Pro Football Monday Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (-5) (8:35PM ET) (ESPN)
Again I will play against the rookie quarterback on the road here. Pittsburgh is a tough place to play for visiting QB’s and it will be very tough here for Joe Flacco at Pittsburgh. This is the rookie quarterbacks first ever start on the road and its at Pittsburgh and on Monday Night Football which gives the Steelers maximum home field advantage. The Steeler defense will come to play here. With Willie Parker nursing a sprained knee I expect the Steelers to stretch out the Ravens defense and force their run stopping linebackers in pass coverage. Baltimore is going to try and pound the rock but they are running into a wall, the Steelers defense that is only giving up 64 yards per game on the ground. 3rd and long for Flacco at Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football will not produce favorable results. Behind Big Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers stingy run defense and outstanding home field it will lead to a comfortable win. Play Pittsburgh –5.
Pro Football Best Bet. Monday Night Football. Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (-5) (8:35PM ET) (ESPN)
Baltimore has two wins on the season and its been against 2 bad defensive teams in the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. You have a rookie quarterback from small time college football making his first ever road start and its at Pittsburgh and its on Monday Night Football. Yes, Joe Flacco will lean to the run but the Steelers only give up 64 yards per game on the ground. And the Steelers defense doesn’t give up big plays. This is a very tough spot here for the Ravens rookie QB. Pittsburgh quarterback Big Ben Roethlisberger will spread the Ravens defense forcing the Ravens linebacking corps into pass coverage. Huge difference in quarterback here and the Steelers receivers make the plays at home to get us the point spread cover with help from the Steelers stingy home defense and home crowd.
Pro Football Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals (O/U 44) (10AM ET) (CBS)
Both teams are 0-3 with struggling defense as the Bengals and Browns meet. Cincinnati finally got their passing game going, as Carson Palmer was 27 of 39 for 286 yards against the NY Giants. Cleveland has struggled on offense but the Browns have faced 3 tough defenses in a row in Dallas, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Cleveland finally faces a defense they can score on. Play Cincinnati and Cleveland over 44.
Pro Football Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (-11 ½) (1:15PM ET) (FOX)
Dallas plays their 3rd straight physical defense as they face Washington as an 11-½ point favorite. Jason Campbell has played well after his week 1 debacle and has made big plays in the passing game. The Skins have playmakers on offense in addition to a pretty good running game. Washington has covered 5 of their last 6 meeting including last year as an 11-point underdog. They held a pretty good Arizona Cardinal team to only 17 points and the Giants to 16. In this NFC East rivalry game you have to take the points. Jason Campbell has improved the most at QB since week 1. Tony Romo is 1-2 in 3 career starts versus Washington and most importantly 0-3 against the spread in 3 starts against the Redskins. Take Washington + 11 ½.
Pro Football Sunday Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers (-6 ½) (1PM ET) (FOX)
Atlanta has two victories this season but against 2 of the worst teams in the NFL in Kansas City and Detroit. This will be a tough game for the Atlanta Falcons. Carolina has a pretty good defense and rookie quarterback Matt Ryan only had a QB rating of 29.6 after going 13-33 with 0 TD’s and 2 interceptions against Tampa Bay on the road. After putting up good numbers against bad teams Michael Turner only had a 3 yards per rush average against Tampa Bay. Turner rushed the ball 14 times for only 42 yards against the Bucs. The Panther defense is pretty good and now if they stuff the run they will put the rookie QB in obvious passing situations. Carolina’s offense gets on track here at home where its always easier to throw and we will have a Steve Smith sighting here. Take Carolina –6 ½.
College Football Saturday North Texas Mean Green at Rice Owls (-17) (5PM ET)
North Texas Mean Green has been miserable in the non-conference giving up an average of over 45 points per game in three games. North Texas doesn’t perform well in the non-conference as they put their emphasis in Sun Belt Conference play in hopes to get the automatic bowl bid. Rice threw for over 300 yards against Texas last week averaging 10 yards per pass completion. Owl QB Chase Clement runs the spread offense well for Rice and they will put up tons of points in this one. The Mean Green is missing 3 starters on the offensive line. North Texas’ woes on the road in non-conference continue here. Easy blowout win for Rice. Play Rice –17.
College Football Saturday Illinois Fighting Illini at Penn St Nittany Lions (-16 ½) (8:10PM ET) (ABC)
Illinois has a playmaker on offense in quarterback Juice Williams who can give fits to defenses. He can beat you with his arm with the deep pass and his legs with his running ability. This will keep Penn St’s defense off balance and open up big plays for the Fighting Illini. Also Illinois will be able to control the ball on offense keeping the potent Nittany Lions offense off the field. Penn St is only 4-12 against the spread in their past 16 Big 10 contests. Illinois keeps it close here. Take Illinois +16 ½.
From http://GamblersTelevision.com Television.
Tony T here with our “Rockstar” quick hitter for Saturday’s action. Saturday night on HBO a fight in the Light Middleweight Division as “Sugar” Shane Mosley will fight Ricardo Mayorga. Shane Mosley is the heavy favorite at –800 with Mayorga the underdog at +600. Mosley at 37 years old is after the big payday fight with Oscar De La Hoya. The Mosley camp is hoping that if he beats Mayorga impressively that Oscar could seek a 3rd fight to try and revenge two losses to Sugar Shane. I am looking here at the over under prop, which is set at 9 ½ rounds. Ricardo Mayorga looked really improved in his win over Fernando Vargas and fought with more control. Mayorga’s compubox numbers showed the Nicaraguan fighter landing 196 of 541 punches. Both fighters can take a punch and this fight will be closer than most think. It goes the distance. Play it over 9 ½ rounds at –135.
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College Football Thursday USC Trojans at Oregon St Beavers (+25) (9:00PM ET) (ESPN)
I believe USC’s loss to Stanford last season, as a 40-point favorite will pay dividends for USC bettors this season. USC will take no opponent lightly this season. USC must continue to win big because if a team from the Big 12 and SEC are both undefeated on the season USC might be left out of the National Championship game because the Pac 10 is down this season. So USC must pound teams to show the pollsters that they are no doubt the best team in the nation. And when you play on National Television and pound the life out of teams you leave no doubt in the minds of the pollsters. Oregon St is rebuilding on defense as they lost their front 7 from a year ago. The Beavers are going with a true freshman at running back as Jacquizz Rodgers is getting the majority of the carries. It’s going to be really tough for a true freshman to run against the physical USC defense. That puts Oregon St quarterback Lyle Moevao in obvious passing situations against a good Trojans defense. Moevao has 4 interceptions against 2 BCS Conference opponents this season. He faced a good defense last year at Cincinnati and was a turnover machine passing for 3 interceptions in the Beavers 34-3 loss against a good Bearcat team. USC pounded an experience Ohio St club 35-3 and face the rebuilding Beavers. Trojan QB Mark Sanchez has played well and has brought the big play vertical passing threat back to USC since Carson Palmer was at USC. Then you add the talented running backs to the mix and they will be too much for the young Beavers to handle. Too many weapons for the Trojans here. They will take no opponent lightly this season. Another pounding here. Play USC -25
The LA Dodgers offense has not supported their veteran right-hander as they have scored just 1 run in his last 3 starts. The LA Dodgers team record behind Greg Maddux in 6 starts for LA is 1-5 on the season. Jake Peavy has pitched well against the Dodgers as he sports a career record of 12-1 against the Dodgers with an ERA of 2.21. Peavy should be fresh for this start after missing his last start with the birth of a child. The Padres will play spoilers here.
Your Best Bet for Thursday Major League Baseball is playing the San Diego Padres –120 against the LA Dodgers
