Can Bengals Keep Good Times Rolling Vs. Browns?

Football Betting Lines

09/14/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As an early-season candidate to represent the AFC in this year's Super Bowl, the Cincinnati Bengals started their quest for glory on the right foot. Now they will have the pleasure of paying a visit to the Cleveland Browns this Sunday in Week 2 of the NFL season.

The Bengals grinded out a 27-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night, thanks to a big play on defense and precise passing from quarterback Carson Palmer. Palmer, who is entering his second season since a devastating knee injury, picked apart Baltimore's defense for 194 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He hooked up with wideouts Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh on scoring strikes, with Houshmandzedah's touchdown putting the Bengals on top for good midway through the fourth quarter.

Palmer and his receivers are already in midseason form, especially the flamboyant Johnson, who likes to talk a lot before the game. He backed up his words with five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown and was on top of his touchdown celebrations as well, donning an oversized blazer with his own Hall of Fame inception date inscribed on the back following his first-quarter score.

Johnson is looking too far ahead with that prediction, but does give defensive backs nightmares with his speed and excellent routes. The seventh-year pro has led the AFC in receiving yards the past four years and owns 11 100-yard games since 2004. Johnson also needs just 82 receiving yards to pass Isaac Curtis (7,101 yards) and become the Bengals' all-time leader in that category.

Cleveland must find a way to shut down Cincinnati's passing attack after Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for four touchdowns in last week's 34-7 shellacking of the Browns. Head coach Romeo Crennel is on the hot seat already this season, and made a move this week to try and solidify his starting quarterback dilemma.

The Browns shipped Week 1 starter Charlie Frye to Seattle, giving the reigns to then-backup Derek Anderson. Frye was just 4-of-10 passing for 34 yards and an interception before Anderson took over and completed 13 of his 28 attempts for 184 yards with a touchdown and an interception. With the trade, rookie signal-caller Brady Quinn is now one big hit away from becoming the No. 1 guy.

Cleveland couldn't run the ball either in its season opener, as new running back Jamal Lewis collected 35 yards on 11 carries. The Bengals had trouble on the ground last Sunday as well, with Rudi Johnson rushing for 50 yards on 18 touches.

SERIES HISTORY

Cincinnati leads the all-time series with Cleveland, 34-33, breaking a deadlock in the series with a 30-0 thrashing of the Browns on the road in Week 12 of last season. The Bengals, who were also 34-17 home winners over the Browns in Week 2 of '06, have now won five straight in the series. Cleveland's last win in the series was a 34-17 triumph at home in 2004.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is 6-2 against the Browns in his career, including 3-1 in games held in Cleveland. The Browns' Crennel is 0-4 against both Lewis and the Bengals as a head coach.

WHEN THE BENGALS HAVE THE BALL

Cincinnati has four big weapons on offense in Palmer, Chad Johnson, Rudi Johnson and Houshmandzadeh. There would be five, but wideout Chris Henry is suspended for the season's first eight games. Expect the Bengals to attack Cleveland through the air on Sunday, with Palmer having a typical outing versus the inferior Browns. Palmer, who was sacked just once in Week 1, is 5-1 lifetime against Cleveland with 13 touchdown passes. In the team's last meeting of the 2006 season, Palmer threw for 275 yards with three touchdown passes for a 120.7 QB rating.

Rudi Johnson has also enjoyed success against the Browns, rushing for at least 125 yards in four of the last five encounters with Cincinnati's AFC North rivals. He was held to 50 yards on 18 carries with a fumble against Baltimore, however. But the Browns could only wish they had that type of defense and will give up even more ground yardage to the compact running back, especially with Bengals Pro Bowl right tackle Willie Anderson on the mend. Anderson missed the preseason with a right foot condition and played sparingly against Baltimore. He should be in better health for this week's matchup. Left tackle Levi Jones was active for Monday's game but didn't play. He has been practicing and is expected to start against Cleveland.

The Browns could neither stop the run (206 yards) or the pass (159 yards, 4 touchdowns) against the Steelers last week. They sacked Roethlisberger just once and watched halfback Willie Parker rack up 109 yards on 27 carries. Cleveland's defense is led by second-year linebacker Kamerion Wimbley, who finished with just two tackles on Sunday. Defensive end Orpheus Roye and linebacker Andra Davis both recorded a team-high six stops. The pressure must be put on Palmer this week, otherwise Crennel will be counting down the days of his departure.

On an injury note, outside linebacker Willie McGinest will miss a second straight game as he recovers from back surgery and nickelback Daven Holly is iffy for Sunday's game with a concussion. Defensive end Antwan Peek suffered a sprained foot against the Steelers but expects to be this week.

WHEN THE BROWNS HAVE THE BALL

It seems as if the Browns are already playing musical quarterbacks this season, as they shipped Frye to the Seahawks to open the door for Anderson. Frye did practically nothing in his short time on Sunday as a starter and was immediately replaced by Anderson. The latest move means that Quinn is the new backup and will most likely take over as the starter by November, or sooner if Anderson fails in his opportunity. Anderson would perform a lot better if the offensive line played better and Jamal Lewis was able to find a bit of daylight.

Wide receiver Braylon Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow were not much of a factor against Pittsburgh, even though Winslow led the squad with 83 yards on four receptions. The Browns compiled 221 yards and just seven points on offense and turned the ball over five times.

That's not a good sign for Cleveland, as the Bengals forced six turnovers against the Ravens. Defensive end Robert Geathers had an interception, a sack, one forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two passes defensed in Monday's win. In order for the Browns to avoid losing their sixth consecutive regular-season game, they must win the turnover battle and get Jamal Lewis more involved in the offense.

FANTASY FOCUS

Chad Johnson, Rudi Johnson, Palmer and Houshmandzadeh are the top fantasy players on Cincinnati's roster. Houshmandzadeh had a team-high nine receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown on Monday. Both Palmer and Chad Johnson did their jobs, but Rudi Johnson has room to improve. He is still one of the top backs in fantasy, but 50 yards on 18 carries with a fumble certainly doesn't cut it. The Browns were smoked by Pittsburgh's offense and will be in for a treat with Cincinnati, which has a better offense than the Steelers.

As for Cleveland's fantasy studs, wideout Edwards, tight end Winslow and running back Lewis are all impact fantasy players. Now Frye is in Seattle, quarterback Anderson has a chance to make some fantasy owners proud. Winslow was the best of the bunch in last week's loss to Pittsburgh, with 83 yards on four catches.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The Bengals slipped past Baltimore's heralded defense on Monday night with big plays from Chad Johnson and Palmer. Despite Johnson's slow second half, he was still able to scorch Ed Reed and the Ravens secondary for 95 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. You can guarantee "Ocho Cinco" will reach the end zone again on Sunday versus a Browns squad that gave up almost 400 yards of offense in Week 1. Cincinnati, which scored a defensive touchdown on Monday, will have a much easier time coming out as the victor if Rudi Johnson can improve on his mediocre performance against the Ravens. The only way Cleveland has a chance to win is if one of the Bengals' big three goes down or if Anderson plays out of character and scorches a tough Cincy defense through the air.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Bengals 28, Browns 13

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.