Friday, December 17, 2010

Roberts Week 15 NFL Selections: Jaguars Plus the Points at Indy Look Nice

Here’s a look at my week 15 NFL wagers. I‘ll be looking to play the Patriots, laying up to -13 if Aaron Rodgers doesn‘t start along with taking the Vikings and under against the Bears for the Monday night game in likely snow conditions. I’d be surprised if the total was higher than 34. So far, it looks like Bears -6 ½ is the number, but I want +7 ½, so I’ll wait.

Jaguars +5 @ Indianapolis 
Panthers -2 ½ vs. Cardinals
Browns +1 ½ @ Cincinnati
Bills +6 @ Miami
Eagles +3 @ NY Giants
Buccaneers -5 vs. Lions
Falcons -6 @ Seattle
Jets +6 @ Pittsburgh
Broncos +7 @ Oakland

Roberts College Football Bowl Selections For Saturday, December 18

I will be looking to bet against MAC and ACC teams throughout the bowl season. I’ll have my games posted as I wager on them. Thus far, I have only four plays and all are for Saturday.
Here’s a look at who I bet:

Saturday, December 18 
New Mexico Bowl - 11:00 am
UTEP +12 vs. BYU

Humanitarian Bowl - 2:30 pm
Fresno State +1 ½ vs. Northern Illinois
NIU-FSU Total under 58 ½ 

New Orleans Bowl - 6:00 pm
Troy -2 vs. Ohio

all times PDT

Week 15 NFL Betting Moves From Las Vegas: Critical Divisional Rematches

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

One of the best things Roger Goodell has done during his reign as NFL commissioner was changing the late season schedule to reflect more important divisional games. This week we have eight games where divisional opponents are playing each other for the second time this season.

We saw somewhat of playoff game Thursday night between the 49ers and Chargers because whoever lost was going to have tough time qualifying for a playoff position.

One of the most important games of the week have the Eagles and Giants each sitting at 9-4 and battling for the NFC East crown. The Eagles beat the Giants 27-17 in week 11, but in the process, the Giants did somewhat of a good job in containing Michael Vick. The Las Vegas Hilton Super Book opened the Giants a -3 (+105) favorite, but was quickly moved to -2 ½ (-120) with bettors finding value in getting +3 with Philly laying .15 cents more.

For those looking to get +3 at -110, the South Point sports book has the only flat number in town. They continue to be the only book in Las Vegas that uses only flat numbers. Their next move is likely -2 ½, so get it fast if that side is attractive.

The battle for the AFC South could end this week should Jacksonville dispose of the Colts like they did week 4 with their 31-28 win. A two game advantage with two to go and owning the first tie-breaker could have the Jaguars sending last season’s AFC Super Bowl representative home before the playoffs begin. Should the Colts win, the final two weeks will become very interesting. The line has been steady all week with the Colts a 5-point favorite.

Based on the way Peyton Manning’s confidence has looked shattered over the last few weeks, taking the points in what figures to be a tight game does have some value. Just to show how much things have changed with each team’s rating since that week four matchup, the Colts were 7-point favorites on the road at Jacksonville.

The Bears and Vikings meet again in a critical matchup for Chicago in the NFC North that could almost assure the Bears of winning the division and a playoff position should the Packers lose at New England, which is very likely considering Aaron Rodgers is extremely doubtful. No definitive answer will be known on Rodgers status until Saturday, but even if he were to play, beating Tom Brady would have been a tall task. The Hilton opened the Patriots a 4 ½-point favorite before last weeks games. Lucky’s sports books are the places in town with the game up and have the Patriots as 12-point favorites.

As for the Bears Monday night, it’s looking more like Vikings rookie quarterback Joe Webb will get the start as Tavaris Jackson is out and Brett Favre is very doubtful. The Hilton’s early line had the Vikings a 1 ½-point favorite before last weeks games, but currently have the game off the board, as does every other book besides Lucky’s, who currently have the Bears 6-point favorites. It’s hard to believe Favre still has the type of impact on a line, but it’s more about the inexperience of Webb who is sure to get a heavy dose of the Monsters of the Midway throwing the kitchen sink at him.

Seeing the Vikings play a home game outside again for the first time since 1981 will be a pleasant sight. I always enjoyed the edge they had their as the home team in December where the elements always played a major impact. Each of their Super Bowl appearances were always influenced because of the advantage they had at home.

Early forecasts for Monday night call for snow showers at nine degrees which could once again give the Vikings a home field edge and negate their disadvantage of Webb starting. The Bears play in a cold weather city as well, but we saw last week just how good they are in it offensively as New England wiped them up on their home field in the snow. Because of the forecast, no sports book in town has the total up. Whatever the number is, under looks like the way to go, and get it fast, like in as soon as it goes up, because it will only go down from there.

A critical AFC clash has the Steelers hosting the Jets this week as 5 ½-point favorites. The Steelers initially opened as 6-point favorites based on the current funk the Jets are in that has seen them go without a touchdown the last two weeks. Mark Sanchez has been challenged by Rex Ryan this week through the media and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a positive response, or at least a score.

The largest move of the week was somewhat tame with the Saints moving from +3 (-120) to +1 ½ at Baltimore in a critical game before their match with the Falcons next week. The Bengals dropped from an opener of -2 ½ to -1 ½ based on the Browns starting the more efficient Colt McCoy over Jake Delhomme. Seahawks money also found their way to the windows taking +7 and +6 ½ against the Falcons who are now 6-point favorites. The Falcons are very public team and the number should balance the sharp plays eventually forcing a move back up.

The Titans and Texans meet up again this week in Nashville, and while two 5-8 teams don’t really create much interest, the rematch between Andre Johnson and Cortland Finnegan should be exciting to watch. Houston beat the Titans 20-0 in week 12 where the two slugged it out, or rather Johnson did. The Texans were initially getting 2-points, but the line has settled at +1 ½.

I been playing in a weekly contest the local newspaper has called the Las Vegas Review-Journal NFL Challenge representing VegasInsider.com and have held my own weekly despite two horrendous weeks going 37-32-1 on the year. The contest uses the Las Vegas Hilton Super Contest lines and requires five selections a week. The current leader is the Hilton’s Executive Race and Sports Director Jay Kornegay at 41-29.

LVRJ NFL Challenge

Here are my contest selections for week 15:
Jaguars +5 @ Indianapolis
Buccaneers -6 vs. Lions
Jets +6 @ Pittsburgh
Falcons -6 @ Seattle
Bears -3 @ Minnesota

I have been guest hosting Sports Book radio on ESPN 1100 am here in Las Vegas while regular host Brian Belssing is away. On Thursday's show we had Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman on who gave his NFL selections along with the Las Vegas Review-Journal's UNLV beat wirter Matt Youman's as we discussed what happned to the Rebels Wednesday night against UCSB. I closed out the last half hour with VegasInsider.com's Brian Edwards as he broke down the week 15 NFL card and gave insight to Florida's new coaching situation. Friday's show will be live at the M Resort and Spa's race and sports book where I will be with Bruce Marshall discussing everything going on in sports this weekend, including the 2022 Qatar date for the World Cup. The shows are archived daily on VegasInsider.com, check it out.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Kenny White's Las Vegas Oddsmakers Week 15 NFL ratings


 

The Las Vegas NFL Rankings are created by former Las Vegas oddsmaker Kenny White. All 32 pro football teams are listed below in descending order below by power ratings created by White.Biggest Jumps:
San Diego 7 to 4
Miami 19 to 16
San Francisco 25 to 22
Biggest Drops:
Green Bay 2 to 7
Philadelphia 2 to 5
LAS VEGAS NFL RANKINGS - WEEK 15
RankTeamRatingLast Week
1New England145.41
2New Orleans143.26
3Pittsburgh142.94
4San Diego142.87
5Philadelphia142.72
6Atlanta142.65
7Green Bay142.52
8New York Giants142.39
9Baltimore141.29
10New York Jets140.78
11Indianapolis140.211
12Chicago139.712
13Minnesota139.613
14Jacksonville138.814
15Dallas138.115
16Miami137.819
17Kansas City##137.615
17Tampa Bay137.619
19Houston137.517
20Oakland137.218
21Tennessee**136.521
22Buffalo136.122
22San Francisco136.125
24Cleveland135.424
24Washington135.422
26Seattle134.926
27Cincinnati134.827
28Detroit9134.629
29St. Louis134.028
30Denver131.830
31Arizona130.231
32Carolina128.332

**Tennessee with Kerry Collins - If Rusty Smith (-4 points)
## Kansas City with QB Matt Cassel (questionable)- If Brodie Croyle (-1½ points)
9Detroit with QB Matthew Stafford (out) - Shaun Hill (-1 pt) QB Drew Stanton (3rd string) - (-2 pts)
aArizona with Derek Anderson. - If John Skelton (-2½ points)