NFL Week 8 Betting Preview

Another near miss at odds against in week seven as the Bengals sneaked past the Panthers in the last minute of a low scoring game. Still, undeterred, an exciting Week 8 awaits led by a real heavyweight match-up between the defense led Denver Broncos and the offensive machine that is the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are unbeaten and priced at odds against to go to play at altitude in Denver. This sounds attractive until you consider that the Broncos are conceding around 12 points a game average, extraordinarily low after six games. If you pressed me I'd be taking the Colts at odds against but in reality it's a watching brief for me.

Elsewhere we see the Chicago Bears and their formidable team priced at a particularly uninviting 1/16 against the "slowly improving but it's a long haul" San Francisco 49ers at 13/1. No thanks. Looking elsewhere I might be tempted by the Seahawks at over 2/1 away to the inconsistent Chiefs except that quarterback Matt Hasselback was injured for three weeks with a knee ligament injury last weekend (and the Seahawks fortunes fell rapidly following his departure) and that is a further big loss following Shaun Alexander's injury. Similarly the Dallas Cowboys would ordinarily look overpriced at 2/1 in Carolina, except for the benching of statue like QB Bledsoe and his replacement with a promising but untried quarterback in Tony Romo.

For betting opportunities this week I look to the following games:

Philadelphia Eagles versus Jacksonville Jaguars
San Diego Chargers versus St Louis Rams
Cincinnati Bengals versus Atlanta Falcons

In each case I want to be on the underdog, the last named team in each game above.

The whole NFL was surprised top see the Texans beat the Jaguars last week whilst the Eagles perished in Tampa to the third longest field goal in the sport's history as time expired. The Jaguars defense should be capable of stopping Donovan McNabb utilising his mobility and is difficult to run on at the best of times. It should be a low scoring game and Jaguars QB Byron Leftwich should be able to take advantage of the Eagles' depleted secondary. They are decent value at 27/10 in a likely close match.

The Chargers are proving quite inconsistent, losing to the so-so Chiefs last weekend with inexperienced QB Phillip Rivers showing signs of immaturity and now star pass rusher Shawne Merriman suspended for four games for steroid abuse. The Rams are consistent and QB Marc Bulger does not make many mistakes. The defense is workmanlike and the whole team is displaying a discipline and work ethic for new coach Scott Linehan unknown in the freelancing days of former coach Mike Martz. 7/2 is a simply huge price for a team that will always give its supporters a good run for their money with a good running game, decent receivers and every chance of pulling off an upset.

Finally the Atlanta Falcons in beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in a shoot out last weekend finally asked superstar QB Michael Vick to do more than run himself and instead aired the ball out to the previously least productive set of wider receivers in the NFL. The result was 38 points in regulation against a normally frugal defense. Away at Cincinnati, a tough, talented team is a difficult test. Expect a high scoring match. Atlanta at 37/20 is a good price for another close game.


Selections


Jacksonville Jaguars over the Philadelphia Eagles at 27/10 (bet365)
St Louis Rams over the San Diego Chargers at 7/2 (Paddy Power, Ladbrokes)
Atlanta Falcons over the Cincinnati Bengals at 37/20 (Coral)

Ed note: Make your NFL week 8 bets at Ladbrokes

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