Sports Betting Blog

The New York Giants have been known for been a team that has busted perfect seasons before, but it seems to me that this is not going to be the case this season. Currently, the Giants are 5-6 for the season, and it’s quite possible that they might have given up their latest chances to qualify into the NFL Playoffs, for the second year in a row. The Giants have lost three games straight and they will now face the second well-rested team in a week with little time to recover from the pounding they took from the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. As a matter of fact, the Giants weakening defense lost 49-24 to the Saints will allowing Drew Brees and Company to record 577 yards, that is the franchise second highest total.

Now they are facing the only unbeatable team in the league that is guided by a solid and almost flawless Aaron Rodgers. It is extremely unlikely that the Giants could end the Green Bay Packers perfect 11-0 season or their 17 game winning streak. The Giants are just 4 games away from matching the current record reached by the New England Patriots in 2003-04 for consecutive wins including Playoffs. What makes this match perhaps even more interesting is that the Packers perfect streak actually began with a 45-17 home crushing of the Giants in the next to last 2010 regular season. Had the Giants managed to get their game together, they could have easily qualified into last season’s playoffs and eliminated Green Bay. But then again, they were playing a team that would go on to win the Super Bowl and have yet to lose a game this season.

The New York Giants are far away from been the dominant team that have busted perfect seasons for top-notch teams. It all started with the 1998 Denver Broncos and their spectacular 13-0 start. Sure enough, the Broncos went on to win a second straight Super Bowl, but it was the Giants who put them on hold. More recently and even more significant, it was Coughlin’s Giants that ended New England’s bid for a 19-0 season with a 17-14 win in Super Bowl XLII.

The Packers have some concerns about injuries. The Packers have a few concerns as far as injuries go. It seems that the win over the Detroit Lions took an expensive toll. Among the injured players, right guard Josh Sitton hurt his knee, starting inside linebackers A.J. Hawk and Desmond Bishop both had calf injuries and running back James Starks tweaked an ankle that had been hurting before this game. It is still uncertain if these guys are going to be able to play against the Giants, but it’s probably not going to make much of a difference.  

As of press time the New York Giants are a 6 ½ point underdog in the spread at Betias.com NFL wagering lines. Things are going to be moving up a down a little as we get closer to kickoff time. The Giants need to prove their fan that despite the disappointment, they could actually win a game or two against big rivals. Rodgers and the Packers just want to keep on pushing the lines, picking up the touchdown passes and securing another Super Bowl ring.

Tim Tebow has many critics, perhaps he has as many critics as he has fervent supporters, but despite this been his first season as a starter, many sports writers have been reluctant to cut him some slack. Whether you like his playing style or not, whether you like his stubborn optimism and his persistant inclination to run the option and struggle through the first three quarters just to put on one heck of a 4^th quarter, at the end it all comes to this: it might not be pretty, it might not be elegantly pulled off, but the guy knows how to win. And at the end, it is that characteristic that is ultimately guiding the Denver Broncos into the playoffs.

As of press time the Denver Broncos are a -1½ point underdog on the NFL betting lines. Perhaps the handicappers are giving a little too much attention to the fact that the Vikings are in a delicate position and that they ought to win at home no matter what. The Minnesota Vikings are out of the playoffs race, that’s for sure. But that doesn’t mean that 2-9 Vikings don’t owe its fans a win at home. Sure, the Vikings are likely to play without Adrian Peterson for a second straight game. Peterson was sidelined last week with an sprained ankle and it seems unlikely that Leslie Frazier is going to risk one of his most valuable assets in a game that would only make a miserable season a little more tolerable.

The horizon looks a bit bleak for the Vikings who are going to face the motivated and revived Denver Broncos without their four-time All-Pro, who is seventh in the NFL with 872 rushing yards and enters Week 13 tied for the league lead with 11 rushing touchdowns. Tebow and his squad could really make a game out of this one. For the main part Tim Tebow is getting most of the credit for the 5-1 record including 4 straight wins his team has linked together since he was promoted as a starter, after Kyle Orton proved not to be reliable. But some credit, and perhaps a lot of it should go to the Broncos defense and the flexibility they’ve shown to run the option.

With Tebow at the helm the Broncos have been outstanding in the fourth quarter, but then again, they are far from perfect in the first three quarters of a game. Consider for a moment there that the Broncos have scored 11 times in the 4^th quarter or in overtime since Tebow stepped, and only 10 scoring drives in the first three quarters. What’s even more important here is that Broncos defense has certainly lived up to the expectations and are have managed to allow 13 points or less in their four previous matches. The same fluctuation goes for Tebow and his passers rating. In the first half alone, Tebow is among the less efficient passers in the league. At 64.9 his passer rating is fourth worst in the league among the 37 quarterbacks that have completed 50 first half attempts. On the other hand, when it comes to the decisive fourth quarter Tebow’s rating goes up to 107.8, only surpassed by Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.