Changes in the NFL occur on a daily basis. For online NFL betting fans, keeping up with the myriad changes is a never ending process. I believe that all changes, for online football betting fans, need to be looked at from an online sportsbook betting point-of-view.
After all, all NFL betting fans are football fans, but we still have money at stake in these games, right? We may root for the Patriots or Saints, but the bottom line determines how we really feel about who we want to win, or lose, football games.
Before I get into some of the big changes that occurred in the NFL, I need to say that the loss of Gene Upshaw at the age of 63 to pancreatic cancer is going to have a decided affect on the league. Not only was Upshaw a great guy, but Upshaw brought free agency to NFL players. Fans may hate free agency but for NFL gamblers, free agency brings many more online betting opportunities. When teams change year to year, overlays inevitably follow. Case in point? The New England Patriots who have tons of issues on defense. This team is no where near worth an online wager to win the Super Bowl at the BetUS online sportsbook NFL odds of + 300. This is the NFL. The Patriots couldn’t do it last year with the best cornerback in the league. They lost that guy, Asante Samuel, to free agency. This year they start a couple of guys that might not even be starters for most of the other teams in their own division.
Okay, now that we’ve got that terrible news out of the way, regarding Upshaw not the Patriots, what about what’s happening around that league that could affect our online wagers?
Well, first, Steven Jackson, one of the top running backs in the NFL, is practicing with the St. Louis Rams. Jackson was holding out but he’s in camp now. Because it shouldn’t take a running back long to acclimate himself, I expect Jackson to start the first week of the season. Will Jackson help the Rams? No doubt, but this team doesn’t have the defense to garner an online bet to win the Super Bowl. Their online odds are + 8000 in the BetUS online sportsbook, though, so I’m not going to knock anybody who wants to take a stab.
The Pittsburgh Steelers locked in linebacker James Farrior for five more years. That’s a great sign. A happy Farrior just means my Super Bowl pick looks even better at the online odds of + 2000. The Steelers have a difficult schedule this season but they are absolutely loaded on both offense and defense.
Brett Favre actually looked really good in his first NFL start for the New York Jets. Really good. The online wagering odds on the New York Jets to win the Super Bowl are + 4000. I’ve already got my money down on this team. Their defense is going to be close to great with Vernon Gholston on the outside. He’ll end up winning that defensive rookie of the year award in the 2008 – 2009 season.
Quarterbacks Derek Anderson, with the Cleveland Browns, and Tarvaris Jackson, with the Minnesota Vikings, hurt themselves in their respective pre-season games last weekend. Anderson became the victim of a mild concussion. Jackson became the victim of a knee sprain.
That’s not good. Tarvaris Jackson was looking pretty good for Minnesota so far this off season. I still think he’s about a year or two away from being able to lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl so the BetUS online football betting odds of + 1800 are too low on the Vikes, but I do believe if he can’t go, or gets injured even worse, then the Vikes are done this year. Jackson is just better than any other quarterback on this team. Coach Brad Childress hasn’t ruled Jackson out for this weekend’s pre-season game but I doubt he will play.
Derek Anderson’s injury gave Brady Quinn a chance to shine. He did a very good job going 7 for 12 for 124 yards and a touchdown. Quinn should get the start this weekend as there is no way that Anderson can go. In fact Anderson’s concussion might be exactly what the Cleveland Browns needed in order to start Quinn during the regular season. They really like Quinn and are paying him a ton of money. We shall see.