A Wild Weekend
By SPORTSBETTING.com
The final week of 2008 and the first weekend of 2009 had one thing in common, football.
College bowl games continued with each contest becoming more meaningful and the first-round of the NFL playoffs kicked off.
There was a stark contrast between Saturday?s and Sunday?s games in the NFL?s Wild Card weekend.
Saturday started off with the Atlanta Falcons travelling to play the Cardinals in Arizona?s first home playoff game in a long, long time.
The Cardinals opened as underdogs but money poured in n them throughout the week, with a lot of Arizona money showing up on gameday. By the time the game went off the home side Cardinals were a 2-point favorite.
Going into Wild Card weekend, all the talk was about rookie QB Matt Ryan?who took the AP?s Offensive Rookie of the Year honors?and the Falcons? reversal of fortune as the team was in the playoffs one year removed from a 4-12 season.
But a rookie QB, on the road in the playoffs can be dicey, especially facing a veteran QB with tons of playoff experience. In a very entertaining matchup, home was where the heart was as the Cardinals covered the 2-point spread in a 30-24 victory and the game went Over the number.
They now travel to Carolina to play the Panthers. SPORTSBETTING.com has Arizona listed as a 9.5-point underdog in this matchup.
Home cooking was also good for the San Diego Chargers who squeaked into the postseason with a win over Denver the week before and hosted the Indianapolis Colts listed as 2-point home ?dogs.
By kick-off the majority of betting volume was on the visiting Colts and on the Over. Indy had been so impressive in the second half of the season bettors liked the matchup for Peyton Manning and crew.
Plus, with all the talk about LaDainian Tomlinson being injured, it had more money flowing the Colts way. It turned out Tomlinson wasn?t able to significantly contribute, as he didn?t complete the game. However, the diminutive Darren Sproles picked up the slack in HUGE way. Sproles racked up 328 yards combined and the Chargers leading his team to an overtime victory, covering the +2 in a 23-17 final.
Indy backers might still be seething over a 3 and 2 play call late in the game by Indy. If they gain the first down they win the game, leading 17-14. But they went with an open backfield, allowing the Chargers to pin their ears back and come after Manning, a play that resulted in a sack, a punt and lead to the Chargers kicking the game tying field goal.
The dog covering and the game staying under meant a loss for the betting public in that one.
While the home teams took both games on Saturday, Sunday proved to be a different creature.
Like the Falcons, people were raving about the Miami Dolphins, who had a 10-win turnaround from the year previous, and QB Chad Pennington, who was the NFL?s Comeback Player of the Year.
Miami opened the week as a 3-point home dog, but money flowed in on the Ravens all week right up to kick-off and Baltimore went off as a 3.5-point favorite with the Total set at 38.
Unlike the day before, the home side was overmatched and bettors had the right side as Baltimore swarmed Miami all game enroute to a 27-9 win.
The Ravens covered the 3-points and the game went Under the Total.
The final game of the weekend saw the Philadelphia Eagles (3-point road faves) in Minnesota to play the surprising NFC North division champion Vikings.
A 71-yard TD reception by the Eagles? Brian Westbrook coupled with a David Akers FG late in the game ensured that Philly would cover in a 26-14 victory and the home teams would go winless on Sunday.
- Of course this is the part of the bowl sked where BCS bowls are prevalent and if you played the underdog in Friday?s Sugar Bowl, you would be counting your winnings.
Listed at +8.5, the Utah Utes were facing the Alabama Crimson Tide and Coach of the Year Nick Saban at the Louisiana Superdome.
The Utes were undeterred by the coach and the odds and defeated Alabama by a sizable margin in a 31-17 victory.
Utah won?t be in the national championship picture but it should be considering they finished the season undefeated at 13-0.
Tonight we have the Fiesta Bowl matchup between Ohio State and Texas. The Longhorns are listed as 9-point favorites. Can the Big 10 step up? Hard to say, but most bettors are hoping they continue to languish. SPORTSBETTING.com is reporting 77% of the wagering volume on this game is coming in on Texas.
The game kicks off at 8:00 PM ET tonight.
- The lines are up for this coming weekend?s Divisional Playoff matchups. As mentioned the Cards are big dogs vs. Carolina, the Ravens are 3-point dogs in Tennessee, Philadelphia is +4 in New York and San Diego are 6-point dogs in Pittsburgh.
You can bet on all the football action at SPORTSBETTING.com, plus check out their top bonuses and promotions.
By SPORTSBETTING.com
The final week of 2008 and the first weekend of 2009 had one thing in common, football.
College bowl games continued with each contest becoming more meaningful and the first-round of the NFL playoffs kicked off.
There was a stark contrast between Saturday?s and Sunday?s games in the NFL?s Wild Card weekend.
Saturday started off with the Atlanta Falcons travelling to play the Cardinals in Arizona?s first home playoff game in a long, long time.
The Cardinals opened as underdogs but money poured in n them throughout the week, with a lot of Arizona money showing up on gameday. By the time the game went off the home side Cardinals were a 2-point favorite.
Going into Wild Card weekend, all the talk was about rookie QB Matt Ryan?who took the AP?s Offensive Rookie of the Year honors?and the Falcons? reversal of fortune as the team was in the playoffs one year removed from a 4-12 season.
But a rookie QB, on the road in the playoffs can be dicey, especially facing a veteran QB with tons of playoff experience. In a very entertaining matchup, home was where the heart was as the Cardinals covered the 2-point spread in a 30-24 victory and the game went Over the number.
They now travel to Carolina to play the Panthers. SPORTSBETTING.com has Arizona listed as a 9.5-point underdog in this matchup.
Home cooking was also good for the San Diego Chargers who squeaked into the postseason with a win over Denver the week before and hosted the Indianapolis Colts listed as 2-point home ?dogs.
By kick-off the majority of betting volume was on the visiting Colts and on the Over. Indy had been so impressive in the second half of the season bettors liked the matchup for Peyton Manning and crew.
Plus, with all the talk about LaDainian Tomlinson being injured, it had more money flowing the Colts way. It turned out Tomlinson wasn?t able to significantly contribute, as he didn?t complete the game. However, the diminutive Darren Sproles picked up the slack in HUGE way. Sproles racked up 328 yards combined and the Chargers leading his team to an overtime victory, covering the +2 in a 23-17 final.
Indy backers might still be seething over a 3 and 2 play call late in the game by Indy. If they gain the first down they win the game, leading 17-14. But they went with an open backfield, allowing the Chargers to pin their ears back and come after Manning, a play that resulted in a sack, a punt and lead to the Chargers kicking the game tying field goal.
The dog covering and the game staying under meant a loss for the betting public in that one.
While the home teams took both games on Saturday, Sunday proved to be a different creature.
Like the Falcons, people were raving about the Miami Dolphins, who had a 10-win turnaround from the year previous, and QB Chad Pennington, who was the NFL?s Comeback Player of the Year.
Miami opened the week as a 3-point home dog, but money flowed in on the Ravens all week right up to kick-off and Baltimore went off as a 3.5-point favorite with the Total set at 38.
Unlike the day before, the home side was overmatched and bettors had the right side as Baltimore swarmed Miami all game enroute to a 27-9 win.
The Ravens covered the 3-points and the game went Under the Total.
The final game of the weekend saw the Philadelphia Eagles (3-point road faves) in Minnesota to play the surprising NFC North division champion Vikings.
A 71-yard TD reception by the Eagles? Brian Westbrook coupled with a David Akers FG late in the game ensured that Philly would cover in a 26-14 victory and the home teams would go winless on Sunday.
- Of course this is the part of the bowl sked where BCS bowls are prevalent and if you played the underdog in Friday?s Sugar Bowl, you would be counting your winnings.
Listed at +8.5, the Utah Utes were facing the Alabama Crimson Tide and Coach of the Year Nick Saban at the Louisiana Superdome.
The Utes were undeterred by the coach and the odds and defeated Alabama by a sizable margin in a 31-17 victory.
Utah won?t be in the national championship picture but it should be considering they finished the season undefeated at 13-0.
Tonight we have the Fiesta Bowl matchup between Ohio State and Texas. The Longhorns are listed as 9-point favorites. Can the Big 10 step up? Hard to say, but most bettors are hoping they continue to languish. SPORTSBETTING.com is reporting 77% of the wagering volume on this game is coming in on Texas.
The game kicks off at 8:00 PM ET tonight.
- The lines are up for this coming weekend?s Divisional Playoff matchups. As mentioned the Cards are big dogs vs. Carolina, the Ravens are 3-point dogs in Tennessee, Philadelphia is +4 in New York and San Diego are 6-point dogs in Pittsburgh.
You can bet on all the football action at SPORTSBETTING.com, plus check out their top bonuses and promotions.
