1. What would screw the maximum number of people?
Pit winning by three.
2. Is there any reason to doubt Roethlisberger can pass easily and often against Seattle?
No. I don't care if they sack him a couple times. I've seen Seattle play, it can be passed on, by Alex Smith, by Steve McNair, certainly by Ben Roethlisberger.
3. Proposition: Roethlisberger 26.5 pass attempts -113 (over).
Would like to hear opinions on this. He completes most of his attempts, and Pit's been playing from the front. Possible he passes too well for the over! The number for the attempts prop has been low the last couple games, but I believe he covered both. I'm tempted toward the over, as a sort of hedge for Pit the side, as if Pit is down, he'll be throwing it often.
3. Is there any league agenda in having Pit or Sea win?
Not that I know of. No Dungy sympathy reversals in the offing, far as I can see. No minority coaches or QBs.
4. Why bet against Pit?
Best reason I can see is things in the NFL tend to reverse about the time the public catches on. Any public unpersuaded by Pit at Indy jumped on the bandwagon after Denver. Pit is a known brand. Has history and fan base probably 100x that of Seattle. Seattle only vaguely exists, as a city, let alone football team, in the mind of the East/South/Midwest, who vaguely recall Kurt Cobain was from there. Sea gets some of the Pac 10 disrespect.
5. Why bet against Sea?
Hasn't beaten anybody really good really hard. Seattle might be great, but you can't prove it by its results. Of course, neither can you disprove it. But Sea's record was compiled against weak teams. Steve McNair and the hapless Tenn boys had their way with Seattle for most of a December game. Backs were out, and Hasselbeck did rally a victory, but it's not real confidence inspiring for those considering betting Seattle, as this game took place in mid-December. Odd fact: most of Sea's games since vs indy have been played under abnormal circumstances. This is pretty much the first game in a couple months that Sea has played a healthy team with both sides having the same incentive to win.
Seattle comes from a far weaker conference; it's playing a top team; it's on the road. Why isn't the line 9 or 10?
Opinion: I think Sea's chances rest solely on the shoulders of Hasselbeck. If he can engineer a win, he's a major stud. I don't think he can. I think he's going to be forced out of his comfort zone. Even though he has a stellar record avoiding INTs, he's going to be trailing, at some point, and not able to rely on Alexander, who may well end up doing the Rockette bit on the sidelines.
I'm leery of one main thing: Pit dominating from the gun the last two weeks. Things generally reverse. I think this feeling, rather than fundamentals, underlies the smart guys' going with Seattle. That is, our in-house smart guys. According to the one article the wise ones in Vegas side with the public on Pit. Either way, I just suggest that I would not be surprised to see this game follow the pattern: Sea jumps to lead, Pit comes back and fails to cover 1h but wins by more than four in the end.
I really think a close game is a TD in this one, not a FG. The only thing that gives pause is that yes, a Pit 3pt win would make the books more money than anything else.
Pit winning by three.
2. Is there any reason to doubt Roethlisberger can pass easily and often against Seattle?
No. I don't care if they sack him a couple times. I've seen Seattle play, it can be passed on, by Alex Smith, by Steve McNair, certainly by Ben Roethlisberger.
3. Proposition: Roethlisberger 26.5 pass attempts -113 (over).
Would like to hear opinions on this. He completes most of his attempts, and Pit's been playing from the front. Possible he passes too well for the over! The number for the attempts prop has been low the last couple games, but I believe he covered both. I'm tempted toward the over, as a sort of hedge for Pit the side, as if Pit is down, he'll be throwing it often.
3. Is there any league agenda in having Pit or Sea win?
Not that I know of. No Dungy sympathy reversals in the offing, far as I can see. No minority coaches or QBs.
4. Why bet against Pit?
Best reason I can see is things in the NFL tend to reverse about the time the public catches on. Any public unpersuaded by Pit at Indy jumped on the bandwagon after Denver. Pit is a known brand. Has history and fan base probably 100x that of Seattle. Seattle only vaguely exists, as a city, let alone football team, in the mind of the East/South/Midwest, who vaguely recall Kurt Cobain was from there. Sea gets some of the Pac 10 disrespect.
5. Why bet against Sea?
Hasn't beaten anybody really good really hard. Seattle might be great, but you can't prove it by its results. Of course, neither can you disprove it. But Sea's record was compiled against weak teams. Steve McNair and the hapless Tenn boys had their way with Seattle for most of a December game. Backs were out, and Hasselbeck did rally a victory, but it's not real confidence inspiring for those considering betting Seattle, as this game took place in mid-December. Odd fact: most of Sea's games since vs indy have been played under abnormal circumstances. This is pretty much the first game in a couple months that Sea has played a healthy team with both sides having the same incentive to win.
Seattle comes from a far weaker conference; it's playing a top team; it's on the road. Why isn't the line 9 or 10?
Opinion: I think Sea's chances rest solely on the shoulders of Hasselbeck. If he can engineer a win, he's a major stud. I don't think he can. I think he's going to be forced out of his comfort zone. Even though he has a stellar record avoiding INTs, he's going to be trailing, at some point, and not able to rely on Alexander, who may well end up doing the Rockette bit on the sidelines.
I'm leery of one main thing: Pit dominating from the gun the last two weeks. Things generally reverse. I think this feeling, rather than fundamentals, underlies the smart guys' going with Seattle. That is, our in-house smart guys. According to the one article the wise ones in Vegas side with the public on Pit. Either way, I just suggest that I would not be surprised to see this game follow the pattern: Sea jumps to lead, Pit comes back and fails to cover 1h but wins by more than four in the end.
I really think a close game is a TD in this one, not a FG. The only thing that gives pause is that yes, a Pit 3pt win would make the books more money than anything else.
