Sports Betting Overview
New York Giants’ fans don’t want to admit it, but that hissing sound coming out of the New Meadowlands is the sound of the air being let out of the Giants’ season. You can almost set your calendars by it. By the time the ninth or tenth game of the season rolls around, the Giants will surely start to squander their lead in the NFC East and lose any chance it had of making the playoffs. Same players and same coach for the past three years will yield the same results. Most price per head bookie experts would call trying to get different results from the same people insanity. The Giants call it the standard operating procedure for the New York franchise.

This was supposed to be the season that the New Orleans Saints passed the NFC South torch on to the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons finally got the memo and started winning after a horrible start to the 2011 season. But someone forgot to get the memo to the Saints and New Orleans has amassed a 7-3 record and sits on top of the NFC South standings. The pay per head fans in New Orleans are a little nervous about their team because the defense has not played consistently this season. But quarterback Drew Brees and the New Orleans offense has been unstoppable and, as Brees has shown in the past, he is more than capable of winning a Super Bowl title on his own.

New York Giants
In past seasons, much of the collapse of the Giants could be laid on the shoulders of quarterback Eli Manning. However, this season it looks like offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride may be the culprit this year. The Giants have lost its last two games in a row, and in both games Gilbride’s pass-happy offense was shut down by the opposing defense. The Giants’ offense has done nothing to try and establish the run in the second half of the season. A 5 dimes review of Eli Manning’s season shows that Manning is playing well in the second half of the season even with throwing three interceptions in the past two games. But the running game needs to get going or else the Giants will lose out on the playoffs once again.

New Orleans Saints
The numbers that New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees has compiled so far this season reads like a video game set on expert level. In 10 games played, Brees has thrown for 3,326 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That puts Brees on pace to throw for more than 5,300 yards and almost 40 touchdowns this season. When NFL fans want to understand how the New Orleans Saints win football games, they only need to look as far as Drew Brees.

The Bottom Line
Drew Brees will pick the Giants defense apart, so the pressure of winning this game falls to Kevin Gilbride and the Giants’ running game. The Saints love to get involved in shootouts. Eli Manning can keep up, but if the Giants cannot run the ball then the Saints’ defense will just take the pass away and make this a very lopsided game.

Pick: New Orleans Saints

Sports Betting Overview
It is difficult to tell why the Chicago Bears keep winning football games. One of the most obvious reasons is the inexplicable desire that NFL head coaches have to kick the ball to Devin Hester. NFL coaching 101 includes an entire chapter on the reasons why it is a bad idea to kick the ball to Devin Hester, yet teams insist on doing it. The Chicago offense is not great at moving the ball, but it is great at utilizing the field position it is given and scoring points. Many football fans would be surprised to know that Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler has 2,033 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns in nine games played. That is just further proof that the Bears can move the ball with the passing game but rely on the running game and special teams to score. Running backs Matt Forte and Marion Barber have scored a combined seven touchdowns this season, which is one reason why the Bears are winning.

It is difficult to tell why the San Diego Chargers keep losing football games. The price per head sports fans in San Diego may have finally had enough of the damaged relationship between head coach Norv Turner and quarterback Philip Rivers. The Chargers, once again, have a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense but cannot win football games. Horrible special teams play and bad penalties have put the Chargers at 4-5. But more than that, it looks like the Chargers do not believe they can win games. The pay per head enthusiasm that used to be in San Diego is gone, and Norv Turner may wind up leaving with it.

Chicago Bears
The Bears are 2-2 in the division while the Detroit Lions are 2-1 in the division. Luckily for the Bears, the Lions do not have a divisional game this week either. But a sportsbook review of the past couple of games for the Bears shows a new determination to win that the team may have lacked earlier in the year. The Bears’ coaching staff is still making questionable decisions and Jay Cutler is not finding consistency with getting the ball in the endzone. But when the Bears are given a chance to score points, it is becoming much better at taking advantage of those opportunities. Whether it is a Marion Barber touchdown run or cashing in on the bad mistake of kicking to Devin Hester, the Bears are making the most of their chances.

San Diego Chargers
The NFL fans in San Diego get the feeling that their team just looks dejected. It has now become obvious that the window that the Chargers had to be champions has come and gone. Now San Diego is losing games it should be winning and running into morale problems. There needs to be some changes in San Diego when this season is over. But, for now, the Chargers need to try and reduce the mistakes this week to win this football game.

The Bottom Line
The Chargers have been giving games away all season long. The Chicago Bears have become very good at accepting gifts from other teams which will probably be the thing that swings this game in favor of the Bears.

Pick: Chicago Bears

Sports Betting Overview
The best part about the Carolina Panthers is its offense. In week nine, the Minnesota Vikings defense shut down the Panthers’ offense to get the Vikings a 24-21 win. The Vikings offense is playing much better under rookie quarterback Christian Ponder than it did for veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb. Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson is on a pace to rush for 1,500 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. Peterson is definitely getting the action he thought he would see when Brett Favre left Minnesota. But at 2-6, the Vikings are not a playoff team. The Vikings are improving, and that is why this week 10 game against the division rival Green Bay Packers should be interesting.

The price per head fans in Green Bay are ecstatic that the Packers are 8-0 on the season. But there is also this sentiment running through the fan base that the Packers have still not put together a complete game yet. The price per head bookmaking experts know that the Packers have been dominant on defense and prolific on offense when necessary. But the team has not come out and dominated a game for a complete 60 minutes yet this season. The Vikings are hoping that the Packers do not start dominating games for a full 60 minutes in week 10. But it could happen.

Minnesota Vikings
Rookie quarterback Christian Ponder is 1-1 as a starter this season and he looked very good in the Vikings’ week nine win over the Panthers. It would be a betonline scam to say that Ponder is the long-term answer to the Vikings’ quarterback problems, but he could be. The biggest improvement Ponder made in week nine was protecting the football. He took four sacks in that game, but he did not throw any interceptions. In week eight against the Packers, Ponder was sacked only twice but he also threw two interceptions. Now that he is getting his NFL confidence, and he has some experience in playing the Packers, that could make this a very competitive football game.

Green Bay Packers

NFL fans all over the country are well aware of the history of the Green Bay Packers. Would Coach Lombardi be proud of this group of players? Maybe not, because the Packers have yet to dominate a game from start to finish. It is nice to have the tools to pull out a win when needed but, at some point, the inability to play 60 minutes will catch up to a team. The Packers have a perfect record to this point in the season, but they have not been perfect. Look for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the guys to step up the play a little bit in the second half of the season. But also look for Christian Ponder and the Vikings to push back.

The Bottom Line
The Vikings will lose this game, but it will not be the 13 ½ point blowout that the odds makers are expecting. The Packers will allow the Vikings to stay close for most of this game. The meeting between these two teams in week eight was not a 13 ½ point blowout, and there is no reason to expect this one to be that way either.

Pick: Packers to win straight-up but take the Vikings with the points

Game Overview
The Breeder’s Cup betting will be coming to an exciting conclusion two days before the Chicago Bears travel to Philadelphia to take on the surging Eagles. After consecutive losses in weeks four and five, the Chicago Bears went into its bye week with two consecutive wins. The Bears had two weeks to think about its week seven win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and prepare for its week nine battle with the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Bears were resting and preparing, the Eagles were out winning ball games.

The price per head sports fans in Philadelphia are hesitant to get excited about the direction the team is headed in. After a horrible 1-4 start, the “Dream Team” won two critical divisional games back to back. The Eagles handled the struggling Washington Redskins in week six by a score of 20-13, and then downed the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 34-7 on national television in week eight. The Eagles can see the first place spot in the NFC East that is currently held by the New York Giants. As the Redskins and Cowboys continue to fall to the wayside, the Eagles stand as the one legitimate challenge to the Giants for the NFC East crown.

Chicago Bears
The bookie software shows that the Chicago Bears have been rolling lately with two wins in a row. The Bears have a 1-2 road record, but that is a bit deceiving. Chicago played a solid game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when both teams were forced to play in England. The Bears are having problems throwing the ball and defending the pass. The Chicago defense is ranked 28th in the league at stopping the pass, and the Chicago offense has the 17th ranked passing game in the NFL. The burden for the offense has been carried by running back Matt Forte. The Chicago defense needs to start picking up the pressure if it wants to give the offense a chance at winning these important games that the team has coming up.

Philadelphia Eagles
A 5 dimes review of the Eagles’ week eight win over the Dallas Cowboys shows that the Philadelphia offense really missed offensive lineman Jason Peters. With Peters in the lineup, the Eagles were much more effective at running the ball and at giving Michael Vick time to find open receivers. The entire Eagles offense looks like it is coming together, while the defense is starting to find its rhythm as well. But Philadelphia has to remember that the Bears have a very good offensive line. The Eagles have had trouble containing the run as of late, and the running game is one of the primary weapons of the Chicago Bears.

The Bottom Line
NFL fans in Philadelphia are cautiously optimistic about the team’s future. It looks like the Eagles have finally put its bad start in the past and is ready to start building on recent success. But the Bears have been able to hang in there on big games this season and will offer some serious resistance to the new and improved Eagles.

Pick: Philadelphia Eagles