NFL Football Odds

Brett Favre Now a New York Jet

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We’ll all be looking back on those years Brett Favre spent in a Green Bay Packers uniform as a bygone era. It was announced today that the legendary quarterback, who spent a few brief months enjoying his retirement from the NFL, has been traded to the New York Jets.

“We’re going to take this one year at a time,” Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum said. “We’re excited to have Brett on the team this year.”

Favre will be wearing the No. 4 jersey for the Jets and apparently the item is already a hot-seller on eBay. As far as the Packers organization goes, well…they have to be relieved.

“Brett has had a long and storied career in Green Bay, and the Packers owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for everything he accomplished,” the Packers said in a press release. “It is with some sadness that we make this announcement, but also with the desire for certainty that will allow us to move the team and organization forward in the most positive way possible.”

So…are you going to draft Favre on your fantasy football league?

Seahawks Set to Release Shaun Alexander

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Although he’s denying the rumor currently floating around soggy Seattle, 2005 NFL MVP Shaun Alexander could be released by the Seattle Seahawks as early as later today. Reports that the running back was going to be let go surfaced about a month ago when it was learned that the Seahawks had signed Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett in free agency. Still, Alexander is sticking to his story that he’s not going anywhere.

“I haven’t heard that,” he said. “I’ve just seen the stuff that has been in the paper lately.”

In 2005 Alexander scored a then-record 28 touchdowns and led the NFL in rushing with 1,880 yards. But his numbers have never been the same. Alexander ran for 896 yards and seven touchdowns in 2006, when he missed six games with a broken bone in his left foot. Last season, when he missed three games because of a sprained left knee and played the rest of the season with a broken bone in his wrist, Alexander ran for 716 yards and four touchdowns.

Kickoff Weekend – 2008 NFL Schedule Released

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Great news for football fans: the NFL announced today its full 17-week, 256-game regular-season schedule for 2008! (Doesn’t it seem like it was just yesterday…when the Giants beat the Pats to win the Super Bowl?)

The 2008-09 season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 7:00 p.m. EST on NBC between the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. The final week of the regular season will be played out on Dec. 28th with 32 teams in action.

Like last year, the NFL will play one regular season game over in London, England at Wembley Stadium. But the League will also take two teams north of the US border into Canada where on Dec. 7 the Buffalo Bills will host the Miami Dolphins in Toronto at the Rogers Centre.

And of course, Super Bowl XLIII is scheduled to go down at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009.

It shouldn’t take the sportsbooks long to get up some great NFL props and odds!

All American Football Gets the Boot

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NFL football reigns supreme in North America as it was announced today that the inaugural season for the All American Football League has been turfed due to lack of financial backing.

The league’s chief executive officer, Marcus Katz, said economic conditions forced the decision to scrap plans for this year.

“I invested 29 million dollars in cash to roll out the operations of the league,” Katz told the station, adding he was owed “a lot more money” by a student loan company.

“When I told the board I would subsidize the league, that was before the bond market collapsed,” Katz said.

Oh well. You know the NFL season will be back without a doubt and now’s the best time to make your 2009 Super Bowl bets. The New England Patriots are the favorites at 1/3 odds to win; the Indianapolis Colts are at 7/1 odds to win; San Diego Chargers are 8/1 odds to win; the Dallas Cowboys are the 9/1 favorites to win; while the 2008 Super Bowl champions the New York Giants are the 16/1 odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl.

NFL Offseason Odds: N.Y. Giants Super Bowl Repeat?

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Depending on your outlook, the New York Giants are the worst Super Bowl champions the NFL has ever produced, or they peaked at just the right time. The futures market for Super Bowl XLIII suggests the former; the Giants opened at 12-1 to retain their title, behind four other teams.

The New England Patriots are next year’s favorites at 3-1; they may or may not bring cornerback Asante Samuel back to Foxborough, but are otherwise expected to be intact from their near-perfect 2007 campaign. That might be a problem – the New England linebacking corps is getting older, not better.

The Giants have a much better chance of playing as well in 2008 as they did during the playoff drive. It all depends on Eli Manning and his continued development into an elite player. “I’ve got to become a better quarterback. That’s my goal,” Manning told the team website. So far, so good.

AFC Divisionals Scores and Highlights

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There will be a new NFL champion this year. The Indianapolis Colts (-11) had the better of the visiting San Diego Chargers on offense Sunday, but two tipped Peyton Manning passes for interceptions were the difference in a 28-24 Chargers victory. San Diego won despite in-game injuries to Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Indy wasn’t the biggest chalk on the Divisional board. That was the New England Patriots (-13.5) in Saturday’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tom Brady was 26-of-28 for three touchdowns, and Laurence Maroney rumbled for 122 yards and a score, but the Jags were sufficiently pesky to grab the cash in a 31-20 loss.

The Pats will now prepare to host the resilient Chargers in the AFC Championship game. It was unknown at press time how the knee injuries suffered by both Rivers and Tomlinson would affect their status for Sunday’s matchup. New England reported no significant injuries.

AFC Divisional Playoffs Picks

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You’re going to see it mentioned time and again this week. I was among the many who got burned last year picking the home team in the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs. They were 0-4 ATS.

I certainly won’t be shying away from taking the home side in the two AFC Divisional games this weekend. These are two of the best teams ever assembled: the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. They are so good that I have no problem taking New England (-13) over Jacksonville and Indianapolis (-9) over San Diego.

The bye week is the reason home teams (last year notwithstanding) have traditionally done well in this round. It’s going to be of particular use to the Colts, who had a number of nagging injuries on offense and needed the rest. And it’ll be very difficult indeed to out-coach Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy when they’ve had an extra week to prepare.

Tom Brady Named NFL MVP

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It’s been quite a season for the New England Patriots, hasn’t it? A perfect season, a handful of records and now QB Tom Brady has been chosen as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, as voted by the Associated Press.

Brady picked up 49 of the 50 votes from a nationwide media panel that regularly covers the NFL. The only other vote went to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre..

In leading the Patriots to the NFL’s first undefeated regular season in 35 years, Brady was amazingly focused and it was clear that he had only one goal in mind: to win. He led the NFL with a passer rating of 117.2, a completion percentage of 68.9 and 4,806 yards, while also setting a league record with 50 touchdown passes.

This makes Brady the first Patriot to earn the MVP award. San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson won the award last year.

BTW, the New England Patriots are the heavy, heavy favorites to win the 2008 Super Bowl by 1/2 odds.

Is New England the Perfect NFL Team?

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A 16-0 record would indicate that yes — the New England Patriots are indeed a perfect team…this season. But as we all know no one team is “perfect”. For starters, they beat the New York Jets — a team that they were predicted to humiliate — by a stingy margin of 38-35. That doesn’t exactly qualify as an ass whooping now does it…?

“Everyone is going to enjoy this one,” said Pats QB Brady, who threw for 356 yards and completed 32 of his 42 passes. “This happens once every 35 years.”

Thirty-five years ago it was the Miami Dolphins who posted a perfect season. Looking at the Dolphins now and you’d think we’d be talking about a different league altogether. But no…same league, two totally different teams. And in the case of the New England Patriots we’re talking about a team that has done what no other team has done this season (win every single game, thank you very much).

But it was coach Bill Belichick who summed it up best: “That was some way to finish the season,” Belichick said. “It’s really something to be part of this team and what they accomplished today.”

Let’s see what they can do in the playoffs…

Fantasy Football: Who’s Hot? Who’s Not?

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2007 turned the fantasy football world upside-down. Quarterbacks thrived, while top running backs fell to injury and disuse. Blame it if you like on the ubiquitous Cover 2 defense, and opposing coaches going for the easy short-yardage passes.

In this brave new NFL, Tom Brady is king. His 426.10 fantasy points lead the Bodog leagues heading into the season finale. There is nobody hotter in the league right now, even with the Patriots offense playing at a lower gear these past few weeks. Pats WR Randy Moss has a chance to overtake Dallas QB Tony Romo and Eagles RB Brian Westbrook for second place this week.

Aside from the walking wounded at tailback, the league’s coldest marquee fantasy player might be Tennessee QB Vince Young. He’s thrown nine TD passes on the season compared to 17 interceptions. Over the past three games, Young has two TD passes, three picks and a grand total of 34 yards rushing. Brrrr.

All-time Best Snow Bowls

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There’s a certain perverse delight in watching NFL games played in inclement weather. We saw one of those games in Week 15, a bizarre 8-0 win by the Cleveland Browns over the visiting Buffalo Bills. Snow and wind gusts of up to 40 mph turned the Cleveland Browns Stadium into a winter wonderland.
At least the Bills are familiar with these conditions. The victims in the NFL’s two most famous Snow Bowls were warm-weather clubs. In 1985, the Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-0 at Lambeau Field in the middle of a blizzard. Green Bay racked up 512 yards of offense; Tampa Bay (led by QB Steve Young) managed just 65.

And then there was the Tuck Rule. The New England Patriots dynasty might never have gotten off the ground without that 16-13 victory at Foxboro over the Oakland Raiders in the 2002 AFC Wild Card Game. Oakland fans call it “The Snow Job.”

Why Pittsburgh won the AFC North

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The obvious answer is that the Steelers won more games than anyone else in their division. And they beat their closest pursuers in the North, the Cleveland Browns, twice. And, tellingly, they’re 5-0 within North Division play.

Meanwhile, the Browns showed they’re not quite ready for prime time when they lost at downtrodden Cincinnati Sunday, thanks in large part to four interceptions thrown by Derek Anderson. To win in the NFL in December, or any other month, a team has to be able to run the football on offense and stop the run on defense. And while Pittsburgh was outrushing opponents by 58 yards a game, Cleveland was getting outgrounded by 13 yards per outing. The Browns simply put too much on Anderson’s shoulders. The third-year kid out of Oregon State has had a fine season, no doubt. But he could still end up leading the league in interceptions.

Meanwhile, Big Ben Roethlisberger has had his finest season as a pro, posting a 32/11 TD/INT ratio. So to keep a short story from getting longer, Pittsburgh won the North because they’re the best team in the division.

Will Matt Millen be Fired from the Detroit Lions?

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Why would anyone think c would be fired after this season? He wasn’t fired after any of the previous six seasons, when the lowly Lions won two, three, five, six, five and three games. This season, heading into the final weekend, Detroit has won seven games.

Six of those wins came in the first eight weeks, though, so when the Lions lost six in a row, the speculation again heated up about Millen’s job security. And Millen should be canned. It would be hard to make the case that this team, despite its limited run of success this season, is any better than it was when he took over back in 2001. The defense is still porous and the offense is achingly one-dimensional. But will he be fired? No, probably not.

The Lions are in their second season under head coach Rod Marinelli (their fourth in six seasons under Millen), and they did make progress this season. So those seven wins will give the Fords enough of an excuse to keep Millen around, at least for one more year.

Will Tom Brady Break Peyton Manning’s Record of 49 TD Passes?

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Brady’s chances of breaking Manning’s record are very closely related to Moss’ chances of breaking Rice’s record. With 48 scoring throws through the Pats’ first 15 games, and with the team chasing down a perfect season, New England will play for history Saturday night vs. the Giants. And to win, the Patriots must throw the ball.

One factor that could work against Brady and Moss might be the elements on a late December evening in Jersey, where the wind can make throwing the ball very tough. The Giants gave up big yardage and points to Dallas and Green Bay early this season, but since then the G-Men defense hasn’t been too bad, and they rank in the top 10 against the pass.

Of course, they haven’t run up against anything like the Brady bunch. Given any chance whatsoever, Belichick will get both his QB and his slender WR their records.

Will Randy Moss Break the TD Record of 22 by Jerry Rice?

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We almost thought Randy Moss was washed up, or at least damaged goods, after watching him seemingly lose interest in the game while playing the last couple of seasons in Oakland. Hey, we can admit when we’re wrong.

A change of scenery has certainly done Mr. Moss well, as has playing with a quarterback who throws great long balls, and often. Moss caught 16 TD passes through New England’s first 10 games, including four against the Buffalo Bills in a 56-10 Patriots’ rout. But Philadelphia and Baltimore slowed him up a bit the next two weeks, although he bounced back with big numbers against Pittsburgh. The weather slowed the whole team up the next week vs. the Jets, though, and threatened to do the same the last two weeks.

Still, Moss grabbed two more scoring throws Sunday vs. Miami, bringing his total on the season to 21. So heading into the season finale this Saturday night at the Giants, a game the Patriots will play to win in their pursuit of perfection, Moss has an excellent shot to set a new record.

NFL Week 16 Matchups: Last Push for the Playoffs

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Two more games left to go in the NFL regular season, and for a change, not a lot of playoff drama. The only division up for grabs is the AFC North, where the Steelers and Browns each have a shot. Cleveland goes into Cincinnati Sunday afternoon laying three points; the Bengals are bad at 5-9 SU and ATS, but they have a stellar offense that can blow the doors off just about anyone.

Wild Cards have yet to be determined in either conference. The most intriguing Week 16 matchup with playoff implications features 7-7 Washington at 8-6 Minnesota. The Redskins are 6.5-point underdogs, but QB Todd Collins has saved their bacon with two straight winning performances. A Washington victory would make things very interesting indeed heading into the season finale.

Otherwise, this is the time of year when teams that already know their playoff seeds take it easy – except, perhaps, the 14-0 New England Patriots. Handicap accordingly.

NFL Football Week 15 Picks

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So the New England Patriots are laying 24 points to the New York Jets. No problem. That makes a lot more sense than when the Pats were –24 against the Eagles, who nearly pulled off the upset in Week 12. Philadelphia has talent. The Jets don’t. They’re 3-10 SU, 4-8-1 ATS and the worst defensive team in the league in terms of efficiency. I’ll eat that chalk, and I’ll like it.

I’ll also take the big favorite in the Indianapolis Colts–Oakland Raiders matchup. That, of course, would be the Colts at –11. The Raiders are playing at a worse level than the Jets despite their 4-9 record (5-8 ATS). That’s because they’ve gotten to play other teams in the awful AFC West so often. Indy is not far behind New England among the league’s elite. A line of anything under two touchdowns seems like a blessing compared to what New England has to cover this week.

NFL Power Rankings for Week 15

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It must be nice to be perfect, hey? Pretty boy Tom Brady (45 touchdowns?!) and his New England Patriots are (once again) sitting mighty comfortably atop the NFL Power Rankings and for good reason: They reign supreme!! (Yawn. They’re also not the most exciting team to watch but so what, right? They do what it takes to win.) Anyway…here are this week’s Power Rankings:

1. New England Patriots

2. Dallas Cowboys

3. Indianapolis Colts

4. Green Bay Packers

5. Jacksonville Jaguars

6. Seattle Seahawks

7. Pittsburgh Steelers

8. San Diego Chargers

9. New York Giants

10. Cleveland Browns

11. Tennessee Titans

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

13. Minnesota Vikings

14. Buffalo Bills

15. Denver Broncos

16. Houston Texans

17. Washington Redskins

18. Arizona Cardinals

19. Detroit Lions

20. New Orleans Saints

21. Philadelphia Eagles

22. Chicago Bears

23. Cincinnati Bengals

24. Carolina Panthers

25. Baltimore Ravens

26. New York Jets

27. Kansas City Chiefs

28. Oakland Raiders

29. San Francisco 49ers

30. St. Louis Rams

31. Atlanta Falcons

32. Miami Dolphins

NFL Football Betting Odds: Indianapolis at Baltimore

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Get ready for Sunday Night Football!

Ah yes…a classic match up if ever there was one. The Indianapolis Colts vs. the Baltimore Ravens. It should be interesting to see what Colts QB Peyton Manning can pull out of his bag of tricks this Sunday night against a team that nearly pulled of the upset of the season last week against the unbeaten New England Patriots. I’m thinking that with his crappy game already out of the way (against the Chiefs), I’m thinking Manning is determined to stand tall and win this one on the road.

The Baltimore Ravens (one of the leagues lowest scoring teams) are having a piss-poor season, losing their last 6 games in a row making this their worst season since Brian Billick stepped into the picture as head coach. The Ravens are 4-8 SU overall and out of the playoff picture, their offense is struggling and so is their defense.

The Indianapolis Colts, on the other hand, had to live through the hell that was losing to the New England Patriots in what has been the most-watched game of the season thus far, are coming into this game 10-2 Su overall and are primed for a bye into the AFC playoffs. They’re riding a three-game win streak and coach Tony Dungy’s outlook remains positive.

“I feel great about where we are right now,” Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy said. “Going into the fourth quarter of the season, we’ve got a good lead in the division and we’re second in the conference. If we’d lost, we’d have felt we’d have to win all four of our last games.”

NFL Week 14 Odds: Pittsburgh vs. New England

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The New England Patriots went too far this time. We were still awaiting word from the oddsmakers at press time, but after dropping the cash twice in a row, New England looks like it will be laying under two touchdowns in Week 14.

The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t likely to take that as a compliment. They’re still big underdogs at Gillette Stadium despite going 9-3 and leading the AFC North. Part of that might have to do with Pittsburgh’s 1-3 ATS mini-slump; granted, New England is in the same funk.

No doubt about it, the Patriots were outplayed by the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night. Their receivers dropped passes, the Baltimore winds affected Tom Brady’s throws, and the Ravens wisely stuck to the ground game. Pittsburgh fancies itself as a running team even though Ben Roethlisberger is their best weapon. That sounds so crazy, it just might work against the Pats.

Super Bowl Bets: Steelers, Colts or Patriots?

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The last couple of weeks have shaken up the top of the NFL standings. The New England Patriots are still humming along, undefeated at 9-0 (8-1 ATS), but the Indianapolis Colts have dropped two in a row to fall even with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 7-2.

If you can’t stand the thought of eating chalk on the Super Bowl futures market, then you need to figure out which team has the best chance to knock off the Patriots. We’re going to leave 8-1 Dallas and Green Bay out of the equation, since they play in the lesser NFC.

The Colts came very close to beating New England in Week 9, and that was without LT Tony Ugoh and WR Marvin Harrison, but even more offensive players (plus DL Dwight Freeney) have been hurt since then. That might leave it up to Pittsburgh’s No. 2-ranked defense to upset New England for the AFC championship. It could happen.

Colts vs. Patriots: Super Bowl 41.5

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Never before have two undefeated teams met this late in an NFL season. Call it Super Bowl 41 1/2. Admit it, you’ve been waiting for this game since Week 1. Whichever team wins Sunday’s epic showdown between the Colts (7-0) and Patriots (8-0) will be anointed the king of the NFL, the clear favorite to win the Super Bowl.
By beating the Patriots, the Colts can prove they’re still the boss. The winner of this game will be the last unbeaten team, with a chance for a perfect season. The game also has huge implications for the playoffs because the winner will have a leg up on securing home-field advantage. How important is that? All three times these teams have met in the playoffs, the home team has won.

NFL Football: Week 7 Surprises/Upsets

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Those NFL dogs just keep barking: 5-8 SU and 7-6 on Sunday, stretching their record on the season to 54-43-5 ATS (55.67 percent).

Some dogs barked more loudly than others. Technically, the Bears (+5.5) were the biggest upset of the week, beating the Eagles 19-16 at the Linc on an improbable 97-yard drive for a touchdown, all in the last two minutes. But we’ve seen the 2-4 Eagles pull the el foldo on more than one occasion.

The bigger surprise saw Denver (+4) beat Pittsburgh 31-28 at Invesco Field. The Broncos brought some extra horseshoes; despite being outplayed, they got the duke on the strength of Tim Crowder’s 50-yard fumble recovery and Jason Elam’s last-second field goal from 49 yards out.

The Dolphins nearly topped all those surprises. No, they didn’t come close to beating New England (-15.5), but they did score 21 points in the fourth to nearly complete the matador cover. Final score: Miami 49, NE 28.

NFL Odds: The Comeback Cowboys?

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Losing to the New England Patriots hasn’t taken too much starch out of the Dallas Cowboys. They’re still getting pretty short Super Bowl odds at 15-2; only New England (even) and the Indianapolis Colts (4-1) are in better shape heading into Week 7.

If the Cowboys and Patriots meet again at the Super Bowl, things will be a little different by then. For one, Tank Johnson will be there. The former Chicago Bears defensive tackle signed with Dallas last month and should be eligible to return from his league suspension for Week 10’s matchup against the Giants.

Then there’s wide receiver Terry Glenn. He remains out of commission following last month’s knee surgery, but expects to be back before the season is over. Glenn was a close No. 2 to Terrell Owens for Dallas last year with 26.6 DPAR; adding him and Johnson to this lineup would give the Cowboys a premium comeback opportunity against the Pats.

NFL Week 5: Jets at Giants; Falcons at Titans

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It’s hard to feel sorry for an NFL quarterback. But I still feel bad for both Eli Manning and Chad Pennington – especially Pennington. All he’s done is post a 90.1 career passer rating, and 105.8 this season. But the Jets’ run game is stalled, the defense is the worst in the league, and they’re facing a Giants’ team (-3.5) that has pulled itself out of the mire and won two in a row. As for Manning, at least he got a helping hand in the form of RB Derrick Ward, who had better at least split carries when Brandon Jacobs returns.

I don’t feel sorry for Vince Young. Right now, he’s a good QB with a good head on his shoulders, but he’s starting to get the star treatment after some high-profile wins on TV. Joey Harrington has the better numbers. Really. Watch out for the Falcons as 8.5-point road dogs.

NFL Week 6 Picks

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The NFL lines are getting tighter than a drum. But there are a few games on the Week 6 schedule that are unlike anything we’ve seen yet this season. Those are the matchups where the statistics are less likely to stick.

For example, the game we’ve all been waiting for: New England at Dallas. This will be the first real test for the Patriots, yet they’ve already climbed from 5-point favorites at the open to 6.5 points. I suppose it boils down to whether you believe in Tony Romo’s first four games, or his fifth against Buffalo.

I’m also looking at Miami getting five points against Cleveland. These two teams are performing at almost exactly the same level after five weeks, but the Browns have squeezed two wins out of it, while the Fish are 0-5. I’ll “buy low” on the Dolphins here; Cleo Lemon handing off to Ronnie Brown should cash in against defense-poor Cleveland.

Week 6 Odds: What is up with the Dallas Cowboys?

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How ‘bout them Cowboys?

So Tony Romo had a bad night at the office. Sure, you could look at the negatives: five interceptions, a lost fumble and a 49.9 passer rating. But how about the positives? How about two TD passes and 309 yards through the air? How about keeping it together and leading Dallas to two scoring drives in the dying stages? Those things will keep happening; five-pick performances will not.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys improved from 10th to sixth in the NFL in defensive efficiency, holding the Bills’ offense to a field goal. And they did it without CB Anthony Henry, who missed the game with a high ankle sprain.

Monday night also presented Nick Folk to the world. The Dallas coverage units aren’t too good, but Folk is now 10-for-11 on field goals this season. This is a pretty good team to be getting 6.5 points at home, even against the mighty New England Patriots.

NFL Football: Early Surprise Teams

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Some people are more easily surprised than others. If you studied the Green Bay Packers during the offseason, and their first three opponents (the Eagles, Giants and Chargers), you might not be surprised that they’re 3-0 SU and ATS. OK, beating the Giants couldn’t have been a surprise. But both the Eagles and Chargers? As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

How about the New Orleans Saints at 0-3 SU and ATS? Again, perfectly logical in retrospect with that lousy defense and shaky offensive line. Plus, having to play the Colts and Bucs on the road before hosting the Titans is no simple task. The big surprise is how poorly they’ve performed: three straight blowouts of at least 17 points.

Here’s the biggest shocker of them all: the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yes, they’re 2-1 SU, but at 1-2 ATS they’re not playing nearly as well as last year. Whatever happened to running and defense?

NFL Week 4 Matchups

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Check out the tiny road favorites on the Week 4 slate. Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers are 3-0. But they’re only laying 2.5 points on the road against the Minnesota Vikings. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles are also expected at press time to be 2.5-point faves at the New York Giants.

The Vikings are not a very good football team: They just lost to the Chiefs, of all teams. But the Giants might be even worse. It took a botched drive from Washington at the goal line to hand New York its first win of the season, while the Eagles simply crushed Detroit.

Much tougher to call at –2.5 on the road are the Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco. Seattle barely survived a back-and-forth affair last week against the Bengals, and still failed to cover. The Niners are already suffering injuries, but they’ve still got a pretty good defense, unlike Cincinnati.