Schaub could be a different kind of problem. The price per head sports fans in Houston have no idea what to expect from backup Matt Leinart. When Leinart was let go from the Arizona Cardinals two years ago, he was immediately picked up by the Texans. Houston obviously saw something in Leinart that the Cardinals had missed. As Houston enters the playoff stretch with its backup quarterback, the fans are hoping that the Texans are right about Leinart.

The bookie software shows the Jacksonville Jaguars at 3-7 and out of the playoffs for another season. The one that will probably take the fall for this is head coach Jack Del Rio, who can expect to be unemployed for a short period of time when this season is over. In all fairness to Del Rio, the Jacksonville management has not give the head coach much to work with. There hasn’t been a feature receiver in Jacksonville for years, and the departure of quarterback David Garrard meant that Del Rio had to go with rookie Blaine Gabbert as his starter this season. It is a lot to ask a rookie to take over as the starting quarterback of an NFL team. Gabbert has done fairly well, but probably not well enough to preserve his coach’s job.

Houston Texans

One of the changes that people have noticed about the Texans is the new defensive scheme. Even with the loss of Mario Williams for the season, new defensive coordinator Wade Philips has his unit playing some good football. The Texans have the top-rated defense in all of football and are second in the league against the pass. A sportsbook review of the Texans this season shows that the dramatic improvement on defense is what the team needed to be a playoff contender. But it still remains to be seen how the loss of Schaub will affect the Texans for the rest of the season.

Jacksonville Jaguars

It is hard to tell if it is Gabbert’s abilities that are limited or his offensive weapons. In nine games played, Gabbert has only 1,235 passing yards and six touchdowns. The rookie is completing 48.9 percent of his passes and has a quarterback rating of 64.4. The NFL scores that the Jaguars have been posting are not indicative of a team heading in the right direction, at least on offense. The Jaguars have the worst offense in the NFL but the second-rated defense in the league. The defense is how the team has won three games so far this season, but it will probably not be a factor in this game.

The Bottom Line

The top-rated Houston defense will have no problem shutting down the Jacksonville offense. The real battle will be between the Houston offense and the Jacksonville defense. The one area where the Jaguars have problems on defense is against the run. The Texans have a very powerful running game. That will be the deciding factor.

Pick: Houston Texans

Sports Betting Overview

It seems so long ago that the Washington Redskins were in first place in the NFC East and Mike Shanahan was being called a genius for refusing to draft a quarterback and making Rex Grossman the starter. What a difference five weeks can make. In the last five weeks, the Redskins have lost five games in a row and have gone back and forth between John Beck and Rex Grossman as starting quarterbacks at least twice. Now the price per head sports fans in Washington are back to believing that there is chaos in Redskins’ camp and things are no better now than they were last year. All the while, thoughts of Andy Dalton are running through the heads of Washington Redskins’ fans.

The Dallas Cowboys plugged one little piece into its own chaotic puzzle and that piece just happened to fit perfectly. When running back Felix Jones went down with an injury, it was the best thing that could have happened to the Cowboys. Rookie running back DeMarco Murray emerged to become a feature back and the Cowboys had its balanced offense. Now the bookie software projects that the Cowboys will use its new found offense to rise all the way to the top of the NFC East. Considering how poorly all of the other NFC East teams are playing, the Cowboys just may have a shot.

Washington Redskins

It was a closely guarded secret in the NFL, but the Redskins started Rex Grossman at quarterback in the week 10 loss to the Miami Dolphins. But in all fairness to Grossman and the Washington offense, the team has no running game at all. There have been a cavalcade of unknown running backs parading through the Washington backfield that have been unable to establish any kind of consistency. The Redskins are hoping to end that problem when former Cowboys running back Tashard Choice starts for Washington in this game. Choice has recovered from his shoulder injury and is ready to show his former team why it should be sorry it let him go.

Dallas Cowboys

It would be a betonline scam to deny DeMarco Murray the credit he deserves for reviving the Dallas offense. But it also bears repeating that, prior to the emergence of the Dallas running game, the Cowboys could not score points. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been working without a running game for two years and he won a Super Bowl championship last year. Without a running game in Dallas, Tony Romo shows that he is unable to carry the offense himself. That could be the difference between the Cowboys getting deep in the playoffs and getting knocked out in the first round.

The Bottom Line

The NFL schedule for the Dallas Cowboys is very kind for the next few weeks. If the Cowboys can take advantage of a soft schedule, and the New York Giants lose a game or two, then the Cowboys are battling for first place in the division. As long as Dallas can run  the ball, it should not have any problem beating the Redskins.

Pick: Dallas Cowboys

Sports Betting Overview

Very little is going right in Seattle ever since quarterback Tim Hasselbeck was allowed to go to Tennessee. Apparently, the Seahawks overestimated how important Hasselbeck was to its offense and are now struggling to find answers and score points. Tavaris Jackson was supposed to be the quarterback of the future for the Seahawks, but Seattle is now starting to realize why the Minnesota Vikings were so ready to let Jackson leave when the Vikings had no real solution at quarterback. In six starts, Jackson has managed to put up a respectable 1,556 passing yards. But his six touchdowns, nine interceptions and 73.2 quarterback rating make it look like the Seahawks should have picked up a quarterback in the 2011 draft.

The price per head sports fans in Baltimore could not be happier with the play of the Ravens. The Ravens just completed a season sweep of division rival Pittsburgh Steelers to pave the way for Baltimore domination of the AFC North. In the second half of the season, the Ravens have two head-to-head games with the upstart Cincinnati Bengals to try and put an even stronger headlock on the division title. But before the Ravens can get to those important divisional games, it has to travel to Seattle and take care of a desperate Seattle Seahawks’ team. These are the kinds of games that a team like Baltimore has to watch out for. It would do the Ravens good to remember that the Seahawks beat the New Orleans Saints in a home playoff game last season. Anything can happen in Seattle.

Seattle Seahawks

The stats on the bookie software show that the Seahawks have no passing game, no running game and cannot throw the ball downfield. Other than that, the Seahawks should be just fine. The thing to watch in this game is the dynamic between the Seattle offense and the bruising Baltimore defense. It would be considered a betonline scam if the Ravens did not get at least three or four sacks in this game. Considering that Tavaris Jackson has been sacked 21 times in seven games played this season, it is a safe bet that the Ravens will be in the Seattle backfield often. With no offense to count on, the Seahawks will not have any chance of winning this game.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens’ offensive line and running back Ray Rice may be the featured offensive components for Baltimore in this game. But before the NFL fans in Baltimore start counting another 100-yard rushing game for Ray Rice, they need to remember that the Seahawks’ defense is ranked 13^th against the run. The Seattle defense may not do many things right, but the one thing it can do is stand up to a running game. The pressure from the Ravens may be too intense for Seattle to stand up to for the entire game, but the Seahawks will make Rice earn his 100 yards.

The Bottom Line

The Seahawks have very few weapons to use against a team like the Ravens, and no one should expect the Ravens to take it easy on Seattle. When Baltimore hits a football field, it is all business until the game is over.

Pick: Baltimore Ravens

Game Overview

The Breeder’s Cup betting has sports fans watching the competition at Churchill Downs. But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to go back to St. Louis for the Rams’ week eight win over the New Orleans Saints. The price per head sports fans in New Orleans are not happy with the 31-21 loss to the previously winless Rams, and it is a good bet that the Saints themselves are not happy either. It was a loss that prevented the Saints from putting space between themselves and the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South standings. The division is getting tight, and the Saints know that every loss is critical.

The Buccaneers had week eight off, which means it had two weeks to stew about its week seven loss to the Chicago Bears. This was supposed to be the season that the price per head bookmaking experts were going to see the Buccaneers start to lay claim to its place in the NFC as a playoff contender. But, to this point, the Bucs have not taken advantage of the opportunities given to it to win big games. Beating the Bears would have been a confidence-building game for the Bucs, its fans and the media. But the loss starts to bring into question whether or not the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been able to keep pace with the improvements that other NFC teams made in the abridged off-season.

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints is not a happy football team. The Saints were embarrassed in St. Louis and have no intentions on letting that embarrassment repeat itself in the Superdome. It would be a betonline scam to suggest that the Saints will rely solely on anger to win this week nine game against the Buccaneers. The Saints executed poorly on defense against the Rams while quarterback Drew Brees threw two costly interceptions. They are mistakes that Brees normally does not make and a defensive performance that can be improved upon. The Saints realize that the Buccaneers’ offense is a better unit than the Rams, and that is why New Orleans is treating this game so seriously.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This is the second consecutive NFC test that the Buccaneers have faced in the first half of the season. In week seven, quarterback Josh Freeman and his offense just could not get going. When the Bucs needed points or needed to hold on to the ball to keep the Chicago offense off the field, Freeman and the Bucs’ offense could not come through. That has been the case in all three of Tampa Bay’s losses this season. The NFL schedule does not get any easier for the Buccaneers in the second-half of the season. If the Bucs want to start to establish itself as a playoff team in the NFC, then it needs to win this game in New Orleans.

The Bottom Line

If Drew Brees has to win this game by himself, then that is what he will do. The Saints need to contain the Bucs’ passing game, and New Orleans has the personnel to do that. But this game will be a shoot-out as the Saints try to re-establish its offense. It will be very difficult for the Buccaneers to stand toe-to-toe with the Saints in a shoot-out.

Pick: New Orleans Saints

Sports Betting Overview

There is probably nothing the Pittsburgh Steelers could do to try and be the favored team in this game. The game is being played in Pittsburgh and the Steelers are coming off an impressive 32-20 week seven win over the Arizona Cardinals. But the Pittsburgh defense is just not playing like it did a year ago. Last season, there was a feeling that the Pittsburgh defense could stand up to almost any offense. But it looks like the injury to linebacker James Harrison and the ineffectiveness of safety Troy Polamalu have worked to create instability in the Pittsburgh defense. Once Arizona running back Beanie Wells went out of the game with an injury, the Cardinals’ normally ineffective passing game suddenly became effective. The Pittsburgh defense does not look like it knows how to handle the pass anymore.

The price per head sports fans in New England know that the Patriots could be living on borrowed time. The Patriots have the top-ranked offense in the league which generates an average of 474 total yards per game. But the Patriots also have the worst defense in the league which has been giving up an average of 423 total yards per game. The Patriots one loss this season came when Tom Brady had one of the worst games of his career against the Buffalo Bills. Brady threw four interceptions and the Patriots lost. The bookie software has show fans that the Patriots can only go as far as Tom Brady can take them.

Pittsburgh Steelers

It should be noted that the Steelers do have the top-ranked pass defense in the league to compliment the third-best defensive unit in football. So it isn’t like the Steelers have forgotten how to play defense. It is just a matter of over-compensating for injured players like James Harrison. This NFL pick could come down to the play of the Steelers’ makeshift offensive line versus the inconsistent pass rush of the Patriots. The Steelers’ defense will have its problems with the New England offense, but the Steelers need to make sure it can protect quarterback Ben Roethlisberger if it wants to win this game.

New England Patriots

The Patriots are in a tough spot in this game. The Steelers’ offensive line is still recovering from injuries and is vulnerable to the pass rush. The problem is that the Patriots do not have a pass rush. If New England wants to put pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, then it will have to rush its safeties and cornerbacks. But if it does that, then Big Ben will pick them apart. The intertops solution would appear to be to allow the safeties to pick their moments when they feel that they can rush without dropping coverage. It is definitely a situation that requires the great football mind of head coach Bill Belichick.

The Bottom Line

The Patriots are one of the most patient and well-coached teams in all of football. But Tom Brady has shown that he has moments of not being so patient this season. If the Steelers can shut down Brady, then the rest of the game should take care of itself.

Pick: Pittsburgh Steelers

Online Betting Overview

The New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football in week six and gained a little of its confidence back. But the Jets need to be careful and not allow itself to get too comfortable with the team’s play. Against a bad Miami defense, the Jets’ running game was only able to generate 104 yards in total. The Jets’ passing game was efficient but only able to generate 201 yards through the air. Even though the Jets did not turn the ball over and played a calculated football game, the fact that the Jets could not easily put down the 0-5 Miami Dolphins should be something for fans to be a little concerned about.

The price per head sports fans in San Diego are anxious for the Chargers to get back on the field and try to grab first place in the AFC West. The Oakland Raiders’ win in week six put the Raiders at 4-2 while the Chargers are at 4-1 coming off a bye week in week six. The Raiders are negotiating with the Cincinnati Bengals to bring in former Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer to replace the injured Jason Campbell. Palmer will probably not get the start in week seven, but he will certainly be in the line-up when the Raiders return in week nine after a bye week in week eight. The Chargers need to keep winning if it is going to hold on to first place in the AFC West.

New York Jets

The pay per head football fans can see the warning signs that their team is not what it needs to be. Even with the return of center Nick Mangold, the Jets’ offensive line is having problems blocking for the run and the pass. On defense, the pass rush is not getting to the opposing quarterback which is setting up problems in the secondary. Cornerback Darrelle Revis is doing his part, but teams have learned that throwing away from Revis is easier when the rest of the New York secondary is not up to par. Some teams are even finding success in challenging Revis. Things are unstable in New York and that is not a good thing when facing a team like San Diego.

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers are more focused on being a winning team as opposed to having the best statistical offense and defense in the league. Anyone who picks NFL games knows that the Chargers were its own worst enemy last season by playing horrible special teams and taking bad penalties. With a little more discipline and solid special teams play this season, the Chargers finally look like the playoff contender everyone expects it to be.

The Bottom Line

New York Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan has been telling the NFL for three years that the Jets are going to win the Super Bowl. After two consecutive and unsuccessful trips to the AFC Championship game, it looks like the Jets’ luck has finally run out. New York is not the team it used to be and the Chargers are the team it needs to be to win in the playoffs.

Pick: San Diego Chargers