It happens in college, but I can’t imagine there has ever been a 33-point swing in the line involving the same two NFL franchises within the same decade.  The Colts are favored by 15 at San Francisco.  In 1998 at the very same site, the mighty Niners were favored by 18 over a 1-5 Colts outfit.  That 33-point swing in a short 7 years is simply incredible, and can’t have happened before.  In that 1998 contest a young Peyton Manning combined with a young Marvin Harrison for three TD passes and the upstart Colts shockingly took a 31-17 lead into the 4th quarter, but they spit the bit and lost 34-31 in regulation.   Obviously the cover was never in doubt.

11 of the 14 NFL games this weekend are lined at 2½, 3, or 3½.  If you know anything at all about this activity you know that as a result, there will be a lot of nervous bookies on Sunday.

After opening the season with consecutive games against Florida International (a year out of 1-AA) and 1-AA entrants Sam Houston State and Indiana State, we can exclusively report that Texas Tech has scheduled the Washington Generals for a home game next September. Tech defeated the outclassed trio 170-31 before beating Kansas 30-17 to be the phoniest 4-0 you’ll find anywhere, with the possible exception of 4-0 Nebraska, and these two paper tigers meet up this weekend. Though the stakes are lower, Red Sox fans are wondering if Graffanino is Italian for Buckner after a botched double play ball led to the White Sox jetting out to a 2-0 lead in their series.

One can imagine that a lot of sleazy boiler room touts and internet hustlers are yelling at their PR people this morning for not scoring publicity associated with Two for the Money starring Al Pacino.  Meanwhile the touts’ PR people grit their teeth and think “I wish I could score a decent client so I wouldn’t have to depend on this moron’s checks.”  The guy who the movie is loosely based on has rejoined the scamdicapping ranks after a few years as a local golf caddy and is gobbling up the press the more experienced sleazebags had hoped for. Cliché alert: BC Coach Tom O’Brien, commenting on playing Virginia after the Cavaliers lost to Maryland, “It puts their backs to the wall.  I think most coaches would take that mentality and end up in a do-or-die situation…”   All we need is a “110%” reference and we’d have the worn out coaches cliché trifecta.

A lot of bad NFL teams have eked out at least a single win this season, with only 0-4 Green Bay and 0-3 Houston still winless.   Maybe it is because of the dreadful quarterbacking, but a dozen NFL teams are allowing 6 yards per pass attempt or less, which is excellent.  Then again, maybe the poor quarterbacking is somewhat influenced by some stellar pass defense.  In any event, we’re not hearing a lot about the enforcement of defensive holding and illegal contact rules being so arduous for the defensive backs this year, are we?  Call 770-618-8700 for free weekend football previews on a recorded 24-hour voice broadcast.  And visit www.Vegas5.com, where the combined efforts of ASA, Nelly’s Sportsline, Tom Stryker, Al McMordie, and yours truly have been red hot.

Memphis managed a good performance against UTEP on Saturday night, getting a 27-20 win in a game that saw them outgained 505-374, punt 10 times and give up 30 first downs.   A key play was true freshman QB Billy Barefield’s downfield block on DeAngelo Williams 74-yard TD run.   The 5-10 Barefield, elevated from third string due to injuries, is a gutty kid, but he only averaged 4 yards per pass attempt and passing is not strength.   While he is showing promise and has good instincts, it is a tough gig to go on the road in conference as the favorite with such a young QB.  Central Florida is improved and has played a couple of good games.  Their bad loss to South Florida was flattered by USF’s subsequent dismantling of Louisville.   Good spot for an improved team, so go with Central Florida.

We’re winning in college football and winning in the NFL on our late telephone service, though not in spectacular fashion on either side.  But we’re we’ve been excelling is on our teasers, halves, etc., which are plays that are not monitored by The Sports Monitor.  With a sweep in our non-monitored plays last week (starting with a second half play in the Friday night Rutgers/Pitt game based on parameters given before the game and culminating in a teaser that won when the Carolina Panthers won by 3 on Monday night) our non-monitorable plays are now 11-0 on the year for our late phone service customers.   There will continue to be great value in halves, quarters, teasers, etc. at different times in both college and NFL football that our late phone service guys will enjoy.  If you can take advantage of 1st half, 2nd half, and teasers, call 770-649-1078 for rates and details on out phone service.
 
Let’s take a look at the total in the Titans/Texans game. These teams have played a combined 7 games this year and their offenses have scored more than 10 points only twice in those 7 games.  Both clubs have trouble turning any offensive movement into points, as the Titans require 18 yards of offense to score a point and the Texans must travel nearly 25 yards to score a point.  Texans still haven’t worked out the kinks, and their offensive line is a shambles, as David Carr has been sacked 20 times in three games.  The Titans lack big play capability, as shown by their over reliance on tight ends, their three leading receivers on Sunday were all tight ends, and wide receivers only caught 7 passes.   Defenses are no prize, but offenses are bad enough that under the high total is the call in Houston. 

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Have a great weekend. Good luck and be careful.