NFL: Early Sunday Games (1:00 PM ET, FOX & CBS)
With four teams again on bye week, the Sunday and Monday NFL betting board features 14 games to choose from. On the early afternoon slate for Sunday, eight of those 14 games will kickoff. Among the highlight games scheduled for early are Minnesota visitin
2009-10-09
With four teams again on bye week, the Sunday and Monday NFL betting board features 14 games to choose from. On the early afternoon slate for Sunday, eight of those 14 games will kickoff. Among the highlight games scheduled for early are Minnesota visiting St. Louis, Cincinnati visiting Baltimore, and Detroit hosting Pittsburgh. Here’s is a quick look at each game with some key betting tidbits to consider, including a Best Bet writeup from the StatFox Platinum Sheet. Be sure to check the Team Statistics, Betting Trends, and Live Odds pages on Sportsbook.com for the latest information.
(401) MINNESOTA at (402) ST LOUIS
The Vikings come off their Monday night showdown with Green Bay and hope to avoid a letdown at St. Louis. Minnesota is a heavy 10-point favorite, but needs to be careful against the winless Rams, especially with games vs. Baltimore, at Pittsburgh, and the rematch at Green Bay scheduled over the next month. HC Brad Childress’ team is 3-0 SU & 2-1 ATS as road chalk of more than a TD, but surprisingly just 1-6 ATS in their L7 vs. poor rushing defenses (>130 RYPG allowed). St. Louis, still winless after its debacle at San Francisco, is on an 11-22 ATS extended skid at home, including 3-8 ATS as an underdog. In this head-to-head series, favorites have converted five straight games, both SU & ATS, while the Rams (ATS) & the OVER are 4-0 in the L4 in St. Louis.
StatFox Steve has this to say about this game in the Platinum Sheet: There are even times to play teams as bad as the Rams throughout the season. As it turns out, games 5-8 for pathetic teams is the ideal range, and when you combine other favorable factors, the reasons multiply. Take for instance, this system: Play On - Underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points (ST LOUIS) - pathetic team - outscored by opponents by 10 or more points/game, after scoring 17 points or less in 3 straight games. (97-55 since 1983.) (63.8%, +36.5 units. Rating = 2*). On top of those factors, consider the schedule of the Vikings. After coming off the Monday night game versus Green Bay, they have this one sandwiched by games versus Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and again, the Packers. It would be very easy to overlook this game. My bet is they will. Expect the Rams to put up a more competitive effort here. Play: St Louis +10
(413) CINCINNATI at (414) BALTIMORE
Who would’ve thought this just over a month ago?…Cincinnati and Baltimore will be battling for the AFC North lead when they clash in Week 5. The Bengals have been one of the league’s pleasant surprises, boasting a 3-1 record, same as the Ravens. In fact, take away the tipped ball miracle play in Week 1 and Cincy is unbeaten right now with wins over Green Bay & Pittsburgh on its resume. Here, they’ll be looking to up their record in Baltimore to 4-3 under Marvin Lewis and win their third straight ATS vs. a division foe for the first time since 2005. The Ravens are 9-1 ATS as a favorite under John Harbaugh and 6-2 ATS versus AFC North opponents, but off the humbling setback in New England. Favorites in this H2h series are on a 14-5 SU & ATS run.
(415) PITTSBURGH at (416) DETROIT
The last time the Lions were on their home turf, they snapped a 19-game franchise losing streak. On Sunday vs. Pittsburgh, they’ll try for two home wins in a row for the first time since November ’07 when they beat Denver. Detroit’s winning feeling was quickly erased in the 48-24 loss at Chicago, and now the Lions come into this one with a 0-7 ATS mark at home coming off a road loss. The Steelers have become uncomfortable in the road chalk role and are just 5-7 SU & 4-8 ATS as such in the Mike Tomlin era. However, this is typically the time of the year that they turn it on, and are 41-21 ATS in October games after the win vs. San Diego. Pittsburgh leads the L5 games of this series, 4-1, but Detroit turns the tables on pointspreads, 4-1 ATS in that same span.
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