NFL.com had the game POSTPONED as of last night Now it looks to be back on........... I guess.
Dolphins-Steelers Game Rescheduled For Sunday Night, September 26, At 8:30 PM (ET)
September 25, 2004
STATEMENT FROM DOLPHINS PRESIDENT EDDIE JONES -
"The Miami Dolphin – Pittsburgh Steeler game has been rescheduled for Pro Player Stadium at 8:30 PM on Sunday night, subject to the affects of Hurricane Jeanne. That decision has been reached jointly by the team, the Commissioner’s office, and the Steelers, after talking to government agencies and evaluating the information we have at this point about potential affects of the storm.
"However, we all intend to reassess the situation following the aftermath of the storm in the morning, and make a final decision at that point. Our first consideration will be public safety issues resulting from the storm, and that concern will be the priority in determining whether the game can be played tomorrow night."
Houston at Kansas City
Sunday, September 26
Big class drop here for the 0-2 Chiefs.
They opened the season at Denver then
took on the NFC’s Super Bowl representative,
Carolina, at home in Week 2. This
week they get a team they know they can
outscore in the 0-2 Texans. The Chiefs
much-maligned defense might even be
able to get a stop or two versus the Tex-
Robert Ross
ans and young David Carr.
Play on Kansas City
Houston at Kansas City
Sunday, September 26, 1:00 EST
Something has to give this Sunday when
the Texans and Chiefs meet in Kansas City
as both enter this contest winless. It’s not
a big surprise to see Houston looking for
their first win, but the Chiefs didn’t expect
to be 0-2.
Houston opened the season by getting
upset by San Diego at home 27-20. The
favored Texans couldn’t hold on to the
football as they turned it over to the Chargers
four times. Last week they went to Detroit
and lost to the Lions 28-16. Once again
they had the turnover bug hit them as they
lost the ball three times. On the season
they have a minus six turnover margin.
The good news for Houston is that their
defense has played pretty well. In fact, in
both losses they had more yardage than
their opponents. Last week they limited
Detroit to 276 total yards but still gave up
28 points.
The Chiefs are 0-2, but they’ve lost to two
very good opponents. They opened in
Denver, losing to the Broncos 34-24, then
last week were upset at home by a very
good Carolina team 28-17. The Chiefs offense
haven’t shown the flash that it did
last year when they averaged 30 points per
game and 372 total yards per contest. Is
this the week that they break out of their
offensive slump?
The Sportsbooks look for the Chiefs to
crush the Texans as they have KC favored
by 9 points. We look for an easy KC win as
well. Why? In the NFL since 1989 winless
home favorites of 4 or more points in week
three are 20-4 SU and 16-8 ATS. Also, Kansas
City is 5-1 ATS since 1989 at home off
a SU home loss. 3* Kansas City
San Francisco at Seattle
Sunday, September 26
The last time the 49ers were a doubledigit
underdog (without any key injuries)
was during the 1980 season. The 49ers
were getting ten points at home as they
hosted the Rams. So, for the first time
since the 49ers won a Super Bowl (they
actually won five) San Francisco is a
double-digit underdog. During the 1999
season when Frisco went 4-12 straightup
they were never on the receiving end
of a double-digit spread. The official
posting of the weekly football lines are
an indication of the talent disparity between
two teams, obviously the odds
makers are of the opinion that Seattle’s
power rating plus home field advantage
should equate to a line of 10.5 and now
eleven points as of this writing. The numbers
are also adjusted for injuries to key
players; Barlow is listed as questionable
for Sunday’s contest. A good example of
that scenario occurred when Steve Young
was out and Bono started for the 49ers in
Week 11 during the 1995 season at Dallas.
San Fran was getting 13.5 in that
contest and won straight up. Why is the
Seahawks vs. 49ers line double digits?
Injuries to the 49ers are one reason, and
more importantly, they aren’t a very good
football team. The Seahawks went 8-0
straight up at home last season and Seattle
was one of a handful of teams that
actually laid double-digits at home. They
were giving up ten or more on three occasions
and covered two of those three
contests. The Hawks are impressive indeed
as they play their first home game
off back-to-back straight up road wins,
that hasn’t happened often either. Teams
that return home after starting the season
with back-to-back road games are
only 15-25-2 ATS the past 15 seasons.
Only four teams won their first two road
games from that sampling of 42 games.
Those four teams opened at home 1-3
ATS. Take the 49ers plus all those points.
Play on San Francisco
Big Al McMordie
Houston at Kansas City
Sunday, September 26
What a difference a year makes! Last
year, the Kansas City Chiefs broke out
to an NFL-best 9-0 straight up record en
route to the AFC West Division title. But
this year, Dick Vermeil’s troops have
stumbled out of the gate, and are in the
division basement with a 0-2 record.
Kansas City lost 34-24 at Denver in the
opening week of the season, and lost at
home to Carolina (who played without
their top running back, Stephen Davis)
28-17 last week. The Houston Texans are
also 0-2, as they lost 27-20 at home to
the Chargers in Week 1, and 28-16 at
Detroit this past Sunday. Well,
something’s gotta give at Arrowhead
Stadium this week, and I won’t be
shocked to see the Chiefs fall to 0-3.
Here’s why: Since 1980, in matchups
between two .500 or worse teams that
each are off losses of eight points or
more, road underdogs of +3 or more
points are 73-37 against the spread. We’ll
take Houston plus the generous points.
Play on Houston
Jimmy the Moose
Arizona at Atlanta
Sunday, September 26
Dennis Green hasn’t seen the results he’s
wanted but the Cardinals played better in
Week 2 vs. the Patriots. Expect Arizona’s
offense to be a little bit sharper in this
game and weeks to come. Arizona has
only scored 22 points but their D has allowed
40 points in 2 games this season.
Michael Vick looked very comfortable in
Week 2 vs. the Rams doing what he does
best, creating havoc. The Falcons put up
34 points while giving up 17. After 2 weeks
the Falcons have scored 55 points while
allowing 36. Expect Vick and the Falcons
to put up big numbers in another high scoring
affair.
Play Cardinals and Falcons Over
John Ryan
Houston at Kansas City
Sunday, September 26
I am off to a very strong start football,
going a combined 10-2-1 ATS in 3-Star and
5-Star Majors with a 8-2-1 ATS mark in College
Football. In sum, I am not going to
tell you that I won’t be having a losing
week, however, if you make the commitment
to follow this proven methodology
that I have used myself for nearly 12 years,
than I can honestly say you will have an
excellent opportunity to make money over
the course of the season.
Kansas City is 0-2 and just might be 0-3
after the 0-2 Texans come to town. The
line opened at 9.5 and I think you will see
it go up as the public will believes that
Vermiel will have this team ready for bear.
Yet, there are so many problems in this
edition of the Chiefs.
First, the run defense is positively horrible.
The dominant play in the Carolina
loss was Foster’s 71-yard run early in the
fourth quarter. Before this run, Foster’s
longest run from scrimmage was just 21
yards. Granted, he has been playing a secondary
role to Stephen Davis and has not
had that many opportunities. I counted
four missed assignments and linebackers
simply taking themselves out of the play
on the snap while expecting a pass. This
is the direct result of the zone coverage
schemes that Kansas City has used as a
bandage in the first two weeks.
Let’s discuss the match up zone for a bit.
Pure zone coverages were a very strong
scheme in recent years, and to a certain
degree they work well against today’s fast
and furious NFL offenses. Given the
quickness of the modern day defenses,
the inescapable logic of reaction to the
ball in the air become a necessity in every
game, College and High School Football
included. Over the past two years,
though, offensive coordinators have developed
mutations of the West Coast Offense
that have stretched defenses both
vertically and horizontally. The offensive
zones now are so large that it becomes
impossible to defend. Defensive coordinators
have made mutations of their own
with new schemes called stunting zones
and rolling zones with pass action, and
have developed a hybrid zone called the
match up zone.
With the new rules changes I am beginning
to see more defensive backs in the
off position and relying heavily on the
quarterback read. The cornerback simply
looks at the quarterback and reads a threestep
drop and gives him the edge in cutting
off any short routes. He also has a
strong chance of cutting off and defending
the fade and stop fade routes from the
off position be reading the eyes of the
quarterback. Perhaps, most importantly, is
this allows the cornerback to react to the
run much more quickly. The back sees the
receiver release with his peripheral vision
and begins to back pedal. If he knows he
has help deep he does not to concern himself
with a establishing a big cushion. This
is what the Kansas City defense has failed
at executing and what Carolina truly exploited.
This is not an easy problem to correct in
just one week and although they are playing
a far inferior opponent, the Texans just
might make this game extremely close and
based on the AiS win the game. The AiS
projects that there is a 28% probability
that Houston wins the game straight up,
but a 68% probability that they lose by
ten points or less.
Now, in the Kansas City press today there
are statements from Shawn Barber accepting
total blame for the poor run defense.
“I want you to write, ‘Shawn Barber is responsible,’
” Barber said after the Chiefs’
crushing 28-17 loss to Carolina in the home
opener. Then, to prove his point, he bent
over a table and pretended to get his head
severed by a guillotine. “Chop it off,” he
said. Then to further prove his point, he
suggested that some bad things might befall
any writer who hints that someone else
was at fault. “I did it,” Barber said. “It was
me and no one else.”
Barber is certainly the key of the running
games in the first two weeks of the season.
In fact, this target extends back to
last season and the fact that the Chiefs
defense has yielded a 100-yard rusher in
seven of the past nine games. Houston’s
Dominick Davis had 78 yards on 25 attempts
against Detroit. Is there any reason
not to think that he will get a 100 this
Sunday, or that Houston will gain 150 or
more yards? The AiS projects a 79% certainty
of a Houston cover if they gain 150
or more rushing yards.
Play on Houston
ROB VENO
Houston at Kansas City
Sunday, September 26
The opening line obviously reflects the
defensive deficiencies of both teams, but
it’s still not high enough at this point
since these two are proving to be the
bottom of the league’s bottom tier. Kansas
City was held to uncharacteristic 17
points last week by a fierce Carolina front
seven, which atoned for the Monday
Night manhandling put on them by the
Packers. The Chiefs excellent front wall
figures to perform much better in this
spot versus a Houston squad with nowhere
near the capabilities of Carolina in
pressuring the quarterback and stopping
the run. Expect KC QB Green and the
passing game to have an especially big
day against the Texans defense which
has now allowed an incredible 35 of 49
passes to be completed (71.4%) for 378
yards (10.8 yards per completion) and 5
touchdowns. With RB Holmes (listed as
?able but likely to go) adding balance to
the attack, Kansas City figures to show
the home crowd 30+. Meanwhile, there’s
been absolutely nothing wrong with
Houston’s ability to move the ball as
they’ve compiled 361 total yards per
game moving the ball extremely well
through the air. QB Carr will likely exploit
the weak KC secondary and again they
have a stud RB in Davis to balance the
offense. As if both offenses clearly being
able to dominate the defenses here
wasn’t enough, must also consider the
Chiefs return game as punt and kick return
specialist Hall could have a field day.
In their first two games, Houston’s allowed
a whopping 259 kick return yards
on just 8 tries for an average of 32.4 per
return along with 13 yards per punt return.
With every facet of each offense
by to dissect and score upon the opposing
defenses here there should be no
shortage of scoreboard changing. Both
squads have quick strike home run personnel
which will likely account for two
or more non time consuming scores. This
matchup just screams of 27-28 points for
each side and with the number at 48½
the over is a very attractive play.
Play Texans and Chiefs Over
Baltimore at Cincinnati
Sunday, September 26, 1:00 EST
After losing in Cleveland to start the season,
the Ravens registered a win by pasting Pittsburgh last Sunday at home 30-13.
Against Cleveland the Ravens left their offense in Baltimore. Last Sunday they put
30 points on the board but if you look at
the stat sheet you’ll find that they gained
only 260 offensive yards. Does Baltimore
think they’ll be able to count solely on their
defense this entire season?
The Bengals opened the season by giving
the Jets a good game in New York, losing
31-24 and just missed covering as 5.5-point
dogs. Last week they were luckey to get
the awful Dolphins at home and knocked
them off 16-13. However, all of the Bengal
backers were pissed as the Bungals let a
late 13-3 lead disappear and ended up blowing
the cover as 4-point favorites.
Last year these two teams met here in Cincinnati
in October. The Ravens came into
Cincinnati and were 1.5-point favorites.
The Bengals played a very good football
game and upset the Ravens 34-26. Cincinnati
was helped by three Raven turnovers.
Baltimore comes to Cincinnati as 2.5-point
favorites this year. Is there any way that
you can take the Bengals with less than a
field goal? I think so. This is one of those
selections that’s tough to play on but home
dogs after a SU home win but ATS loss
have performed very well over the last 10
plus years posting a 10-4 ATS record. We’re
going with the Bengals. 3* Cincinnati.
New Orleans at St. Louis
Sunday, September 26, 1;00 EST
The Saints got a big break by opening their
season with back-to-back home games. It
was only a benefit if they could win both
games. However, they didn’t get it done in
their opener, a 21-7 loss to Seattle. Last
week it was a big game against lowly SF, a
game they had to win or be faced with a 0-
2 opening. The Saints hung on to beat the
49ers 30-27. However, SF went back home
with the money as 7.5-point dogs.
The Saints better find their missing running
attack. In their first game they were
only able to run for 74 yards managed only
46 yards last week vs. the 49ers. Their main
man Deuce McAllister was injured on his
third carry against SF and will be lost for
4-5 weeks with a severly sprained ankle.
Speaking of running games, what happened
to Marshall Faulk and the Rams running
game? Last week against the weak
Falcons defense the Rams were able put
up a whopping 30 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Faulk ran for only 20 yards on 12 carries
in the 34-17 loss.
This week the Rams line up as a touchdown
favorite over the Saints. Remember
that the Rams struggled in their opener as
10.5-point favorites over Arizona. They
won that game 17-10 but were never close
to covering the spread.
Look for the Rams to score a big win over
the Saints. There’s a little system that we
like to use here that tells us to play against
any road team off a home win but ATS loss
and they scored 28 or more points. If you
play against these teams you’ll cash 67%
of the time. That’s good enough for us!
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