9-8-14

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GORDON24

$400 UNDER 45.5 - GIANTS vs LIONS

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Cajun Sports Wire

MNF Total GOW 4.5* Over 46.5 Chargers/Cardinals

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Northcoast

Chargers +3

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VegasButcher


#1: New York Giants +4.5

This one dropped from +6, but above +4 there is still ample value here. In my NFL preview I've discussed how I expect Giants D to remain very strong this year as their offense will look to improve after ranking 31st last season. Giants' strength on defense are their corner-backs, so if anyone has a chance to contain Detroit's WR's, NY can do it. And of course typically when an offense ranks 10th, 7th, and 7th in consecutive years, then falls off to 31st, something had to be up. And that something was a lot of injuries, especially on the O-line and at running-back. You can typically expect a bounce-back, and of course with a new Offensive coordinator, that could be a bigger jump than normal.

As far as the Lions are concerned, they're going through a coaching change as Jim Caldwell is taking over this year. But what has Caldwell done in his career? He took over for Dungy after his retirement and oversaw a loaded Colts team behind Peyton Manning to a 14-2 regular season record and a SuperBowl berth. When Manning was out for a full year next season, the Colts ended the year at 2-14 with Caldwell unable to do anything to keep the team competitive. He was then fired. He latched on with the Ravens, took over the Offensive-coordinator job when Cam Cameron was fired, and then helped lead the Ravens to the SuperBowl win. Last season, he oversaw a Ravens offense that ranked 30th in the league in offensive efficiency. Hmmm.... So how much impact has he had on the Colts/Ravens successes and how much is he responsible for their failures the following seasons? Hard to say of course. But what is clear is that both times, Caldwell walked into solid situations and proceeded to have success. He crashed and burned miserably the following years though when his system was fully implemented. Honestly, I'm not very impressed with Caldwell so far. Typically truly 'strong' coaches do not let teams perform as poorly as teams under Caldwell's tutelage did in 2011 (Colts) and 2013 (Ravens' Offense). Regardless, Lions are garnering way too much respect here. Grab the points with the Giants, who I expect to have a strong chance to win this game outright.

#2: Teaser (6.5 pts):

San Diego Chargers +9 / Pittsburgh Steelers +9 (TNF)

I loved San Diego at +3.5, I liked them at +3.0, and now since the line dropped to +2.5, I'm going to tease them up. Crossing 3, 4, 6, and 7 while also pushing if it lands on a 9 is a solid outcome of this teaser. I also believe that San Diego is a better team this year while Arizona is expected to regress (broke this down in my NFL Preview).

As far as the Steelers are concerned, this is a straight fade of the Ravens on the short week. With Ray Rice story re-emerging today, it's a lot to deal with with only 3 days left to prepare. Reports of teammates felling betrayed and lied to are coming out, the insensitive ways that coaches, Baltimore fans, and the whole Ravens organization has reacted to the initial reports/videos is being brought up once again, and of course just overall botching of this by the NFL and Goodell. This is a major distraction and though it's easy to say "these are professional athletes and they know how to deal with adversity", this is an atypical 'adverse' situation. This is also another divisional game between two big rivals, and these tend to end within 3 points quiet often. I forgot the exact stat, but most of the games between PIT and BAL over the last 2/3 years have ended within a FG I believe. I expect this one to be just as close.

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Dave Miller

10 Units St Louis Cardinals

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Craig Patrick Sports

10 Units Baltimore Orioles
9 Units San Diego Chargers vs. Arizona Cardinals over 46.5
8 Units San Diego Chargers +2.5 (-105)

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David Pride

10 Units New York Giants vs. Detroit Lions Over 46.5

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VEGAS RUNNER

NFL MNF STEAM PROP Bet

Longest Field Goal Made : OVER 43.5 (-115) SD/ARZ

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Winning Sport Plays

MLB (5-star or 5-unit)(901) Atlanta +130
(961) San Diego +300
(971) Houston +270
(973) Chi Cubs +175

*Listed Pitchers

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JOE GAVAZZI

NYGiants at Detroit Lions (-6-) 7:10 ET ESPN
This is atransition year for Detroit who gave former HC Jim Schwartz his walking papersafter a combined two-year record of 11-21 SU ATS. This record occurreddespite outgaining the opposition by an average of 400-344 YPG L2Y. New manin charge is former Indy HC Caldwell. Profiting from the transition willbe QB Stafford. Operating behind a veteran offensive line, Stafford willteam with fellow triplets RB Bush and WR Johnson to form a fearsomeattack. Caldwell, however, is known for his more conservative ways. How the explosive trio fits with that philosophy remains to be seen. Whatwe do know is that the Detroit secondary, which allowed 247 PYPG LY, remains awork in progress. The NYGiants are in transition as well. 2013 was a disastrous year under then10th year HC Coughlin. A 0-6 SU start doomed the G Men for theseason. Look no further than offensive inadequacies which saw QB EliManning get sacked 39 times. The pressure resulted in Manning throwing a2014 NFL high of 27 INTs. Kudos to HC Coughlin for righting the ship thatresulted in a 6-3 SU, 7-4 ATS finish. To improve the 18 PPG offense,which averaged only 307 YPG, the Giants have gone to a new west coastoffense. This should allow Manning a quicker release time to compensatefor the pressure of the rush. Along with an improved secondary, theformula worked well in August. With the benefit of the extra game, theGiants went 5-0 SU, 4-0-1 ATS in preseason play.

After 7-9SU seasons for each of these teams, the opinion of this bureau is that themomentum of the Giants 2nd half, combined with that of the preseasonfigures to result in a quicker start from the gate than that of 2013. Long-termtechnical trends confirm this philosophical point of view. Under HCCoughlin, the G Men are recently 12-6 ATS while the Lions are a long term 6-20ATS as home chalk. At an indoor venue, it will be no surprise to thisbureau if the Giants use recent momentum to emerge with a victory in ahigh-scoring game.

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JR. Stevens/SMOOTH44

MLB (5-star or 5-unit)

(901) Atlanta +130
(961) San Diego +300
(971) Houston +270
(973) Chi Cubs +175
*Listed Pitchers

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Intpic

1* lions
1* chargers

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Kyle Hunter

MLB

Washington

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Exodus to Black

MLB
Boston -110

NFL
SD +3.5 -120

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Sheep

All 1000* plays

960 Milwaukee -175
956 Cincinnati +115
974 Toronto -200
970 White Sox +155
954 Phillies +105
491 SD Chargers +3
490 Detroit -5