NFL Highlights, Week 10
by Joshua Fairbanks - 11/13/2006
Doc's Sports will look at the most important NFL highlights from a betting perspective each week of the football season. Here is where you can find out who covered, where the lines moved and also which teams were hot against the total.
Chicago Bears Defeat New York Giants Sunday, 38-20.
Sunday night's hyped-up game turned out to be a very sloppy game with the Chicago Bears winding up on top. Both teams had at least three turnovers in this game, which helped result in such a large score. The Bears alone were able to cover the total. The over/under is now a surprising 8-1 this season for the Bears. It seems that they either light up the scoreboard or they play so horribly that they give up a ton of points. The Giants defense was 0-4 against the total this season keeping the scores low at home. Sunday's game was the first time the number went over in New York. That 108 yard TD by Devon Hester sure shut down the Giants.
San Diego Chargers Defeat Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, 49-41.
You don't see 90 points scored in one game in the NFL too often, but hey, there were a lot of crazy events in this match-up. Cincinnati pulled out to a 21-point lead only to give it all away. In the second half, San Diego was able to put up 42 points, capping off a huge comeback on the road. Ever since Cincinnati started out the season 3-0, the Bengals have been a poor 0-6 against the spread. On the other hand, San Diego is a strong 6-3 ATS this year, getting the job done most weeks. Only one of the Chargers' wins failed to cover the spread this year.
Baltimore Ravens Defeat Tennessee Titans Sunday, 27-26.
This was a game in which most experts predicted a low scoring event. Tennessee was able to jump to an early lead putting up a surprising 26 points in the first half alone. Of course, QB Steve McNair was not going to let his former team beat him like that. The Ravens were able to mount a fourth quarter comeback putting up 10 points and stealing the game. At home, Baltimore is an average 5-4 against the spread, but on the road, they have fallen to a poor 1-3 ATS. It appears that Baltimore can only get the spread covered at home.
Denver Broncos Defeat Oakland raider Sunday, 17-13.
This was the second match-up between these two teams this season. The Oakland Raiders lost both games, but to the bettors' surprise, covered both lines. In the first meeting between Denver and Oakland, the Broncos were a two-touchdown favorite. This week the spread fell down to nine points. Many may not know, but Oakland is 4-1 ATS during the last five weeks. The Broncos are now a solid 7-2 this season. Of course, ATS, they are only (4-5). The inconsistent Broncos offense keeps the team from covering spreads on a regular basis. On the other hand, Denver's defense is almost always keeping the total low this season going (2-7) ATS.
Miami Dolphins Defeat Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, 13-10.
How about a round of applause for the Miami Dolphins this week? For two weeks in a row, Miami has been able to win games that most thought they would lose. The key to the Dolphins' victory was to keep Larry Johnson in check. Miami succeeded in this on Sunday. Not only did the stout Miami defense stop the run, but they shut down almost every weapon K.C. had. The Chiefs did mount a comeback putting up 10 points in the fourth quarter, but it was just too late. In weeks 1-8, the Dolphins were 0-7 ATS. Over the course of the last two weeks Miami is 2-0 ATS. Remember last season when Miami ended the season on a tear? Maybe this is the start of the same occurrence.
Cleveland Browns Defeat Atlanta Falcons Sunday, 17-13.
For the second week in a row, Michael Vick has shown that he is once again not the Quarterback he should be. Atlanta seems to be able to win games against good teams, but they appear to play down to teams they should roll over. Cleveland won this game covering their nine-point spread plus four. Atlanta holds a record this season of 5-4. They are also one of the only teams to be a perfect 5-0 ATS every week they have won. When the Falcons are on, they are on. It's apparent, however, that if they are down in a game, I wouldn't expect a comeback.