BSNblog

The preseason loss to the Rams would not be so discouraging if it wasn’t for the fact that the first-string Patriots defense made rookie St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford look like a 10-year pro. If you are betting on NFL games this year that involve the Patriots, then their young and inexperienced starting defense has to be a concern.

The New York Giants have just come off of two tough preseason losses. The Pittsburgh Steelers squeaked past the Giants 24-17 two weeks ago, and last week the Baltimore Ravens pummeled the Giants 24-10. The concern in New York this season is the same as it always has been; the offense.

Eli Manning is paid like an elite quarterback, and he puts up impressive numbers each season but he always seems to have problems getting that 80-yard drive to seal a game that the Giants really need. Ever since the Giants lost their three-back attack at running back, Eli has looked questionable.

On defense it looks like the Giants have found yet another stud on the defensive line in rookie defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. He may not yet be able to affect pro games like he did college football betting, but working next to guys like Osi Yumeniora can only help the young man’s career.

The loss to the Rams was shocking to the Patriots and their fans. While it was only preseason, both first-string teams looked ineffective for New England. It is doubtful that a preseason loss to the Rams will affect the football betting action surrounding the Patriots this season, but it is something that the coaching staff noticed and they will look to make changes before the season starts.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady may see limited action in this game if he plays at all, but first-string quarterback Eli Manning may play a couple of series in this game just to get warmed up. In the first preseason game against the New York Jets, Eli was hammered without his helmet on and had a gash in his forehead that required 12 stitches to close up. He has not been able to practice with a helmet on, and has not played since. Head coach Tom Coughlin may want to get Eli in this game a little bit just to get Eli some game playing time before the season starts.

The Patriots still have some second-string defensive players that could be first-string depending on how they play in this game. So, from a Patriots perspective, this game is very important. The Giants are pretty much set all around on their roster so, aside from a little more Eli than he may want to use, Tom Coughlin will probably use this game to determine who stays and who goes with Big Blue.

Pick: New England Patriots 35-20

The NFL betting and NCAA football betting will have to wait for a while in Southern California as the Padres are getting geared up for the playoffs. The Padres have won seven of their last 10 which includes a current two-game winning streak. That has helped to put some distance between themselves and the Giants as the Giants have gone .500 in their last 10 games.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are 27 games out of first place in the NL West and planning for the future. With roster experimentation comes losing baseball games, and the Diamondbacks have lost seven of their last 10 games. Arizona has been experimenting with AAA players at almost every position to see who will be part of the line-up next season, and to see which current players need to go.

The Diamondbacks will put Ian Kennedy on the mound for this game in an attempt to evaluate their starting rotation. Kennedy has had a tough season with a 7-9 record and a 4.41 ERA. He is having a difficult time keeping control of his pitches, and he is also showing difficulty in getting his signs in from the catcher.

Padres starting pitcher Kevin Correia has been a surprise to MLB betting experts this season. He has a 10-8 record with a 4.82 ERA. If Correia could get off to better starts in games, he could very well be a 15-game winner each season. It takes Correia an inning or two to get really rolling, and if a team gets to him in the early innings then it can be a short night for the San Diego starter.

The Diamondbacks have fallen below the level of playing for pride this season. They are definitely in a rebuilding phase, and the evaluation of new talent has taken a toll on the team’s record the past few weeks. More than likely, the D-Backs will come out next season with a very different starting pitching rotation as there are few starters on the roster worth keeping.

The Padres want to keep rolling right on into the playoffs. They are taking a look at their entire roster and trying to put together the best possible line-up to challenge in the playoffs. This Padre team has been one of the better teams in recent years, and they could be gearing up for a good playoff run. So, don’t look for many minor leaguers on the field for the Padres. The pedal is down and San Diego is blazing right towards the playoffs.

Pick: San Diego Padres 6-2

Quarterback Chad Pennington did not play in the first preseason game against the Buccaneers, but he came into the game against the Jaguars and threw a touchdown pass. Starting quarterback Chad Henne looked potent in the Jacksonville game as he went 11 for 14 with 151 yards and two touchdowns. NFL betting experts were also happy to see quarterback Tyler Thigpen get in the game against Jacksonville and throw for 76 more yards.

All of the Dolphin quarterbacks seem to thrive in head coach Tony Sporano’s offense. In a move that resembles a college football betting gimmick, it is entirely possible that the Dolphins will utilize all three of their quarterbacks all season long. Let us also not forget the time that running back Ronnie Brown spends under center in the wildcat. It may all seem like a bad movie to defensive coordinators around the league, but it is also incredibly difficult to defend.

The Falcons are still trying to find their defense in this preseason. Quarterback Matt Ryan is getting limited action, but he looks good when he is in. Aside from veterans John Abraham and Erik Coleman, the Falcons are getting some inconsistent play on defense. Young defensive players like Kroy Biermann and Trey Lewis look good, but the Patriots put almost 130 rushing yards on the Falcons. The Falcons need to tighten up on the defensive line.

It is important to remember that the NFL football betting lines have the Falcons at 30 to 1 odds to win the Super Bowl, so there is not much expected from Atlanta. However, the Falcons will give the Saints a run for their money in the NFC South and challenge for a playoff spot all season long.

Miami just remains an enigma to the rest of the league. On defense they are pretty solid. They can stop the run, and they have some pretty good defensive backs. But what remains the best defense in Miami is their offense. Because the Miami offense has so many different looks, they manage to keep the ball for long periods of time in every game they play. In their games against the Jaguars and the Buccaneers, the Dolphins had the ball for nearly 34 minutes. If the other team’s offense is not on the field, they cannot score.

The Falcons will get their team figured out in time for opening day, and they will challenge for the division title. The Dolphins have the Jets and the Patriots to compete with for the AFC East title, so it may be a case of the Dolphins challenging for a wild card. But in this game, the Dolphins may be able to play “keep away” long enough to send the Falcons home disappointed.

Pick; Miami Dolphins 24-13

The most spectacular play of the game was the prosecution of nearly 70 yards from Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, on the profound Barry Church, the Cowboys, who had recovered a fumble. The quarterback who signed for $ 93 billion in the NFL betting offseason prevented a touchdown.

However, the Cowboys scored three plays later to tie the game and ended up winning thanks to a safety made by Victor Butler, who tackles in the end zone to rookie quarterback Jonathan Crompton, who fumbled.

The ball rolled into the end zone and was recovered by rookie left tackle Ryan Otterson San Diego at 3:46 in the final two points that were the difference for Dallas at 3:46 of the final.

The Chargers (1-1) lost two fumbles in their first four offensive series.

The starting offense for the Cowboys (2-1) managed only 49 total yards.

Tony Romo completed 4 of 11 passes for 30 yards with one touchdown and one interception to register a rating of just 37.3 points.

Angels Red Sox Betting – Thursday, August 19, 7:10 PM ET

Ervin Santana (12-8, 3.99) has won four of his last five starts, and he put in a good shift in a 7-2 win at home over Toronto in his last outing, scattering a run on three hits over seven strong innings, but he struggled with his command a bit, walking four along with four strikeouts. NFL betting players would compare this to a quarterback who mixed touchdowns with picks during a game, but overall, Santana did what he needed to do. Santana earned a no-decision against the Red Sox back in May, and he’s now 1-2 in seven career starts against them with a 4.61 ERA. The 27-year-old righthander is also 0-2 at Fenway Park with an ERA of 5.08 ERA in five starts.

Josh Beckett (3-2, 6.51) has been hit hard in his last couple of starts, giving up 13 runs in his last 9.2 innings of work. He took a no-decision in a 10-9 loss at Texas, allowing seven runs on 11 hits over five innings, striking out four and walking one. The Rangers also went deep off Beckett three times, and he hasn’t been able to establish his fastball, which leaves him in deep trouble against a power team like Texas. Beckett beat the Angels in Los Angeles last month, taking his career record against them to 3-3 in nine starts with a 4.10 ERA.

MLB betting odds should have the Red Sox favored at home, as they had won eight of their last 10 at Fenway Park against the Angels heading into Wednesday’s game. But the Red Sox have now lost Mike Cameron for the year, and Jacoby Ellsbury is probably gone for the rest of the season as well, which is par for the course in Boston in 2010. The Red Sox have a ton of championship experience, but all of these injuries may be too much for them to make the playoffs. On top of that, Beckett looks nowhere near the guy who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the last 5-7 years. Look for the Angels to tee off on Beckett, who may be best to shut down for the year while he works on some things for next year.

Online sports betting pick: Los Angeles Angels

In their first preseason outing, the Buffalo Bills looked as horrible as the football betting world expected them to look. The Bills have no quarterback, a horrible offensive line, a weak defensive line and a corps of terrible defensive backs. If this were a regular season game then the odds against the Bills would be in the very high double digits.

The Bills did not solve any issues in their first preseason game. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick got most of the starting action and looked awful against the Redskins. Rookie running back CJ Spiller found out what it was like to run behind an offensive line that cannot block, and he was neutralized by the Redskins defense. All in all, the Chan Gailey-run Buffalo Bills looked as bad as any version of the team from the past 11 years.

The Indianapolis Colts need a little fine-tuning before they can make their Super Bowl run this year. The team looked great in their first preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers; that is until Peyton Manning came out of the game. It became obvious how much of a driving force Manning is in the Colts’ run this season when he came out of the game and the offense and defense fell apart. The Colts had some of their defensive starters in the game throughout the entire first half, and in the second quarter the 49ers scored 20 points.

While it is just preseason, the inability of the second and third strings to perform on offense or defense for the Colts has to be a concern for the coaching staff and Peyton Manning. The 49ers are a better football team this year than last year, but the beating they put to the Colts should be disturbing to Colts fans.

The Colts will get just the medicine they need to repair their broken football team; the Buffalo Bills. Whatever confidence the second and third string teams need they will find against the Bills. The wide receiver patterns that may not have been as precise as Manning would have liked to see can be repaired against the Bills secondary.

As for the Bills, this preseason is quite a test for this team. First the Bills had to line up against the Washington Redskins, and now the Indianapolis Colts. The Bills are just not up to this task. The Colts second string offense will dismantle the Bills first string defense, and the Bills fans will need to endure yet another game that shows how far the team is from having a real starting quarterback.

BSNblog Pick: Indianapolis Colts 35-14

Twins White Sox Betting – Thursday, August 12, 8:10 PM ET

Francisco Liriano (10-7, 3.33) had a four-start winning streak ended by a no-decision in a 7-6 loss at Cleveland, and he was all over the place, allowing four runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings, along with six strikeouts and six walks. Liriano was said to have a bit of a dead arm after that game (those betting NFL odds will hear that a quarterback has a dead arm sometimes as well), and this start will come after an extra day of rest. The 26-year-old finally earned his first career win in his second start of the season against the White Sox, but he’s now only 1-3 in eight games (five starts) against them with a 5.82 ERA.

Gavin Floyd (8-8, 3.49) is 6-1 in his last 10 starts, and he picked up another win in a 4-2 victory in Baltimore, scattering two runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out five and walking three. Floyd also gave up his first home run since June 2nd, a span of 13 starts, but we think the White Sox will happily take a one-homer-in-every-13th-start average. Floyd was on the losing end of Liriano’s first win over the White Sox last month, and he’s now 4-5 in 10 career outings against the Twins with an ERA of 4.04.

The White Sox should be favored at home by MLB betting odds, as Liriano is an average 4-4 in 11 road starts with a 4.57 ERA, while Floyd is 5-2 in 12 home starts with a 3.45 ERA this season. Floyd is hitting his stride for the White Sox, who would probably be well in the lead in the Central if they were only a bit more consistent. Heading into Wednesday’s meeting between the two, the Twins had taken over the division lead with a three-game winning streak, while the White Sox had dropped three in a row, and a sweep in this series would be awful for their moral. We’re going to go with the White Sox and Floyd, who has pitched as well as anyone in the majors over the last month or two. He knows how important this game is to the White Sox’s playoff chances, so look for a dominant performance on Thursday.

BSNblog pick: Chicago White Sox

The ‘next manager to get the sack’ bet is becoming a popular one, particularly with fans who are eager to get rid of an unfavourable manager. It was recently announced that Martin O’Neil will be leaving Aston Villa just 5 days before the beginning of the 2010 season. Judging by O’Neil’s success at the club, achieving a top 5 position last season as well as appearing in the Carling Cup final, this was not due to fans or management being unhappy with him, merely that he was unhappy with the amount of money made available to him for transfers. Regardless, there’s bound to be a few shrewd gamblers out there who correctly predicted O’Neil’s departure, and those shrewd betters will be the ones picking up the big payouts.

Now the betting begins on who will replace O’Neil, with varying odds being placed on more than 20 different potential managers. Bob Bradley and ex-England coach Sven Goran Eriksson are hot favourites for the job.

Bookies will accept all kinds of bets these days, and predicting that England captain Rio Ferdinand would be out of the South Africa World Cup due to injury would produce a pleasing payout indeed. English fans are optimists, so betting on their quick departure from the tournament would have been an unpopular but incredibly frugal bet.

Fantasy Football leagues have been a growing trend in recent years, where players can bet on the performance of individual players rather than the result of a game or an end-of-season placing. The scores are based on statistics and bets can be placed on the individual fantasy points of each player, which would be based on scoring, passing, set pieces, injuries and even fouls.

There are much more interesting ways to bet on football than simple over/under bets or bets on the score line and who scores first. There is now a plethora of different ways to bet on the premier league, including on the professional careers of the managers themselves! You could even negotiate bets on attendance at a stadium or other types of variables.

Adam Cairn writes on a number of subjects including sports betting and other betting-related topics.

Panthers Ravens Betting – Thursday, August 12, 8:00 PM ET

The Panthers tried to get some help for receiver Steve Smith, who broke his arm in the offseason and will definitely miss the game, and possibly the regular-season opener. They drafted Brandon LaFell and Armanti Edwards (who used to be a quarterback) to add some depth to that position, but the rookie everyone is waiting to see is Jimmy Clausen, who figures to challenge Matt Moore for the starting job. NCAA football betting players will remember Clausen from Notre Dame, and while he made some bad decisions on and off the field, he has a cannon for an arm. Carolina’s defense was solid last season, but they moved Jon Beason to the weakside and put Dan O’Connor in the middle. Beason averaged 140 tackles over the last three years in the middle, so it’s going to be interesting to see how he takes to it.

The Ravens also picked up some receiving help for pivot Joe Flacco, acquiring Anquan Boldin and Donte Stallworth to go with Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton. The Ravens also got Marc Bulger as backup for Flacco, and Troy Smith is still in town. The Ravens are stocked in the backfield, but Jalen Parmele is trying to elbow his way into the rotation. Defensively, the Ravens weren’t as intimidating as past seasons, and an injured Ed Reed had a lot to do with that. Reed is one of the top ball-hawking safeties in league history, and his work on the back end allowed the Ravens’ front seven to go after the backfield (losing Rex Ryan as their coordinator also hurt the Ravens). However, they’re aging a bit at linebacker, although Ray Lewis is still a beast, so that will be their main concern on Thursday.

NFL football betting lines have the Ravens as a 3-point favorite at home, and we’re giving them the nod to come away with the win on Thursday for a couple of reasons. One, the Panthers are very, very young on offense and are still learning their way around the league, while the Ravens picked up veterans, which will help their young players. Not having Smith around to physically tutor the young Carolina receivers really hurts the Panthers, especially in the preseason. Baltimore was very disappointed with their performance last year, particularly on defense, so look for them to get after the Panthers here.

NFL betting pick: Baltimore

It is safe to say that the NFL betting lines are not a primary concern in NL cities right now as everyone is fighting for a pennant. The San Francisco Giants are sneaking up on the San Diego Padres and putting up numbers that have the Padres worried. While some people in San Diego are thinking about betting on NCAA football, Padres fans have been watching the Giants win eight of their last 10, including a four game winning streak. The Giants just got done clobbering the third place Colorado Rockies, and now they set their sights on the NL East leading Braves.

The Braves have hit an ill-timed slide as of late. In their last 10 games they have lost six. The second-place Phillies have won eight of their last 10, and now the MLB betting world is starting to wonder if the experience of the Phillies will indeed overtake the youthful enthusiasm of the Atlanta Braves.

In this game the Giants send their ace Tim Lincecum to the mound. This season “The Freak” is 11-4 with a 3.10 ERA. But Lincecum has struggled by his standards lately. He has faltered so much that he is now visibly altering his pitching mechanics to try and re-gain the control he has lost. If ever this Cy Young winner could be considered vulnerable, this would be the time.

To counter Lincecum the Braves bring Jair Jurrjens to the mound. Jurrjens has a 3-4 record this season with a 4.62 ERA, but those statistics are deceiving. Jurrjens has spent a great deal of time injured this season, and he is just starting to re-gain his form. In his last six starts he has compiled a 3-1 record and has a 3.52 ERA in that stretch. He has his control back, and he is showing signs of being ready for the playoffs.

The Braves and the Giants have very similar hitting statistics. Both teams rely on their starting rotations and solid defense to win games. Neither team is a powerhouse at the plate, but they both know how to score runs. The difference in this game will be Lincecum. If he has re-gained his control then the Braves could be in for a long night. But if “The Freak” is still tinkering with the mechanics of his pitching on into the later innings of the game, then the Giants may find themselves losing a little more ground to the Padres in the chase for the NL West pennant.

BSNblog Pick: Atlanta Braves 3-1

Appearing in the camp "steelworker" on Saturday July 31 to 10 000 fans at Saint Vincent College, "Big Ben" heard several enthusiastic applause from fans, many wearing the jersey number 7. Roethlisberger entered the practice field to the wide receiver Hines Ward, who also was cheered.

The biggest ovation was for the receiver Antwaan Randle El, who returned to Pittsburgh element after four years with the Washington Redskins.

On Tuesday, Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said before the expiration of the first week of training camp, had never been in such good shape at quarterback, you have to serve a six-game suspension for his troubles -sporting.

"He (Roethlisberger) is in the best way for me has never seen," Arians said. "His arm is alive and has not been intercepts and very few incompletions, some they have been released. Perhaps the best I've seen of him so far. "

In this way, Roethlisberger is driving the concern of his trainers on distractions or concerns you might having generated the charge of sexual assault a college student from Georgia filed against him in March.

Since it debuted in the Grand Chapiteau, Bautista caught the attention of specialists for the power and precision of her shots, safety on defense and the ability to play the same in the infield to the outfield.

For example, in the 2009 campaign, patrolled the gardens at 70 and led the majors with 0.15 assists per nine innings. His 11 assists for Toronto were the largest number of the team and fourth in the betting American League.

"There are good right fielder, but not much better than Baptist," said Cito Gaston, manager of the Blue Jays.

This year, besides the glove and arm, Bautista brought the long stick.

Ranked second in RBIs, extra-base hits, on-base percentage, slugging and walks in the current campaign, also praised the provision Gaston Baptist to serve the team wherever needed. Born October 19, 1980, Bautista was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth round draft pick in 2004.

Five years later, in the war of 2009, the versatile player hit 13 homers Dominican, ten of which were in September, with 40 RBIs and 235 average in 113 games.

Without a head position in any team during its passing through the majors, Bautista received the coveted opportunity of the manager Gaston, sharp-eyed who predicted in spring training that his pupil could hit 25 or more homers.

"I've made adjustments in my swing to get ready quickly when hit," said Jose Bautista.

"I've worked hard on that with hitting coach (Dwayne Murphy) and the manager (Cito Gaston)," the leading slugger.