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National Football League – Bettors Need to Know
NFL
What bettors need to know…….
Sunday, January 20
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What bettors need to know: Chargers at Patriots
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San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots (-14 ½, 49)
Sunday Jan. 20, 3:00 p.m. ET
Terrific Tom
It’s hard to imagine that there are many more records left for Tom Brady to break, but in Saturday’s 31-20 win over the Jaguars he struck another off the list. Brady completed 26 of 28 passes – an NFL postseason record with a completion percentage of 92.9.
After the game coach Bill Belichick smiled and made his best attempt at a joke when asked about Brady. "It was a little disappointing, the two he missed," he said.
In truth, Brady could have been perfect. He made his first 16 passes, before tight end Ben Watson missed a catchable one at Jacksonville’s 26-yard line in the third quarter. He then converted his next nine, before Wes Welker dropped what should have been an easy catch in the fourth.
Brady, as usual, gave all the credit for his remarkable performance to his teammates. "It's easy," he told USA Today, "when you have receivers who are open all the time and an offensive line that never lets anyone touch you. It makes it fun to play."
Big guns questionable
The Chargers’ 29-24 win over Indianapolis on Sunday could have come at a heavy price. Running back LaDanian Tomlinson and quarterback Philip Rivers both picked up injuries and sat out the end of the game.
L.T picked up a knock in the second quarter and was replaced by Michael Turner, who went on to rush for 71 yards. Tomlinson was seen rubbing the inside of his left knee on the sideline, but later said he felt like he could have returned to the game.
Rivers’ injury came on a seemingly innocuous play. He fell back awkwardly after throwing a 56-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, aggravating a previous injury to his left knee. Rivers was replaced by Bill Volek, who orchestrasted the winning touchdown drive.
Coach Norv Turner said both players will be listed as questionable for next week's game in New England.
Belichick wary
Some would say that the Patriots have dodged a bullet. Instead of facing Peyton Manning and the Colts in a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game, they will instead play San Diego.
But Bill Belichick, who is not renowned for being positive, believes this could be tougher matchup for his team.
"They're physical," Belichick told the Nashua Telegraph shortly after the Chargers upset the Colts. "Going out on the road and winning in Indianapolis, I think shows what kind of mental toughness they have.
"We know we're going to have to play our best game of the year, so we're on that."
In their only other meeting this season, the traveling Pats hammered San Diego. They recorded a 38-14 win on Sept. 16, but Belichick insists that this is a much improved Chargers outfit.
"Well, a lot's happened since then," he said. "We'll definitely start all over on the preparation, just almost like it's a new team, then look back at some of the things we had from back in September.
"But, that was such a long time ago, and I think the most important thing for us to focus on is what the Chargers have done in the last couple of months."
Bad blood
Sunday’s contest is a rematch of last season’s AFC playoff game, and that did not end well for the Chargers. They blew a fourth quarter lead, allowing the Pats to kick the winning field goals with four minutes left.
At the end of the game, a few New England players decided to celebrate by doing Shawn Merriman’s ‘lights out’ dance on the Chargers logo at the 50-yard line.
San Diego took major offense to the celebration, with Tomlinson calling the Pats classless, while Philip Rivers branded cornerback Ellis Hobbs as the “the sorriest corner in the league.”
The Chargers vowed revenge ahead of their embarrasing loss to the Pats in September, but now they get a second chance on the biggest possible stage.
Head to head
The Patriots have won and covered in two straight and six of their last eight meetings with San Diego. They easily covered a 3 ½-point spread in the only meeting between the teams this season, winning by a remarkable 24-point margin on Sept. 16.
New England comes into this game with a perfect 17-0 straight up record, as well as a 10-7 ATS mark. The Chargers are on an eight-game unbeaten streak during which they’ve covered on every occasion.
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What bettors need to know: Giants at Packers
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New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (-7, 42)
Little brother comes up big
Giants quarterback Eli Manning stepped out of his big brother’s shadow on Sunday. While Peyton and the Colts were laboring to a 28-24 defeat to San Diego, younger brother Eli was leading his team to the NFC Championship game.
The Giants’ Manning threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-17 win over No.1 seed Dallas. He led a game-changing 71-yard drive at the end of the first half, tying the score at 14-14 before the break.
“That's the man who won this game for us," Antonio Pierce said. Amani Toomer added: “Eli was just outstanding,"
Brandon Jacobs reserved the most praise, saying: “He's the best quarterback I've ever played with. I love the guy to death. I don't give a damn what anyone says about it. I don't know if he silenced the critics. In this game, you're always going to have critics.”
Youthful pack
The Green Bay Packers were the NFL’s youngest team at the start of the season, with an average age of 26 years and 89 days. Heading into Saturday’s playoff game against Seattle, veteran cornerback Al Harris said he thought Green Bay’s inexperience might count against them. Man, was he wrong.
Greg Jennings, 24, caught two touchdown passes and had a total of six receptions for 71 yards. Strong safety Atari Bigby, 26, had seven tackles and forced an important fumble early on. Defensive end Cullen Jenkins, 26, had one and a half sacks and was within inches of sacking Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on two other occasions.
And probably the most impressive show of character was from 25-year-old tailback Ryan Grant. He had two early fumbles that helped Seattle jump out to a 14-0 lead, but recovered his composure to run for 201 yards.
Of course the team’s veteran leader, Brett Favre, was also impressive. He threw for three touchdowns and 173 yards and his 137.6 passer rating was his best in 21 career postseason games.
Depleted secondary steps up
The Cowboys had about four minutes to rescue their season in the fourth quarter on Sunday, but the Giants’ defense came out on top. The defense’s performance is even more impressive when you consider the secondary was without several starting players because of injury.
Reserve defensive back R.W. McQuarters, along with his fellow reserve cornerbacks Corey Webster and Geoffrey Pope, were pressed into service due to the injury problems. They didn’t disappoint, and McQuarters produced the game-ending interception with nine seconds left on the clock, as Dallas pressed for the victory.
“It was a great win for us,” coach Tom Coughlin told the New York Times. “Our defensive guys were on the field for the majority of the time and had to make some big-time stops. And R. W., two weeks in a row now, played super in the secondary.”
The Giants two main injury concerns in the secondary are starting cornerback Sam Madison and his rookie counterpart Aaron Ross. Madison is struggling with a strained abdominal muscle, while Ross left Sunday’s game in the third quarter with shoulder injury.
Both are listed as doubtful for this week’s contest.
Road warriors
The Giants travel to Lambeau on an NFL-record nine-game road winning streak. With Sunday’s win over Dallas they became only the 10th team in history to win their first two playoff games on the road. Unfortunately for New York, only one of the nine went on to win the Super Bowl.
Green Bay, meanwhile, is an NFC-best 8-1 at home this season. It covered the spread in all but one of those eight wins.
Head to head
These teams have already met once this season, with the Packers coming out 35-12 victors at Giants Stadium on Sept. 16. Overall, Green Bay has won five of its last six against the Giants, covering the spread in three of the last four.
The Packers are 13-3-1 ATS for the season, compared to the Giants 12-6-0 mark
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NFL
What bettors need to know…….
Sunday, January 20
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What bettors need to know: Chargers at Patriots
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San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots (-14 ½, 49)
Sunday Jan. 20, 3:00 p.m. ET
Terrific Tom
It’s hard to imagine that there are many more records left for Tom Brady to break, but in Saturday’s 31-20 win over the Jaguars he struck another off the list. Brady completed 26 of 28 passes – an NFL postseason record with a completion percentage of 92.9.
After the game coach Bill Belichick smiled and made his best attempt at a joke when asked about Brady. "It was a little disappointing, the two he missed," he said.
In truth, Brady could have been perfect. He made his first 16 passes, before tight end Ben Watson missed a catchable one at Jacksonville’s 26-yard line in the third quarter. He then converted his next nine, before Wes Welker dropped what should have been an easy catch in the fourth.
Brady, as usual, gave all the credit for his remarkable performance to his teammates. "It's easy," he told USA Today, "when you have receivers who are open all the time and an offensive line that never lets anyone touch you. It makes it fun to play."
Big guns questionable
The Chargers’ 29-24 win over Indianapolis on Sunday could have come at a heavy price. Running back LaDanian Tomlinson and quarterback Philip Rivers both picked up injuries and sat out the end of the game.
L.T picked up a knock in the second quarter and was replaced by Michael Turner, who went on to rush for 71 yards. Tomlinson was seen rubbing the inside of his left knee on the sideline, but later said he felt like he could have returned to the game.
Rivers’ injury came on a seemingly innocuous play. He fell back awkwardly after throwing a 56-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, aggravating a previous injury to his left knee. Rivers was replaced by Bill Volek, who orchestrasted the winning touchdown drive.
Coach Norv Turner said both players will be listed as questionable for next week's game in New England.
Belichick wary
Some would say that the Patriots have dodged a bullet. Instead of facing Peyton Manning and the Colts in a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game, they will instead play San Diego.
But Bill Belichick, who is not renowned for being positive, believes this could be tougher matchup for his team.
"They're physical," Belichick told the Nashua Telegraph shortly after the Chargers upset the Colts. "Going out on the road and winning in Indianapolis, I think shows what kind of mental toughness they have.
"We know we're going to have to play our best game of the year, so we're on that."
In their only other meeting this season, the traveling Pats hammered San Diego. They recorded a 38-14 win on Sept. 16, but Belichick insists that this is a much improved Chargers outfit.
"Well, a lot's happened since then," he said. "We'll definitely start all over on the preparation, just almost like it's a new team, then look back at some of the things we had from back in September.
"But, that was such a long time ago, and I think the most important thing for us to focus on is what the Chargers have done in the last couple of months."
Bad blood
Sunday’s contest is a rematch of last season’s AFC playoff game, and that did not end well for the Chargers. They blew a fourth quarter lead, allowing the Pats to kick the winning field goals with four minutes left.
At the end of the game, a few New England players decided to celebrate by doing Shawn Merriman’s ‘lights out’ dance on the Chargers logo at the 50-yard line.
San Diego took major offense to the celebration, with Tomlinson calling the Pats classless, while Philip Rivers branded cornerback Ellis Hobbs as the “the sorriest corner in the league.”
The Chargers vowed revenge ahead of their embarrasing loss to the Pats in September, but now they get a second chance on the biggest possible stage.
Head to head
The Patriots have won and covered in two straight and six of their last eight meetings with San Diego. They easily covered a 3 ½-point spread in the only meeting between the teams this season, winning by a remarkable 24-point margin on Sept. 16.
New England comes into this game with a perfect 17-0 straight up record, as well as a 10-7 ATS mark. The Chargers are on an eight-game unbeaten streak during which they’ve covered on every occasion.
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What bettors need to know: Giants at Packers
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New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (-7, 42)
Little brother comes up big
Giants quarterback Eli Manning stepped out of his big brother’s shadow on Sunday. While Peyton and the Colts were laboring to a 28-24 defeat to San Diego, younger brother Eli was leading his team to the NFC Championship game.
The Giants’ Manning threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-17 win over No.1 seed Dallas. He led a game-changing 71-yard drive at the end of the first half, tying the score at 14-14 before the break.
“That's the man who won this game for us," Antonio Pierce said. Amani Toomer added: “Eli was just outstanding,"
Brandon Jacobs reserved the most praise, saying: “He's the best quarterback I've ever played with. I love the guy to death. I don't give a damn what anyone says about it. I don't know if he silenced the critics. In this game, you're always going to have critics.”
Youthful pack
The Green Bay Packers were the NFL’s youngest team at the start of the season, with an average age of 26 years and 89 days. Heading into Saturday’s playoff game against Seattle, veteran cornerback Al Harris said he thought Green Bay’s inexperience might count against them. Man, was he wrong.
Greg Jennings, 24, caught two touchdown passes and had a total of six receptions for 71 yards. Strong safety Atari Bigby, 26, had seven tackles and forced an important fumble early on. Defensive end Cullen Jenkins, 26, had one and a half sacks and was within inches of sacking Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on two other occasions.
And probably the most impressive show of character was from 25-year-old tailback Ryan Grant. He had two early fumbles that helped Seattle jump out to a 14-0 lead, but recovered his composure to run for 201 yards.
Of course the team’s veteran leader, Brett Favre, was also impressive. He threw for three touchdowns and 173 yards and his 137.6 passer rating was his best in 21 career postseason games.
Depleted secondary steps up
The Cowboys had about four minutes to rescue their season in the fourth quarter on Sunday, but the Giants’ defense came out on top. The defense’s performance is even more impressive when you consider the secondary was without several starting players because of injury.
Reserve defensive back R.W. McQuarters, along with his fellow reserve cornerbacks Corey Webster and Geoffrey Pope, were pressed into service due to the injury problems. They didn’t disappoint, and McQuarters produced the game-ending interception with nine seconds left on the clock, as Dallas pressed for the victory.
“It was a great win for us,” coach Tom Coughlin told the New York Times. “Our defensive guys were on the field for the majority of the time and had to make some big-time stops. And R. W., two weeks in a row now, played super in the secondary.”
The Giants two main injury concerns in the secondary are starting cornerback Sam Madison and his rookie counterpart Aaron Ross. Madison is struggling with a strained abdominal muscle, while Ross left Sunday’s game in the third quarter with shoulder injury.
Both are listed as doubtful for this week’s contest.
Road warriors
The Giants travel to Lambeau on an NFL-record nine-game road winning streak. With Sunday’s win over Dallas they became only the 10th team in history to win their first two playoff games on the road. Unfortunately for New York, only one of the nine went on to win the Super Bowl.
Green Bay, meanwhile, is an NFC-best 8-1 at home this season. It covered the spread in all but one of those eight wins.
Head to head
These teams have already met once this season, with the Packers coming out 35-12 victors at Giants Stadium on Sept. 16. Overall, Green Bay has won five of its last six against the Giants, covering the spread in three of the last four.
The Packers are 13-3-1 ATS for the season, compared to the Giants 12-6-0 mark
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