Oddjack Betting: Cleaning Out Our Pujols

READ MORE: American Gambling News, Houston Astros, Indianapolis Colts, Oddjack Betting, St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Rams

· We won’t make the mistake of not owning up to our little competition with the king shark over at American Gambling News. We will reluctantly acknowledge the fact that he’s beating us so far in head-to-head competition—for now. Yes, last night’s pick of the Rams at +14 seemed to be working out just fine, until the Indianapolis Colts defense(which is getting as much press as, oh, the ‘85 Bears D right now) started taking over the game. What. The. Fuck. Get Mike Martz off the sidelines and put him in a hermetically-sealed bubble or something. We know that idiot is still tinkering.

· And, ooooh, that must have hurt for all those people who picked the Astros last night. Yow. Worked out for us, actually. Good thing Albert Pujols has a soft spot for dogs.

· The betting public has moved onto the Astros for tomorrow night’s game, however. STL sporting -150 right now. That’s a little too high a number for us against Roy Oswalt—but we could change our minds by the afternoon. Hangover still telling us to pick the Astros.

Chopping Lines: Wearing Martz’s Mangled Heart On Their Sleeve

READ MORE: NFL Betting, Chopping Lines, Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams

9 p.m.
St. Louis Rams (2-3)

Indianapolis Colts (5-0)

Best Line: STL +14, IND -13

All of this talk about the Indianapolis Colts vaunted defense has got us dizzy. Yeah. We know. They’re good. Dwight Freeney for president and all that. But are they forgetting about the original wide open offense that is the St. Louis Rams? And now that Mike Martz isn’t there to eff things up this offense should be even more potent. Oh, and they’ll probably be all inspired playing for their sickly coach and making new interim coach Joe Vitt look good. We think this’ll be a good ol’ fashioned dome-happpy shoot-out. And with the Indy defense stepping up so much, the offense has been lagging behind. The Rams’ offense is ranked second in the league so far this year and can rack up points as well. There just might be touchdowns scored by 15 different recievers this evening. Yeah, we like the over obviously.

PICK!: STL +14

Football Betting: Why It’s Never Good to Bet on Mike Martz

READ MORE: Arizona Cardinals, Mike Martz, NFL Betting, San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams

How much more do we need to learn about Mike Martz’ bumbling coaching ability than yesterday’s testicle-shriking 28-25 loss against the lowly San Francisco 49ers? The Rams are not that bad—as you can tell by the 200 yards of offense they put up in the 4th quarter. But, again, it’s his stroke-induced play calling, reticence to really play defense, and overreliance on big plays that ultimately get him cooked. As 6 1/2 point favorites yesterday and strong offensive showing in the preseason, the Rams game seemed like an easy chalk victory for most bettors even though the Rams were just 3-7 against the Niners in their last 10 meetings. And next week against the Arizona Cardinals, it seems like a perfect opportunity for a rebound. St. Louis may very well be favored next week at Arizona and win, but beware of this all important stat:

St. Louis is 1-4 in ATS at Arizona in their last five meetings.

We don’t expect this to be a huge line, but also be wary of any line giving Arizona more than 3 points in next week’s game or take the Cardinals. Mike Martz may be an “offensive play-calling genius” to some people, but to many others, the man is just a one-trick pony in the same way Buddy Ryan was for defenses. So does that mean we should expect a bounty on Cardinals’ kicker Neil Rackers next week? At least it’d be more interesting to watch.

Martz Takes Blame for Bad Play Call That Sealed Rams’ Fate [SF Gate]

Chopping Lines: Yes, There Are Such Things as Black Lions

READ MORE: Chopping Lines, Detroit Lions, NFL Betting, St. Louis Rams

8 p.m.

St. Louis Rams (1-1-0)

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Detroit Lions (0-2-0)

Tonight is the night we’re supposed to see the real Detroit Lions. Tonight’s the night to shed all of those painful memories of Wayne Fontes and Andre Ware. These are the new Lions, the ones with all of that first round talent they have on the offensive side. All of this depends on, of course, quarterback Joey Harrington, who’s looked good in limited snaps so far. Expect the Lions to shine at home in their new snazzy black jerseys and give some of that black jersey swagger. But this begs the question that if Lions wear black do they turn into Panthers?

However, if Lions’ defensive end James Hall and defensive tackle Shaun Rogers are absent this evening, expect Rams running back Steven Jackson to go all Christian Okoye on the Lions D and rack up some huge numbers. The Rams are always a threat with the passing game, but they’re also always at the mercy of Mike Martz’s colossal brain farts. During pre-season he may do even less thinking on the sidelines than normal so we can expect him possibly going for it on 4th and 13 plenty of times and not taking many field goal opportunities. Unless, of course, it’s a 70-yard try and then Jeff Wilkins will punch him in the face.

The Lions haven’t shown anything so far, but if our original black jersey query stands true, we love the Panthers over the Rams. So, take the Lions at home.

Best Line: DETROIT -3.5, STL +4

PICK!: DETROIT -3.5