Archive for the ‘NFL Football’ Category

January 14th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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The Houston Texans survived their first game in the playoffs, but now, they are going to face a significantly tougher task on the NFL playoff odds when they have to go to M&T Bank Stadium to tango with the Baltimore Ravens.

Year To Date Record: 59-63 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Divisional NFL Matchup: Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens
Date: Sunday, January 15th, 1:00 ET
Location: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
NFL Divisional Lines: Baltimore -9
Over/Under 38
Divisional NFL TV Schedule: CBS

Texans Notes: It wasn’t the prettiest win of all, but the Texans got the job done last week against the Bengals. They really had everything going in the victory, as the offense did its job and made some big plays, the defense came up with the play that changed the game, and the special teams really didn’t make a mistake. We were really impressed at the restraint shown by Houston after the game was over, as the team really celebrated a lot like it had been there already. There was no Gatorade bath for Head Coach Gary Kubiak either. It is clearly a sign that there is a lot more to do, and the Texans aren’t content with just saying that they finished this year with their first playoff berth and first playoff win in team history. Up next is its first win on the road in the playoffs in team history, and that is a significantly tougher challenge. QB TJ Yates didn’t make the big time mistake against Cincinnati last week, and he has to play a relatively perfect game to avoid getting wrecked by this Baltimore defense. He has to make some plays down the field, just as he did in what probably amounted to be the clinching TD pass to WR Andre Johnson. RB Arian Foster had over 150 yards on the ground, and he and RB Ben Tate combined for nearly 200 yards in total. The young defense didn’t allow a score in the final 27 minutes of the game, and after an opening TD drive, it didn’t allow the Bengals in the end zone. Rookie DE JJ Watt did score a TD just before halftime on an awesome INT return for a TD, and if he and the rest of his front seven mates can play like that on Sunday, Houston does have a shot.

Ravens Notes: Can you believe that of all of the playoff games that QB Joe Flacco has started and won, that this is the first time that he is going to be playing at home? This is a totally new experience for the Ravens, who really haven’t been expected to win in the AFC playoffs in quite some time, maybe even ever. This is going to be a game that supposedly comes against the worst team left in the playoffs (certainly in the AFC), and it is one that shouldn’t be close. Granted, the first time around this year, that was the case. QB Matt Schaub and the Houston offense were stymied all day long, and the defense had no answers for RB Ray Rice. Rice, who had 2,068 yards and a total of 15 TDs on the season, had a huge game with 161 total yards against Houston the first time around. He has the potential to be a beast again in this one, and if he is, look out! It could get ugly. WR Anquan Boldin should be back in the lineup after missing a few games with a knee injury, and the bye week really helped him out. The Ravens went 6-0 this year against playoff teams, and that is a number that we just can’t ignore.

The Final Word: The Ravens are legit. There is absolutely no doubt about that. It is going to take an absolutely perfect game for the Texans to win this one. With Schaub calling the shots and a healthy Johnson back in the fold, we could have seen Houston winning this game. We’ll take the Texans and the points, but in the end, we tend to think that the playoff experience for the Ravens will leave Houston at least one more year away from the Super Bowl.

Divisional NFL Pick: Houston +9

NFL Football Prediction: Baltimore 27 – Houston 20

 
January 11th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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The Green Bay Packers get set to take to the playoffs for the first time this year when they engage in NFL betting action against the streaking New York Giants.

Year To Date Record: 59-62 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Divisional NFL Matchup: New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers
Date: Sunday, January 15th, 4:30 ET
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
NFL Divisional Lines: Green Bay -9
Over/Under 51.5
Divisional NFL TV Schedule: FOX

Giants Notes: The Giants might only have 10 wins this year, including in the playoffs, but they have played one of the more impressive schedules. There were a lot of teams that would have been in the playoffs if they could have figured out how to beat New York this year, and that point really continued to be the case when the Atlanta Falcons came into the Meadowlands and got absolutely crushed by it last week. QB Eli Manning had a great season, throwing for just under 5,000 yards, but last week, it was a complete team effort. Manning had his three TDs, but the ground game came up with one of its better games of the season with 172 yards, most of which came from RBs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. The defense essentially pitched a shutout, as the two points that were allowed were obviously the offense’s transgressions. The secondary, which has been much maligned this season, allowed just 199 passing yards and two plays of 20+ yards all game long against the Falcons. The Packers ripped the G-Men to shreds the first time around, but this is a unit that absolutely continues to get better as the season has worn out.

Packers Notes: Green Bay has absolutely been the best team in football over the course of the last 25 weeks or so of NFL betting action, and it only has one loss in its last 21 games, that coming against the Kansas City Chiefs. The offense had a tremendous season under likely soon-to-be MVP QB Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers had one of the best seasons a signal caller ever had, and he would have absolutely won the MVP if not for the year that QB Drew Brees had. Rodgers had 4,643 passing yards and 45 TDs against six picks, and he posted the league’s best quarterback rating in history of 122.7. WR Greg Jennings is expected to be back, and he missed the final three games of the regular season when the offense wasn’t quite at its best. Jennings came up just short of 1,000 yards this year, while WR Jordy Nelson had 1,263 yards and 15 scores. If there are knacks on this team, they are on the ground offensively and through the air defensively. Green Bay hasn’t really been able to run out the clock on the ground all that much this year, as neither RB James Starks nor RB Ryan Grant were all that great this year, and the pass defense often allowed teams to make big time plays to erase leads in games. It hasn’t really cost the Packers yet this year, but those are the types of problems that see teams knocked out of the playoffs.

The Final Word: The first time around, these two teams played a great game. Manning led the troops down the field at the end of the game to tie, but Rodgers got the last laugh by leading the Pack to a game winning field goal. We tend to think that this is going to be the same sort of way that this one plays out. These two both have road wins in the last decade in the other’s home stadium in the postseason, including in the final game that QB Brett Favre ever played for the Packers. It was also the continuation of the magical season that those Giants had when they won the Super Bowl and beat the 18-0 new England Patriots. Many have drawn similarities between this team and that Giants team in ’07. We think that New York is good enough to win this game, but we don’t think that it will ultimately have quite enough.

Divisional NFL Pick: New York +9

NFL Football Prediction: Green Bay 31 – New York 30

 
January 11th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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The trendy NFL picks for the Super Bowl take on the upstart that few are giving a chance to in another NFL playoff betting battle on Saturday, as the New Orleans Saints take on the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

Year To Date Record: 59-61 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Divisional NFL Matchup: New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers
Date: Saturday, January 14th, 4:30 ET
Location: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA
NFL Divisional Lines: New Orleans -3.5
Over/Under 47.5
Divisional NFL TV Schedule: CBS

Saints Notes: The Saints just continue to pour it on teams, as their offense has started to roll like it did two seasons ago when they won the Super Bowl. A 45-28 romp over the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card round of the playoffs marked the fourth straight game in which New Orleans has dropped at least 42 points on a foe, and the seventh time in 17 games that it has put at least 40 on the board. QB Drew Brees now has nearly 6,000 passing yards in his 17 games this season, and he has 49 TDs to show for it as well. On Saturday, five different receivers had at least 55 yards through the air, and it seemed like just another day at the office for this offense. Thanks to a great ground game as well, the ‘O’ dropped a whopping 626 total yards of offense, against just the 412 for the Lions. This is going to be a severely different test though, against a stout San Francisco defense, and it is also going to ask questions of a team that only went 5-3 SU and 4-4 ATS on the road this season. If there is good news though, is it that the Saints have covered nine games in a row, and three of those nine have come on the road.

49ers Notes: This is the game that Head Coach Jim Harbaugh was brought here to San Fran for. The 49ers haven’t been in the playoffs since 2002, and they are back and ready to make a case that they really did have one of the best teams in the league this year. Sure, the NFC West wasn’t the best division in football, but a 5-1 record against some franchises that seem to be heading in the right direction is impressive to say the least. Sure, the 49ers didn’t have any semblance of an offense at times this season; after all, they ranked No. 26 overall at just 310.9 yards per game and are going against an ‘O’ that, including the playoffs is averaging over 480 yards per game. However, the defense really kept San Fran in a number of games this year, and QB Alex Smith was able to get just enough done to figure out how to win these close games late on. The ‘D’ only allowed a maximum of 27 points this year, and that includes games against the high flying Lions (19 points), Philadelphia Eagles (23 points), Dallas Cowboys (27 points in OT), and New York Giants (20 points). Over the course of the last month and a half of the season, San Fran held the Arizona Cardinals to seven, the Baltimore Ravens to 16, shut out the St. Louis Rams, and held the Pittsburgh Steelers to just three.

The Final Word: We will be the first ones to admit that the 49ers didn’t play the most impressive schedule in the world this year. They only played against five playoff teams, and one of those was against the Steelers with an ailing QB Ben Roethlisberger. They haven’t proven that they are that great. That being said, we just don’t know if the Saints are going to be able to come on the road, across the country and win this game. We expect a shootout, but we also expect in the end, to see an upset for a team that went 7-1 SU and 7-0-1 ATS at home this season. Harbaugh gets the job done and puts the 49ers back on the map definitively this season.

Divisional NFL Pick: San Francisco (ml) +165

NFL Football Prediction: San Francisco 37 – New Orleans 31

 
January 10th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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QB Tim Tebow and QB Tom Brady meet in a battle of one of the elite signal callers in the game and one of the most criticized ones. It should make for a great battle on the NFL betting lines when the Denver Broncos take on the New England Patriots for the second time this year.

Year To Date Record: 60-63 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Divisional NFL Matchup: Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots
Date: Saturday, January 14th, 8:00 ET
Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
NFL Divisional Lines: New England -13.5
Over/Under 50.5
Divisional NFL TV Schedule: CBS

Broncos Notes: We were on the Tebow bandwagon last week against the Steelers when we saw just how badly that the black and gold were beat up coming into the game. This week, we are wondering if we don’t see another problem to exploit. The Patriots in general, are just a rather soft team, and this Denver team is as rough and tumble as it gets. Obviously, Denver can’t afford to get into another track meet with the Patriots like it did a month ago, or it is going to become an ugly, ugly game. However, the Broncos offensive line was able to really hold down the fort to give Tebow time in the pocket to make up his mind about the option, running the ball, or throwing it against the Patriots in the first half of the first meeting. It obviously didn’t happen in the second half. The Broncos have to force some turnovers, just as they did last week against the Steelers, and if that’s the case, the ground game and the defense might be able to do enough to get the job done. This front seven had a great game against Big Ben, and the offensive line for New England is beat up just enough that it might be in a similar spot. LB Von Miller and DEs Robert Ayers and Elvis Dumervil are going to have to be big, just as they were last week when they combined for three sacks between them.

Patriots Notes: When you look at the numbers for the Patriots this year, you have to be amazed at what they were able to accomplish. They ranked No. 2 in the game in both passing offense (318.0 YPG) and total offense (428.2 YPG), and they were No. 3 in scoring at 32.1 points per game. They dropped at least 30 points on 12 different opponents this year, and at least 27 in all but three games. QB Tom Brady threw for 5,239 yards, which would have been an NFL record if not for the fact that QB Drew Brees obliterated him by 200 yards this year. TE Rob Gronkowski broke the record for the most yards by a tight end in a single season with 1,327, and he also broke the tight end scoring records for a single season with 17 receiving scores and one on the ground. WR Wes Welker caught 122 passes and had 1,573 yards and nine TDs, while both TE Aaron Hernandez (910 yards, 7 TDs) and WR Deion Branch (702 yards, 5 TDs) both had amazing seasons as well. Sure, the ground game was a bit all over the place, but that was really nothing to worry about when there was a passing game that was this good. The defense struggled, but the offense made up for it in virtually every instance. Then we look back at the schedule this year… New England only played three playoff teams, one of which was this Denver outfit. The other two games? A loss to the New York Giants, and a loss to the Steelers. Then you look back at the last four seasons. In New England’s last four playoff games, it has only averaged 17.5 points per game, and Brady has as many TD passes as he does picks (seven of each). By the way, the Pats have lost three playoff games in a row, and they have failed to cover the spread in six in a row.

The Final Word: So up comes the question on Sunday. What was worse, Denver’s schedule, or New England’s schedule? Here’s what we now know. The Broncos aren’t afraid. They are going to use their game plan whether it works or not, and they are going to be a physical team that tries to be the smarter of the two sides. If there’s a coach that can do it, John Fox is the man. We do think that the Brady Bunch will find a way to survive to go on to host the AFC Championship Game, but we also think that this will serve as a stern, stern warning about how much these Pats may struggle in the playoffs.

Divisional NFL Pick: Denver +13.5

NFL Football Prediction: New England 23 – Denver 20

 
January 7th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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The Houston Texans will play their very first playoff game in team history on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals. Check out our NFL betting picks for the first round of the playoffs!

Year To Date Record: 59-61 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Wild Card NFL Matchup: Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans
Date: Saturday, January 7th, 4:30 ET
Location: Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
NFL Wild Card Lines: Houston -3
Over/Under 38.5
Wild Card NFL TV Schedule: NBC

Bengals Notes: The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since 1991, and ironically, that win came against the Houston Oilers. This has been an interesting season for Cincinnati to say the least. Many pictured this being a two or a three win team this year with basically an entirely new offense, but we have to tip our cap to OC Jay Gruden and the rest of the staff for building a competitive offense with rookie QB Andy Dalton calling the shots. Sure, Dalton only threw for 3,300+ yards this year, and his TD/INT ratio of 20/13 wasn’t anything to really write home about, but in the end, this was a team that was able to win the games that it should have won. The problem though, is that the Bengals went 9-0 against teams that didn’t make the playoffs this year, and a stunning 0-7 (and just 1-5-1 ATS) against teams that are in the postseason.

Texans Notes: The city of Houston hasn’t won a playoff game since 1992, and for the first time, the Texans will be in the postseason. Again, it has been a tumultuous year to say the least. QBs Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart are on IR, and interestingly enough, rookie QB TJ Yates is going to become the answer to a great trivia question in a few years. The question? Who started at quarterback in the first playoff game in Texans history? RB Arian Foster missed basically three full games at the start of the season, but he still finished the season with over 1,800 total yards of offense. He and RB Ben Tate combined for over 2,100 rushing yards this year, leading this team to the second best rushing attack in football. The defense improved a ton under DC Wade Phillips in 2011. LBs Brooks Reed and Connor Barwin have stepped in well for the injured LB Mario Williams, and the MLBs in the 3-4 scheme, Brian Cushing and DeMeco Ryans have been monsters. Houston even has its first Pro Bowl member of the secondary in team history in the newly signed Johnathan Joseph, who has had a great first season in the Lone Star State.

The Final Word: Do either of these teams really have a shot to win the Super Bowl this year? No, not really. However, it would be important for both to get this win to give the team yet another shot at taking on a big boy next week. In the end, we just don’t like the way that the Texans closed out the season. They were able to steal a win in a game in which they probably weren’t the better team in the Queen City a month ago, and they haven’t won since that point. Take the points with the Bengals, but we are fully expecting to see an outright upset when push comes to shove.

Wild Card NFL Pick: Cincinnati +3

NFL Football Prediction: Cincinnati 24 – Houston 20

 
January 6th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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We could be in for a good old fashioned shootout in the Bayou on Saturday, as the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions try to beat the NFL playoff odds in their second battle of the season at the Louisiana Superdome.

Year To Date Record: 59-61 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Wild Card NFL Matchup: Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints
Date: Saturday, January 7th, 8:00 ET
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
NFL Wild Card Lines: New Orleans -11
Over/Under 59
Wild Card NFL TV Schedule: NBC

Lions Notes: The Lions have officially returned from over a dozen years of hibernation. They haven’t played in a playoff game since 1999, and they haven’t won one since 1991, and they have a chance on Saturday to make a huge statement by beating the team that many think is the only one that has a shot of challenging the Green Bay Packers in the NFC. The year ended on a bit of a sour note, as Detroit wasn’t nearly as good down the stretch as it was at the start of the season, but the schedule got a heck of a lot tougher, and it showed. That being said, QB Matt Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson were both ridiculously good this year. Stafford threw for just over 5,000 yards, and though he finished third in the league in that category, he is only the fourth quarterback in the history of the league to throw for 5,000 yards in a single season. “Megatron” had over 1,600 receiving yards, including over 550 in his final three games of the season. He has proven that he is one of the most dangerous receivers in the league, and if the Saints aren’t careful, he could be the difference maker in this game no matter how many guys are responsible for guarding him. Detroit just has to avoid beating itself with dumb penalties. The team committed oodles of personal fouls all season long, especially when the going got tough, and in the first meeting of these two teams, there were 11 penalties for 107 yards, far too many to beat a team with an offense that is this good.

Saints Notes: Last year was a brutal one for the Saints, as they just missed out on the AFC South title and ended up having to go on the road in the playoffs. They were 11 point favorites against the Seattle Seahawks on the road, and just like they year, they were just expected to blow the inferior team out of the water, but instead, they were beaten outright and were considered the dud of the postseason. Now, QB Drew Brees and the gang are back, and they may even be better than they were when they won the Super Bowl two years ago. The key addition was that of RB Darren Sproles. Sproles broke the record for most all-purpose yards in a single season in league history, and he and TE Jimmy Graham were really the reasons that Brees threw for over 5,400 yards to smash the league record for most yards in a season Graham won’t go into the record books for his season, but he came up just shy of setting basically every single season tight end record this year. If there is a problem for Brees and the offense, it is that RB Mark Ingram won’t play in this one, and in all likelihood, neither will WR Lance Moore nor WR Devery Henderson.

The Final Word: We’ve done a lot of speaking about these two offense, but we have to look back at the first meeting of the year between these two teams. Sure, Detroit left a lot of points on the board, but it also gave up 31 points without DT Ndamukong Suh in the fold. Suh is back from his suspension, and he is surely going to wreak havoc in this game. Though there is no doubt that both of these teams will put some points on the board, there were only 48 that were scored the first time these two played. There’s no reason to think that they will combine for many more than that in this one. Remember that the ‘under’ has gone 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in this series.

Wild Card NFL Pick: Detroit/New Orleans Under 59

NFL Football Prediction: New Orleans 31 – Detroit 24

 
January 6th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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Teams with some offensive firepower duke it out in the Meadowlands on Sunday to start a double dip of games on the NFL playoffs schedule when the NFC East winning New York Giants host the Atlanta Falcons.

Year To Date Record: 59-61 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Wild Card NFL Matchup: Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants
Date: Sunday, January 7th, 1:00 ET
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
NFL Wild Card Lines: New York -3
Over/Under 47.5
Wild Card NFL TV Schedule: FOX

Falcons Notes: It’s hard to believe that the Falcons didn’t have an offense ranked in the Top 5 in any major offensive category in the league this year outside of field goal kicking. QB Matt Ryan threw for over 4,000 yards, and his top three receivers, WR Roddy White, WR Julio Jones, and TE Tony Gonzalez combined for 234 receptions and at least 875 yards apiece. Jones averaged almost 18 yards per catch, and White had a second straight 100+ catch season and a fifth straight 80+ catch season. Gonzalez had the third most touchdowns that he has had in a season, which is really saying something for a man that has 95 career TDs and over 13,000 receiving yards. RB Michael Turner carried the ball a whopping 301 times, and he had 1,340 yards and 11 scores. Yet the Falcons still seem like a relatively average offensive squad by playoff standards, and no one thinks that they can stick with the best offenses in the league. Many don’t even think that they can stay with the offense on the other side of the field.

Giants Notes: New York had itself an interesting season this year. In a different year in which there weren’t three quarterbacks that threw for over 5,000 yards and four that threw for at least 39 TDs, QB Eli Manning might have been the league’s MVP. He threw for 4,933 yards and 29 TDs. Sure, he threw 16 picks, and sure he was amongst the league leaders in turnovers, but he took every single snap this year for his team, won the games that had to be won, and he even went on the road and beat the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys with late, game-winning drives. Yes, it was a fine year for Manning, especially when you consider the fact that both RBs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs missed time this year, and the G-Men ranked dead last in the league in rushing. The Giants also got nothing this year out of WR Mario Manningham, who only had 523 yards on 39 receptions. WR Hakeem Nicks had 1,192 yards and seven trips to the end zone, but the two surprises were TE Jake Ballard and WR Victor Cruz. Ballard had 604 yards and four TDs this year, which isn’t shabby for a man who wasn’t known as a pass catching tight end before this season. Cruz, who started the year as the fourth best receiver on his team, ended the season with the third most receiving yards in the league with 1,536, and he had a team high in receptions with 82 and TDs with nine. In the end this year, only he and RB Danny Ware playing with Manning in all 16 games this season in terms of the skill players.

The Final Word: We’ve done a lot of promoting these two offenses, and for good reasons. Both defenses have had some games this year that just make us scratch our heads. Heck, the Giants allowed more points per game (25.0) than they scored (24.6). That being said, we do think that this one will get into the 50s, which will push the game past the ‘total’. We could see either team winning, though.

Wild Card NFL Pick: Atlanta/New York Over 47.5

NFL Football Prediction: Atlanta 31 – New York 27

 
January 6th, 2012 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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QB Tim Tebow will take to the NFL playoffs for the first time in his career, and he will do so against arguably the most accomplished team in the NFL in the last decade, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Year To Date Record: 59-61 ATS
Upset Record: 18-35, -$930

Wild Card NFL Matchup: Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos
Date: Sunday, January 8th, 4:30 ET
Location: Sports Authority Field, Denver, CO
NFL Wild Card Lines: Pittsburgh -8
Over/Under 34.5
Wild Card NFL TV Schedule: CBS

Steelers Notes: For anyone that thinks that the Steelers are just going to blow through an inferior team, just look back at the New Orleans Saints last year and ask them how they did when they had to fly across the country to take on the Seattle Seahawks on the road. This is definitely not a full strength team to say the least, and we tend to think that that factor is being overlooked. RB Rashard Mendenhall was put on IR last week, and that only came right on the heels of the team putting RB Jonathan Dwyer on IR. RB Mewelde Moore is hurt as well. That really just leaves RB Isaac Redman to get the job done on the ground, and if something happens to him, rookie RB John Clay, who didn’t suit until two weeks ago in his first NFL game and only has a total of 10 carries for his career, would be asked to step into this huge spot and carry the load. QB Ben Roethlisberger has been injured quite a bit over the last few weeks with an ankle injury, and we just aren’t all that sure that he is as healthy as “probable” suggests on the injury report. The defense is simply one of the best in the game year in and year out, and this is the unit that is going to have to get the job done, though it will be tested against a team that is going to present the type of offense that it has never seen before.

Broncos Notes: To say that this is a franchise defining game might be a bit of an understatement, but it isn’t an outrageous one by any means. QB Tim Tebow has played like garbage over the course of the last few weeks, and he was probably the reason that the team stumbled to a three game skid at the end of the year. That being said, there is also no one that can deny the fact that he was simply superhuman in the fourth quarter of games during a six game winning streak. It was Tebow magic, and it was the likes that we have never seen before and may never see again in the NFL. Should Tebow win this game, he will, without a shadow of a doubt, be the team’s starting quarterback next year, and probably in the future as well. However, if he fizzles and QB Brady Quinn has to come in to replace him, it could be a sign that the team is heading in a totally new direction next season. What can’t be underestimated is the fact that the defense has had a total renaissance over the course of the last two and a half months, and a unit that was one of the worst in the game over the course of the last few years is suddenly going to be capable of winning playoff games all by itself.

The Final Word: We just don’t see it for Pittsburgh. We haven’t thought that they were that good all season long, and we still don’t see it. There are too many injuries and too many excuses. Tebow isn’t the quarterback that is winning the Super Bowl this year, but in spite of his woeful completion percentage, lack of quality passes, and goofy looking delivery and the sorts, we just think that Tebow is going to find some way, whether by religion, motivation, or just sheer dumb luck, to get the job done and to get into the second round of the playoffs.

Wild Card NFL Pick: Denver +8

NFL Football Prediction: Denver 16 – Pittsburgh 12

 
December 31st, 2011 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor
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NFL betting action is here again! Here at Cappers Info, we’re making our running tally of NFL picks this year, continuing with action on Sunday, January 1st!

Year To Date Record: 56-59 ATS
Upset Record: 16-29, -$820

Week 17 NFL Matchup: Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Date: Sunday, January 1st, 1:00 ET
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
NFL Lines: Philadelphia -9
Over/Under 45.5
Week 17 NFL TV Schedule: FOX

Sorry, Philly. We’re just not all that convinced. The teams that have played against the Eagles of late, for the most part, have either had nothing to play for, or just haven’t been all that great. We know that the Redskins fall into this boat as well, but we may as well finish up this season the same way that it started. Everyone was convinced that the “Dream Team” would blow away teams like the Giants, the 49ers, and the Bills, only to get shocked with an outright upset by the road team here in the City of Brotherly Love. We’re still not convinced that the fans are going to really be on the side of the team this week with such bad sentiment going around in Philly over Head Coach Andy Reid, and that being said, we are going to take the nine points. Either RB Evan Royster or RB Roy Helu has had at least 100 rushing yards in four of the ‘Skins last five games. That’d be a great start towards a cover if it happened again on Sunday.

Week 17 NFL Pick: Washington +9

Week 17 NFL Matchup: San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams
Date: Sunday, January 1st, 1:00 ET
Location: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
NFL Lines: San Francisco -10.5
Over/Under 35
Week 17 NFL TV Schedule: FOX

Nothing is easy this time of year no matter who you are. The Rams stink. They’re the worst team in football. And yet, this is still their last game of the season and their swan song, and they are going to be at home with a crowd on their side that really wants to see their team beat one of the best teams in the league. The Niners really have the deck stacked against them, as they are expected to win this game and win it going away, and the end result might be a game in which they keep it really close to the vest and just barely find a way out of town. Even without QB Sam Bradford, we think that St. Louis can keep this game a lot closer than this point spread suggests. Ignore the fact that the 49ers are one of the best ATS teams ever and that the Rams are one of the worst ATS teams ever. Roles reverse on Sunday.

Week 17 NFL Pick: St. Louis +10.5

Week 17 NFL Matchup: Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings
Date: Sunday, January 1st, 1:00 ET
Location: HHH Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN
NFL Lines: Minnesota -1
Over/Under 41
Week 17 NFL TV Schedule: FOX

The Bears have absolutely packed it in, while the Vikings are still trying hard to win games. Again, it’s the swan song for the Vikes, and they are going to want to send out the Metrodome with a win, something that it has only done a handful of times over the course of the last two years. We just can’t picture Chicago having any desire to come on the road and win this game with all of the injuries and bad press that have surrounded this team for weeks. Minnesota is clearly in the better state at the moment, and it will show on Sunday.

Week 17 NFL Pick: Minnesota -1

Week 17 NFL Matchup: Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Date: Sunday, January 1st, 1:00 ET
Location: Ever Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL
NFL Lines: Jacksonville -3.5
Over/Under 37
Week 17 NFL TV Schedule: CBS

The Colts have gotten their two cute, little wins over the course of the last two weeks, but that doesn’t mean that they are going to want to lose out on QB Andrew Luck! It would legitimately be a travesty for this franchise to win this game, and the Jags should be the beneficiaries. It is the last time that Wayne Weaver will own the team, and it will probably be the last that any of us have ever heard of Jacksonville interim coach Mel Tucker. RB Maurice Jones-Drew is going to be going for the rushing title this week, and we think that he will get the job done and eclipsed the 1,500 yard mark for the year in doing so. The Jags will shine on Sunday and at least go into the offseason with new ownership a little something to built upon.

Week 17 NFL Pick: Jacksonville -3.5

Week 17 NFL Matchup: Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots
Date: Sunday, January 1st, 1:00 ET
Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
NFL Lines: New England -10.5
Over/Under 50
Week 17 NFL TV Schedule: CBS

Don’t believe us that things aren’t easy this time of year? Just look at what the Dolphins nearly did to the Patriots last week! New England needs this game and needs it badly, or it runs the risk of having to play a road game in the playoffs. It has a lot of motivation to get the job done against a Buffalo team that beat it up in Orchard Park early this season, and QB Tom Brady has all of the motivation in the world to have a huge game. The Bills picked him off four times, and he is 190 yards short of QB Drew Brees for the most passing yards in a single season in the history of the NFL. However, the Bills finally got going again last week against the Broncos, and though that might have been their game in which they really got the job done for that offseason momentum, we do think that they are going to at least make things remotely interesting on the Pats on Sunday.

Week 17 NFL Pick: Buffalo +10.5
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December 31st, 2011 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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Here at Cappers Info, we are taking a weekly look at the teams that could be ripe to pull off some major upsets! Check out the potentially ugly dogs that could come up and bite you in the butt in you aren’t careful for the Week 17 of NFL betting action!

Year To Date Record: 56-59 ATS
Upset Record: 16-31, -$820

Underdog Pick #1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+450 at Wager Web Sportsbook) @ Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, 4:15 ET: There’s going to be a heck of a lot of, “Meh, what the hell!” this week, as there are a number of spreads that just don’t make all that much sense to us. Sure, the Bucs have been bad, but Week 17 is a week in which all sorts of dumb things happen. Apparently, the oddsmakers think that the Falcons are going to take this game seriously for at least a good, long time, but if the Lions beat the Packers earlier in the day, this game literally means zero to them. Atlanta is going to have its sights set on the Saints and that return trip to the Bayou this coming week, and Tampa Bay might be able to find the backdoor and pick up a victory to potentially save the job of Head Coach Raheem Morris.

Underdog Pick #2: Carolina Panthers (+320 at Wager Web Sportsbook) @ New Orleans Saints, Sunday 1:00 ET: Again, how hard are the Saints playing to win this game? We really aren’t all that sure, and we could get stuck with one here, but we do like Carolina’s chances anyway, even if QB Drew Brees is out there slinging the ball all over the field trying to make sure that he finishes this season with the most passing yards in a year in league history. QB Cam Newton has been good of late, and the rushing game really has gotten going. The Saints are a team that can be had, especially with the ultimate prize still being up in the air with a run to the Super Bowl. Odds have it, record or not, Brees and the gang are more looking forward to the postseason and the transgressions of last year in the first round against the Seahawks than anything else.

Underdog Pick #3: Houston Texans (+110 at Wager Web Sportsbook) vs. Tennessee Titans, Sunday 1:00 ET: By all accounts, it sure looks like the Texans are going to play this game to win it. RB Ben Tate might be carrying more of the load instead of RB Arian Foster, but that doesn’t bother us one bit, as we know that Tate has just as much talent as Foster does. WR Andre Johnson is expected to be available, and we think that he and QB TJ Yates are going to try to hook up a few times to get in sync before next week’s first playoff game in team history. Perhaps most importantly though, is that DC Wade Phillips is going to be calling plays again this week. The Titans just haven’t looked great in weeks, and we think that they are going to get bounced out of the playoffs on Sunday.

Underdog Pick #4: Cleveland Browns (+240 at Wager Web Sportsbook) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday 4:15 ET: Why? Because it is like the Super Bowl to the Browns. This team virtually never has the playoffs to worry about, so its biggest game of the season, regardless of when it is and what else is on the line, is the visit to the Dawg Pound by the Steelers. If the Ravens are blowing out the Bengals, QB Ben Roethlisberger will sit down, and if that’s the case, this is absolutely a game that can be won by a Cleveland team that has been stingy for a good chunk of the season even though its offense just isn’t all that great.

Underdog Pick #5: San Diego Chargers (+130 at Wager Web Sportsbook) @ Oakland Raiders, Sunday 4:15 ET: Oakland just hasn’t played well down the stretch, and it probably shouldn’t have beaten the Chiefs last week on the road to keep its season alive. That being said, the Raiders know that they are probably in good shape if they can win this one and are as good as dead if they can’t. The Chargers are still playing well right now, and they are going to want to send out Head Coach Norv Turner on a high note in his final game. The Raiders just don’t have the better team in this game, and San Diego is probably going to be out to prove it. QB Philip Rivers has played a lot better down the stretch, and he’ll pull off the upset and send Denver and likely Cincinnati to the playoffs.

Underdog Pick #6: Kansas City Chiefs (+160 at Wager Web Sportsbook) @ Denver Broncos, Sunday 4:15 ET: Again, we ask why? Because this is the stuff that fairy tales are made of. If you’re a believer that QB Tim Tebow really does have some sort of magical power to win games, he’ll find some way to make sure that he gets into the playoffs. Good thing for us that the Chargers are going to beat the Raiders and take care of that. Meanwhile, back in Denver, the setting is just right. QB Kyle Orton is coming back to town, and he is trying to send the team that cut him, the Broncos out of the playoffs in the final game of the season at home. It’s exactly what KC did to the Broncos two years ago when they blew a four game lead with four games to play, and it would be poetic if a similar result happened on Sunday. The Chiefs will do their part, and Romeo Crennel will become the very popular full time coach of the team.