Chopping Lines: Holcomb’s Heroes

READ MORE: Betting", Buffalo Bills, Chopping Lines, NFL, Oakland Raiders

Sun, 4:15 p.m.

Oakland Raiders(1-3)

Best Line: BUFF +3, OAK -2

Yeah, don’t get this line. It has to move. Not like Buffalo’s been showing that much all year, but in the last two weeks without J.P. Losman’s frantic quarterbacking there is some progress. We’re convinced Eric Moulds was going to have Losman killed anyway if Bills’ coach Mike Mularkey didn’t bench him. Kelly Holcomb at quarterback has made this team so much better. Imagine if their defense wasn’t so crippled? And now, they’re facing the Raiders. Remember that team that was supposed to challenge for the AFC West at the beginning of the year? Yeah. Nice try. And if Randy Moss sits, this line’s going the complete opposite direction. Take the points and the payoff while you can.

PICK!: BUFF +3

Chopping Lines: Riding Brett Favre’s Bruised Ego

READ MORE: Betting", Carolina Panthers, Chopping Lines, Green Bay Packers, NFL

Mon. 9 p.m.

Best Line: GB +8, CAR -7, O/U 43

We’ve heard all of the stories about Brett Favre and how “you never bet against Brett Favre” and “Brett Favre is Jesus dressed in Green and Yellow”, etc. That’s fine. We’re taking the Packers, but in spite of Brett Favre. Brett’s dad can’t die the weekend before Monday night football every year so we’re not expecting a four touchdown performance. We are expecting a healthy dose of sweaty-ass Ahman Green barrelling through an injured Carolina defense. We’re sure there will be moments with Favre chucking the ball into triple-coverage and getting intercepted by an active Carolina secondary(Ricky Manning, Jr. may have more receptions than Donald Driver), but we also think the Pack have enough sense to shut down Stephen Davis and double-team Steve Smith as much as possible. Packers might not win this one, but we’ll take +8 with a smile and back rub and call it a day.

PICK!: GB +8

NFL Prop: Kerry Collins Is the Next Jim Harbaugh

READ MORE: Kerry Collins, NFL, Oakland Raiders, Peyton Manning, Props

So, the anticipation of the Oakland Raiders pass-crazy offense has officially put wayward quarterback and former drunken bigot Kerry Collins as the second favorite behind the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Peyton Manning to win the passing title this year. Manning is the favorite at 4/1, but the addition of Randy Moss to an already stocked receiving corps has put Collins at 6/1 to win the award according to MyBookie. It’s a nice idea and we’re as excited about the potential for a 40,000 yard season in Oakland, but are we forgetting that this is still Kerry Collins?

NFL Betting Props:Passing Yards [My Bookie]

More Polls: Super Bowl Futures

READ MORE: Futures, NFL, Polls, Sports Betting, Super Bowl

NFL Betting: Another Ladies Night in Buffalo

READ MORE: Futures, NFL, Sports Betting

So, how fun is it that in only one short month we’ll be blogging about football for real and not taking on these silly speculative bets and talking about the WNBA and Canadian Football? We’re excited. You excited? Good. Now, pull up your pants.

The Readabet crew is doing an admirable job of forecasting the NFL divisional winners and putting together some solid rationale about which team is givng the best odds. However, in our opinion, they’re huffing turpentine if they think taking the Buffalo Bills at 7/1 to win the AFC East is something worth paying attention to. Yes, we know running back Willis McGahee went apeshit on 90 percent of his legs the second half of last season and the defense was positively dominating, however, here’s where we disagree:

What intially resparked my interest in Buffalo was the the signing of Kelly Holcomb from Cleveland. I first saw Holcomb shred Pittsburgh for 429 yards and three touchdowns in a 2002 playoff loss, and then hit 30 of 39 for 413 yards and five TDs last year against Cincinnati. The former Brown is a quality QB and should second year signal caller J.P Losman falter, then Kelly Holcomb is a fantastic backup.

However, Readeabet is leaving out the horrendous job Holcomb did when he was finally handed over the starting job after first-string Browns’ quarterback Tim Couch went down. We were also Kelly Holcomb fans when he started chucking endzone balls in the second half of 2003 for the Browns and racking up multi-touchdown games and yardage. However, dude, it’s Kelly Momma Freaking Holcomb and it should not in anyway be a determining factor in taking the Bills to win the division. He’s the BACK-UP. That’s the equivalent of buying stock in Sirius satellite radio because your grandfather suddenly decided to get digital cable.

AFC East Betting Odds Preview [Readabet]
AFC East Division Betting [Totesport]

NFL Futures: The Mirth of a Raider Nation

READ MORE: NFL, Sports Betting

Ask a bookie and he’ll tell you the truth – it ain’t about how good a team actually is. Odds are based on the amount of cash idiot-geniuses who will throw their money at the teams they love. Nowhere is this more obvious than The Oakland Raiders and their rabid, hard-drinking, crack-abusing, wife-beating, unemployed and unemployable fans. Your average Raider fan will hop in his Chevy Vega with the high gloss chrome rims, drive ten hours to Vegas to drop cash on just about any line a book offers on the Silver-and-Black. That’s why BoDog will give you 18/1 for the Raiders to win the Super Bowl. That’s right, the Raiders, who finished 5-11 in 2004, look so luscious next to The New York Jets (10-6 in 2004 and 22/1) and the Denver Broncos (10-6 in 2004 and 35/1). Sanity is available, of course. If you’re a Raider fan and you can read this…congratulations on completing third grade before dropping out and lay your money at UK-based Bet365 where you can get 50/1.

2006 Super Bowl futures [BoDog]
2006 Super Bowl futures [Bet365]
Oakland Raiders [home]

CFL Betting: We Have No Idea What We’re Betting A-boot

READ MORE: NFL, Sports Betting

We here at Oddjack are obviously into betting on everything, and we’re wont to imply that you should ever feel like you’re a tool for betting on something. That said: You’re a tool if you bet on the Canadian Football League. For those who Truly Have A Problem, Covers previews Week 3 in the CFL. We don’t really understand what any of the bets are about, but we remain amused by how much the nicknames of CFL teams sound like condom brand names.

Roughriders. Blue Bombers. Renegades. Stampedes. Eskimos. Sounds like brunch at the Bunny Ranch.

Week 3 In The CFL [Covers]

How Gambling Makes the NFL Draft Interesting

READ MORE: NFL, Sports Betting

Costas, Collinsworth, Barkley, and McEnroe talk about the snooze-fest that is the NFL Draft and contend that the only people interested in spending 8 hours of a Saturday watching names being called intermittently are the gamblers.

Plus, Barkley says that the NFL wouldn’t be all that interesting if it weren’t for the lines on games and Collinsworth admits he checks out handicapping sheets before going on HBO’s Inside the NFL. He admits, “Hey those guys are right a lot of the time.”

Watch the pre-buffered video on SI.com for all the not-so-unique insight and notice how conceivable it would be for Barkley to eat Bob Costas. I think he could finish him in three bites. Any takers?

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