Week 1 went about as well as it possibly could here at Interstate of Green as we went 2-0-1 in our picks against the spread and both the Eagles and the Jets pulled off victories. Does this mark a new era for the franchises where the Eagles with Wentz and the Jets with Darnold repeatedly meet in an IoG Super Bowl? Maybe, maybe not, but we can be sure there are more betting weeks like that one to come. With the laws against gambling beginning to decrease we know there are a lot of fans who are new to sports gambling unsure of how it works. Just remember, with any gambling that does not involve ‘a house’ you can consistently win more than you lose, like Poker. The bookie doesn’t care who wins or loses and they don’t necessarily believe the lines they place on teams are how they feel about their chances of winning. Bookies place lines that they feel will split the casual sports community in half. Most of the casual sports community don’t know what they’re doing and that’s where profit can be made. This is how we won our Bengals and Colts bet, by recognizing a better team was getting a point because of all the hype surrounding a QB’s return giving one team more bets than they should realistically receive. The Colts should have been slight underdogs in that game and by recognizing that and sticking to games we feel confident about we can win more than we lose and create profit just by watching football. Fun right? Now let’s see what week 2 has to offer. New York Giants (+3) at Dallas Cowboys Yes the Giants looked disjointed and messy versus the vaunted Jaguars defense but the Cowboys are far from that and they are struggling like no other to get any production outside of Ezekiel Elliot. Damon Harrison and the Giants did a decent job versus the Jaguars run game and as crazy as it sounds the Cowboys offense might be worse than the Jaguars. The Giants with Odell Beckham and Saquon Barkley are just too talented to be stopped for long even with Eli’s career in its last gasps.
New York Jets (-3) vs Miami Dolphins This has the potential to be a trap game. The Jets are historically known for getting way too high off of big wins and playing like scrubs the following week. The hope is that the “culture change” the players go on and on about will make those problems disappear. Even if the Jets avoid that mistake this game will still be close because while Sam Darnold has a bright future ahead of him, he’s not Tony Romo or Joe Montana yet, and the Dolphins do a decent job of stopping the running game that’s a rookie QB’s best friend. The reason I feel the Jets will win though is their defense is just too strong to allow the Dolphins to consistently score. The Jets have seemingly adjusted to their lack of pass rush by perfecting a ton of confusing zone coverage schemes that rely on trust from the veteran secondary in passing off responsibilities. It worked to perfection in Detroit but it won’t need to be that good versus the Dolphins offense which only has veterans Kenyan Drake and Kenny Stills to worry about.
Chicago Bears (-3.5) vs Seattle Seahawks I’m nowhere near as high on Mitch Trubisky as many others are. I just don’t see it, the kid looks panicky, lost, and struggles to do anything consistently on offense other than scrambling for some yards. His defense consistently bails him out and will need to do so again versus Russel Wilson and the Seahawks. Fortunately they have a hell of a defense and the hawks STILL have an atrocious offensive line and are missing their top wide-out Doug Baldwin. Jordan Howard should be able to generate enough production to put the Khalil Mack led Bears to a win.