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Patriots-Saints: Monday Night Football Live Picks
Published: November 30, 2009
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Planning a Super Bowl party this year ? You might want to use this week’s Monday Night Football matchup as a good opportunity for a trial run, as we all could be watching a Super Bowl preview.
The Saints (10-0) are in the midst of the best season in franchise history and the Pats, short of a fourth quarter choke at Indianapolis two weeks ago, seem poised to challenge for another title in February.
The offensive explosiveness possessed by each team has forced online sportsbooks to post a total of 56.5 and still the sports betting public is wagering on the “over. Many sportsbooks are reporting heavy action on the high side.
New Orleans averages 420 yards per game and 36.9 points. It’s down from their record breaking average of 39-plus points per game the team rode until Week Seven, but still more than five points greater than the second place Minnesota Vikings.
New England ranks second in average yardage per game at 416 and with the best one-two wide receiver combination in the league, the Pats can stretch the field against the greatest of defenses.
Wes Welker had a super game against the Jets last week catching 15 balls for 192 yards. Welker makes blitzing Brady a real challenge for teams. His short underneath game sets up the long ball for Randy Moss.
Moss is pretty much impossible to cover one-on-one and when he gets the double team, it usually creates a mismatch for Welker.
The Saints receiving corps is almost as impressive with Marques Coltson, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey, and Robert Meachem. Speaking of matchup problems, these four receivers will present some for the Patriots secondary .
The Saints are hoping Reggie Bush can go coming off a knee injury. The early reports have him playing and if he is ready he can be a difference-maker. Usually, though, he plays a secondary role in the offense (ain’t that right, fantasy players?).
This is a great coaching matchup with maybe the two brightest coaches in the game matching wits for the first time. Sean Payton is as creative an offensive coach as Belichick is a defensive strategist.
Don’t expect Belichick to go for a fourth and short deep in his own end in this game but expect some interesting wrinkles from both coaches.
And of course the field generals need no introduction, with Tom Brady and Drew Brees probably guaranteeing this game gets the highest ratings of the regular season. Brady has more experience in winning the big game but the Saints have been charging hard all year and not one team has been able to top Brees’ offense to date.
Both teams have consistent, not spectacular, run games. And while each squad has shown vulnerabilities on defense this year we have to expect them to bring their “A” games to the dome on Monday Night.
NFL Picks: Pats vs. Saints – After breaking this one down, I’m making a bet on the home team New Orleans Saints laying one point. I think they will have a little more success moving the ball, and also get a couple of key stops from their defense.
Enjoy the big Monday Night Football game .
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NFL Odds Week 12: Carolina Panthers vs. New York Jets
Published: November 29, 2009
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NFL Picks: Carolina Panthers vs. New York Jets NFL Odds Week 12 : Two teams with identical 4-6 records and plenty of question marks will square off on Sunday afternoon, as the Carolina Panthers [+3½] visit the sports betting odds favorite New York Jets [-3½]. This inter-conference matchup has a scheduled opening kickoff slated for 1:05 PM ET live from Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands on FOX.
According to NFL Picks specialists and NFL Odds makers, the OVER/UNDER for this Carolina Panthers vs. New York Jets Week 12 contest has been calculated and set at a combined total of 41½ points scored.
For the visiting Panthers, their follow-up to last season’s playoff appearance has been a total disaster. Injuries and poor play have put Carolina behind the 8-ball, as its postseason hopes are all but gone for the defending AFC South champs. Are the Panthers suffering from the hangover loss to the Cardinals in the divisional playoffs?
It seems almost like an eternity ago that Carolina went 12-4 less than a year ago. The Panthers began their season by dropping their first three games. With a perfect 8-0 home record last regular season , Carolina crawled to a 4-5 mark before losing to Miami and failing to reach the .500 mark.
But even as bad as everything seems right now, with their chances of repeating as division champs now gone, Carolina is amazingly still within two games of a wild card spot. Easier said than done when they have New England, Minnesota, New York (Giants) and let’s not forget the unbeaten New Orleans Saints remaining on the schedule.
“I’m sure outside of that (team meeting) room, there will be a lot of people that don’t give us a chance,” Panthers head coach John Fox said. “Until the math says it, we’ll feel like we have a chance.”
For first-year head coach, Rex Ryan and his Jets, inconsistency has defined their NFL Picks season thus far. After a perfect start in which quarterback Mark Sanchez made the college-to-pro transition look like cake, the rookie has hit the famous “wall.”
But even with the Jets slumping with a 1-6 record and despite Sanchez’s four interceptions and a lost fumble in last week’s loss to New England, coach Ryan is sticking with his young gun. The first-year Trojan has now thrown 6 TDs and 14 INTs.
“I just think that he’s not going to get better unless he gets out and plays,” Ryan said. “It’s clearly not just Mark’s fault. There’s a reason he was named the starter , that I thought he gave us the best opportunity to win, and I still feel that.”
According to Ryan, one of the biggest adjustments from now to the end of the season will be his involvement in the offensive playcalling. Up to this point, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and special teams to Mike Westhoff have been exclusively in charged of running things.
This week, Ryan stated that this is all about to change. “I need to be more of the game manager than probably what I even realized before,” he said. “There’s been some people here that have been critical of that, and it’s probably more accurate than I wanted to believe.”
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