Mike Rose comps
Kansas City Brigade +9.5 (-110)
Sat Mar 29 '08 6:30p
Both the San Jose Sabercats and Kansas City Brigade will look to pull themselves off the mat when they hook up in the ?Sprint Center? at 6:00 ET Saturday night. The defending champs lost their second game of the season last week in a hard fought battle with Dallas, while Kansas City surrendered a whopping 92 points to the winless Grand Rapids Rampage in their 40-point defeat. San Jose has split its first four games of the season, and comes into tonight?s contest a poor 1-3 ATS. It hasn?t been the greatest of starts for Head Coach Darren Arbet?s club, but the Sabercats normally start slow and turn it on after the first month of play. Last week?s effort certainly wasn?t what Head Coach Kevin Porter had envisioned after having 15 days to prepare for their battle with the Rampage, but it is what it is and the Brigade come into this game winless one the year.
Last week?s battle between the Desperados and Sabercats was deemed the game of the week, and it didn?t disappoint. San Jose trailed 29-28 at the half, and it was tied at 35 after three quarters of play. However, the fourth quarter saw them turn it over twice to allow the Desperados an extra possession and they took full advantage of it. The 59-56 final count was reached after QB Mark Grieb found a wide-open James Roe as time expired. Grieb completed 34-of-45 pass attempts for 356 yards and six touchdowns, but it wasn?t enough to pick up the win. They lost SU for the second time this season after being pegged the favorite in the contest.
As mentioned up above, Kansas City was demolished by Grand Rapids last week. The 92-52 final score saw them fail to cover the six and a half-point spread and the combined score of 144 sailed over the posted total of 103. The Brigades defense was non-existent giving up a near record 95 points and nine TD passes to James MacPherson in his first ever AFL start. The only positive to come out of the game was in the play of QB Matt Kohn who tossed for 281 yards and four touchdowns, while completing 19-of-36 pass attempts in the loss.
The Brigade enters tonight?s match-up with the Sabercats on a five game losing streak that?s carried over from the end of last season. That said, they?re 5-1 SU and ATS against the Western Division in the franchises history. Look for ?The Hangar II? to be rocking in the first ever meeting between these two teams.
Columbus Destroyers +3.0 (-110)
Sat Mar 29 '08 7:00p
The 2-2 Orlando Predators hit the road after back-to-back home victories to face the Columbus Destroyers, fresh off of their first victory of the season. The Preds were fortunate to pick up the 'W' at home following a very questionable ruling that a Georgia WR was short of the end zone on the last play of the game. Orlando won 50-45. As for Columbus, they got off the schneid after a couple disappointing performances by winning in Utah 52-49 on the final play of the game. The Destroyers offense struggled, only posting five TDs on the night, but four of those five scores were put up in a 2nd half in which they outscored the Blaze 32-14.
WR TT Toliver has done it all for the Predators at the quarter pole of the season. He leads the AFL with 545 receiving yards, and tops the league for total yards per game at a whopping 236.5. His 14 TDs is second to only Soul WR Chris Jackson (16). QB Shane Stafford leads all QBs who have started at least three games with a 125.8 QB rating and is only two TD passes behind Joe Germaine for the league lead. The struggles for Orlando have come on defense, where the team gave up 64 PPG in their first three outings. However, the defense redeemed itself by coming up with four stops while holding the Force to just 45 total points.
The exact opposite story is going on in Columbus, where the Destroyers have to be scratching their heads about their futile offense. It?s averaged a shade over 6 TDs a game, a number which just isn't going to cut it, especially with a defense that has only forced three turnovers on the young season. QB Matt Nagy has been inconsistent in terms of completion percentage, but has only turned the ball over twice, which has kept Columbus alive in all four games this year.
Orlando has been deemed a 3-point chalk in this one, but bettors have cause for concern on both sides of this one. The Destroyers have lost three straight games at home, but the Predators are 3-7 ATS in their L/10 on the road. Before rolling off back-to-back home covers, they were just 2-7 in their L/9 games.
Alex Smart
Washington Capitals -105.0
Sat Mar 29 '08 7:05p
The Washington Capitals enter into this tilt against their hosts the Florida Panthers winning 7 of their L/8 overall , including 4 of their L/5 on the road, as they continue their desperate quest for a post season appearance. The Florida Panthers , who have lost 3 of their L/4 and are all but eliminated from this years play offs do not have as much to play for , thus making a very motivated Capitals team the right side this evening. Final notes & Key Trends: Washington is 5-0 L5 vs Eastern Conference foes. Play on Washington (moneyline)
LT Profits
Memphis Grizzlies +2.5 (-110)
Sat Mar 29 '08 10:35p
Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies are prime candidates for a letdown here, but at least they have been playing better lately and there is no way we could give points with the Los Angeles Clippers right now.
The Grizzlies are on a nice 7-1 run against the spread, so while their 114-111 upset win on the road last night was almost certainly their biggest win of the season, it is not as if that effort came totally out of the blue. Memphis is a respectable 4-4 straight up during this current run, and they are a perfect 5-0 ATS in their last five road contests.
The Clippers are on a 10-game losing streak, which does not exactly exude confidence in a small favorite like this. They have found little consolation at home this season either, going just 12-24 straight up in their own building.
While a Memphis letdown may be likely, we feel they should still be able to beat this pathetic Clippers club considering each team?s current form.
CBB Free Pick: Grizzlies +2.5