Week 3 Must Bet Games! 

by Shane M. Dayton

The season’s only getting started, but between the NCAA and the NFL, there are an amazing number of story lines flying around the football world.  From Notre Dame’s stunning fall to a whole bevy of surprise 2-0 NFL teams, this season promised to be a fun one, and it’s not letting us down.

Pick your best point-spread from 6 different sportsbooks:                           Colts -6. vs. Texans l Steelers -9 vs. 49ers l Bears -3 vs. Cowboys

What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon!  Spurrier said this would be a break out year, something many people doubted because of the pure strength of the SEC.  Now ranked #12 with some impressive victories, they take on an LSU team that may be the best in the country.

Why LSU will be feasting on roast chicken: Did you watch them dismantle a very good Virginia Tech team?  Did you see the back up quarterback throw 6 TD in one game in spot relief?  Did you know that they are only giving up 110 yards a game (and keep in mind they played ranked Virginia Tech).  Top this off with Nick Saban’s arrogant remarks, and somehow after a ten win season and #2 ranking LSU can play the no respect card, and they’re playing like a pissed off team.  Florida, Oklahoma, and USC all look great, but LSU is the best team in the country, and no fun and gun system is going to break that defense, which makes every team look like Notre Dame.  They are an almost incomprehensible 50 yards a game better than the #2 defense in the country.

Why South Carolina will pull off the biggest upset in school history: C’mon, Virginia Tech’s a great team, but they’ve never been an offensive juggernaut.  LSU is looking at Florida, since many people believe the winner of that game goes to the national title game.  We have Steve Spurrier, our offense is balanced, and our defense is underrated.  This is our Super Bowl, our chance to make a statement that puts us right into the national title hunt.

If you know Green Bay has the longest active winning streak in the NFL, then you have to be a Packer fan or an odds maker or both.  The Pack have won six in a row, but only one of these games was against a team of a winning record, a Chicago team who mailed it in last season.  Green Bay’s defense looks excellent, and Favre brings just enough of the old magic to keep them in any game.  They’ve learned to win ugly.  San Diego is unquestionably one of the most talented teams in the NFL, but they’re not looking that impressive in the early running.

Why San Diego makes Green Bay cry over not trading for WR Randy Moss: Defense, defense, defense.  The Packers are dead last in the NFL in rushing yards, yards per attempt, and have allowed enormous pressure on Brett Favre.  San Diego is going to beat the living (insert explicative of choice here) out of that offensive line.  Green Bay’s defense has looked good, except against the run where a back up RB for the Giants managed 5 yards a carry.  LT gets going and blows the game wide open while the Packers won’t manage 200 total yards—even with junk time.  With Driver doubled, San Diego will only need 14 to win, and LT will get it.

Why the Pack becomes NFC Super Bowl contenders after this game: That defense is for real, and with “long TD play waiting to happen” SS Marquand Manual gone, no one is scoring more than 21 on these guys all year.  Several of the best coaches in the NFL name Favre as a top 5 quarterback, just without support.  Rookie WR James Jones gives a legitimate slot option, and Norv Turner is working his magic of mediocrity on the Chargers.  If he continues to call three passes to every rush, Green Bay’s defense will eat him alive in an ugly game.  K Mason Crosby is already more clutch than K Nate Kaeding.  It’ll be ugly, but no one believes they’ll win, and Favre’s not going out that way.

The Colts are 2-0 and the offense is what we thought it would be.  The defense is FAR better than we expected.  The Texans were a team I thought would do well this year.  Shaub looks as good as advertised, the defense is molding into a Kubiak defense, and they are winning convincingly.

Why the Colts are going to keep rolling: The Texans have been good.  They’ve been very solid—but they’re not great.  Ignore the closeness of the Tennessee game.  Vince Young already in his young career looks more capable of carrying a team than even Favre or Elway—the two best ever at doing more with less.  The Colts’ offense is way over anything the Texans’ defense has seen up to now, and their safeties are hurting.  The Colts improved defense will make things a lot harder on the Texans than anything thus far.  Oh, yeah, two words on the injury report: Andre Johnson. 

Why the Texans will pull the biggest upset of the season thus far: Green Bay may be the only other 2-0 team with so little respect.  The Texans want to prove they’re legitimate, and beating the Colts would give them the swagger and that the statement they need to make themselves contenders.  Johnson out only makes it harder for the Colts to focus in on any one player.  They haven’t seen a team running game like this yet.  All Schuab has to do is keep it close, and the pressure goes completely on Peyton.  If it’s close in the fourth, the momentum switches to the Texans’ favor.