Price Per Head Overview
The excitement surrounding the Breeder’s Cup betting is still in the air as the Arizona Cardinals try to figure out what keeps going wrong with its offense. The Cardinals’ passing game has improved dramatically with the arrival of new quarterback Kevin Kolb as Arizona owns the 13th best passing game in the league. But the offense cannot run the ball or put points on the board consistently, and that is costing the Cardinals games. Another thing that is not helping the Cardinals is its 26th ranked defense. Arizona made very few changes to a bad team in the off-season. If it wants to develop, it needs better players.

The Baltimore Ravens are cruising right along and should be in contention for the AFC North title all season long. While Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ offense has improved significantly over last season, the real surprise this year is the potent Baltimore defense. After an average pay per head performance last season, the Ravens rank 1st overall in lowest points allowed this year and 1st overall in total team defense. Ray Lewis and his defensive unit have been able to dominate the pass and the run all season long. The Ravens hit hard and can run fast. This is definitely going to be a team to be reckoned with all season long and will give the Pittsburgh Steelers a run for its money in the race for the AFC North title.

Arizona Cardinals
It looks like quarterback Kevin Kolb is still adjusting to being a starter in the NFL. He has seven touchdown passes this year, but he also has seven interceptions. But Kolb is moving the offense, and he is being effective at quarterback. When running back Tim Hightower was allowed to go to the Washington Redskins, that left Beanie Wells to run the ball. Wells has done a good job but he is also proving to be a little injury prone. The Cardinals look like a team that just needs to keep making smart NFL picks in the draft and improve through free agency. Arizona needs a lot of parts to be competitive, but it looks like the team may slowly be headed in the right direction.

Baltimore Ravens
Linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed are elder statesmen by NFL standards. But they are the leaders of a defense that has come to dominate the NFL. Lewis is still a significant factor up the middle for stopping the run, and NFL quarterbacks still will not throw the ball in Reed’s direction. If they do, Reed makes them pay. The Baltimore offense features quarterback Joe Flacco, running back Ray Rice and a whole host of very talented NFL receivers. It took a few years to build this Baltimore team, but it finally looks ready to be a playoff contender.

The Bottom Line
The Cardinals are a few years away from being a good football team and the Ravens are already there. This will be a good learning experience for the Cardinals, but it will not be a game to help boost its confidence.

Pick: Baltimore Ravens

Online Sportsbooks Overview
This could be one of the more interesting NFL picks of the week. The Dallas Cowboys are not allowing itself to get close enough to the top of the NFC East standings to make an impact. When the Cowboys had a chance in week six to go 3-2, head coach Jason Garrett tried to sit on a lead against the New England Patriots and Tom Brady made the Cowboys pay. Now things at Valley Ranch are in complete chaos. Quarterback Tony Romo is taking heat for bad decisions, owner Jerry Jones is questioning the play calling of head coach Jason Garrett and half of the Cowboys’ offensive line is out on injured reserve.

The St. Louis Rams came into this season with so much promise. After challenging for the NFC West title last season, the Rams expected this to be the year that quarterback Sam Bradford really blossomed into a team leader. What has happened is that the Rams are only averaging 9.4 points per game, Bradford only has 1,177 passing yards and three touchdowns in five games and the Rams just cannot score points. But that is the good news. When you switch the conversation over to the St. Louis defense then that is when things really get bleak.

Dallas Cowboys
The price per head bookmaking experts have never really been sold on the Dallas Cowboys as a playoff contender ever since Tony Romo became the starting quarterback. As long as players like Dez Bryant roam the Cowboys’ sideline screaming like mad men at a crazy convention, the Cowboys will never be a contender. The Bryant outburst on the sidelines against New England proved two things. The first is that the offensive players do not expect Tony Romo to be an emotional leader, so they feel that they have to take matters into their own hands. The second is that Dez Bryant still has no respect for veteran players or other leaders on the team. Jason Whitten or Miles Austin should be trying to get the team pumped up and not the overly aggressive Bryant.

St. Louis Rams
If you would have made a preseason statement that said the St. Louis Rams could go 0-16 this season, no one would have believed you. But after five games this season, the price per head services experts would have to concede that 0-16 is possible. However, the Cowboys offer a unique opportunity. When the Cowboys start to sink, it sinks lower than any other team in football. This version of the Dallas Cowboys is incapable of sustaining a winning season, and that could work in the favor of the St. Louis Rams.

The Bottom Line
NFL fans in St. Louis know that 1-15 is not much better than 0-16, but if that win can come against the Cowboys in Dallas then that would make things a little easier to swallow. It is difficult to say if it is the system in St. Louis or Bradford that cannot score points. I guess we will find out the answer to that question when the Rams either choose quarterback Andrew Luck in the 2012 NFL draft or trade the pick away.

Pick: St. Louis Rams

Sports Betting Overview
Every time the sports headlines come out for the day, the Houston Texans lose another half-point to the Baltimore Ravens. It has been nothing but bad news for the AFC South leaders as key players continue to nurse injuries. This is supposed to be the year that the Texans break through, win the division and make the playoffs. But Houston is getting some stiff competition from the Tennessee Titans, and the Texans are running out of key players to lose to long-term injuries. The Texans were unable to stand up to an emotional Oakland Raiders team at home in week five, and now Houston has to travel to Baltimore to try and combat a healthy and determine Ravens team. The Texans need to stop reading the sports headlines if they want to finish the season in one piece.

The cost per head fans in Baltimore were expecting a battle from the Pittsburgh Steelers all season long for the AFC North title. Baltimore made things a lot easier on themselves by beating the Steelers in week one to set up a very important game with Pittsburgh in week nine. But Baltimore did not count on the entire AFC North being competitive this season. None of the four AFC North teams have a losing record, and three AFC North teams have three wins. The Ravens had a bye week last week and watched as the Steelers and Bengals moved up to 3-2. If the Ravens lose to the Texans, then it will be a three-way tie at the top of the division with the Cleveland Browns going to Oakland to try and become 3-2 themselves.

Houston Texans
Price per head sports fans in Houston could not believe their bad luck when it was announced that quarterback Matt Schaub has a sore shoulder and did not practice on Wednesday of this week. The Texans insist that Schaub will play and that holding him out of practice was a precaution. But the mounting injuries to the Texans make this NFL pick easier. Defensive star Mario Williams is out for quite a while with a muscle tear and wide receiver Andre Johnson is gone with a nagging hamstring injury that the Texans are not taking any chances with. The Texans will have to lean back on its running game that features running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate. But the Ravens can attack a one-dimensional offense and shut it down. The Texans will have to come up with a clever game plan to win this one.

Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens have been in the NFL playoff hunt for years, but playoff success has eluded Baltimore ever since its Super Bowl win in 2000. With the exception of an AFC championship game berth in 2008, the Ravens have not been past the first round in a decade. This year could be a very different year for Baltimore as it finally has all of the important elements it needs to be successful. But the Ravens will have to keep winning if it wants to take the AFC North title as the AFC North could be the most competitive division in football.

The Bottom Line
The Ravens have everything it needs to take advantage of the key injuries to the Texans. Unfortunately for Houston, the loss of Williams and Johnson does put the Texans at a severe disadvantage that the Ravens will exploit all day long.

Pick: Baltimore Ravens