07/24/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays will attempt to maintain their hold on first place in the American League East when the up-and-coming club begins a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals tonight at Kauffman Stadium.
Tampa Bay starts up a seven-game road trip with a slim one-game edge on the defending world champion Boston Red Sox in the division standings. The Rays kept themselves in the top spot by winning two of three matchups at home against Oakland earlier this week, including Wednesday's 4-3 decision at Tropicana Field.
Jonny Gomes and Ben Zobrist smacked back-to-back homers during a three-run fifth inning which enabled Tampa to overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Zobrist added a key RBI single later in the game.
James Shields (9-6) preserved that lead with 8 1/3 strong innings on the mound, with the Rays right-hander giving up three runs on just six hits and fanning seven without a walk. Troy Percival got the final two outs to earn his 20th save of the season.
Wednesday's win improved Tampa Bay to an excellent 40-16 at home on the year, but the young squad is just 19-25 as the visitor in 2008. The Rays will also visit Toronto for three games on this current trek.
The road has also been a challenge for Matt Garza, who opens up this series for the Rays tonight. The talented right-hander is an impressive 6-1 with a 2.10 earned run average on the Tropicana Field mound this season, but has struggled to a 2-4 record and 5.91 ERA in eight starts away from St. Petersburg.
Garza's most recent start came at home and was a typically dominant effort. Against Toronto this past Saturday, he yielded only two hits and walked none over 7 2/3 shutout innings to defeat the Blue Jays. In his last away outing, Garza was rocked for seven runs and 11 hits over five frames to suffer a loss at Cleveland on July 12.
The 24-year-old is 0-3 in four career starts against Kansas City, despite recording a solid 3.42 ERA in those games. Garza faced the Royals at home on July 7 and posted a no-decision while allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings.
Kansas City will be trying to rebound from this week's three-game sweep at the hands of division-rival Detroit at Kauffman Stadium. The Tigers cruised to a 7-1 victory in Wednesday's finale, with starting pitcher Armando Galarraga setting down the first 18 Royals hitters to lead the way.
David DeJesus broke up Galarraga's potential perfect game with a single to begin the bottom of the seventh inning and finished 2-for-4 for the Royals. DeJesus wound up scoring Kansas City's lone run on a Jose Guillen base hit later in the frame.
Zack Greinke (7-7) struck out eight Tigers in six innings of work, but the Royals righty gave up five runs on seven hits to get saddled with the loss.
Kansas City hopes from a better performance out of Gil Meche tonight. The right-hander came through nicely his last time out, as he limited the White Sox to one run and just two hits over 6 1/3 innings to fuel the Royals to a 9-1 win last Saturday in the Windy City.
Since June 10, Meche is 4-1 with a 3.04 ERA in eight starts and has surrendered two runs or less five times during that span.
The 29-year-old opposed Garza in St. Petersburg on July 7 and also came away with a no-decision in that game. Meche worked 5 1/3 innings and permitted two runs while walking four batters before exiting.
For his career, Meche is just 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA in nine starts against the Royals.
Tampa Bay won three times during its four-game series with the Royals at Tropicana Field earlier this month and is 6-3 in its last nine matchups against Kansas City. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Rays have taken 11 of the 17 meetings between these teams.
<< Giants shoot for rare home sweep in finale with Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants try and complete their first home
sweep of the season when they conclude their three-game set with the
Washington Nationals this afternoon at AT&T Park.
At 19-31, the Giants own the
<< First place back on the line in Mets-Phils rubber match
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oliver Perez tries to continue his mastery of the
Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon, when the New York Mets play the pivotal
rubber match of their three-game series with their National League East rivals
at Shea
<< Philly & San Jose battle for ArenaBowl Title
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mitsubishi Motors Drive to Virgin Mobile
ArenaBowl XXII New Orleans makes its final stop in the Crescent City as the
National Conference Champion Philadelphia Soul (13-3, 2-0) host the American
Conference Cha
<< Report: NFL investigating Vikings for tampering with Favre
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NFL security interviewed a number of
Minnesota Vikings officials on Tuesday regarding tampering charges levied by
the Green Bay Packers over Brett Favre.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune, citing peop
Cubs return home to face Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs, co-owners of baseball's best home record
this season, open up a key four-game series with the playoff-hopeful Florida
Marlins tonight at Wrigley Field.
A return to the Windy City couldn't have come at a
Sheets tries to lead scorching Brew Crew to huge sweep of Cards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Sheets attempts to follow up CC Sabathia's brilliant
performance from Wednesday, while his Milwaukee Brewers try and complete their
first-ever four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals tonight at Busch
Stadium
CFL Previews - Week 5 (July 24-27) >>
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
CALGARY STAMPEDERS (3-1) AT WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (0-4)
DATE & TIME: Thursday, July 24, 8 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will have a new quarterback under
center.
Backu
Chiefs agree to terms with another draft pick >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to terms
with tackle Branden Albert on a five-year contract Thursday. Per team policy,
terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Albert, a 6-foot-5, 316-pounder, was the 15
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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There is little doubt that the NFL is where the sportsbooks see the most action and also make the most loot. The NFL possesses betting friendly attributes that are unlike any of the other major sports. First off, there are relatively few teams to keep track of in comparison to college football betting or college basketball. And second, these teams play only once a week which makes staying on top of the results much easier than it is in the daily leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
These dynamics, along with the sheer excitement of watching and wagering on football, brings more square action to the table than any of the other sports. Almost every Tom, Dick and Harry in America is an NFL expert in their own mind and that is precisely what the oddsmakers prey upon.
Understanding who bets the games is just as important as understanding which teams are playing the games. The market at times will dictate price, which in the betting world means the oddsmakers cater to the public rather than reality.
Knowing the market inside and out is the basis of our NFL handicapping model. That is, our approach to NFL handicapping is of the contrarian or value seeking variety. We will at times place a higher premium on public sentiment than on the fundamentals. This strategy dictates playing dogs and/or lesser competent teams, or teams the public wants nothing to do with. Or better yet, fading the teams the oddsmakers want you to bet on.
Along these same lines, we carry a similar notion that the first week of the NFL season presents one of the ripest opportunities for the astute gambler. This conflicts with conventional wisdom and/or handicapping lore, as most would say it is better to watch a few games and assess each team before jumping in with both feet. That’s all fine and dandy, but there are some interesting trends to exploit in Week 1 and we’d be remiss to ignore them. Let us quickly explain.
Gone are the days of dynasties, where the same core players stay intact and dominate the league year after year. Free agency and player movements can completely transform teams from one season to the next. In today’s parity-driven NFL, poor teams typically don’t stay poor for all that long and excellent teams must constantly reinvent themselves to stay on top.
The temptation might be to assume prior year results are the best indicator of who is going to cover in Week 1. To Joe Public, playoff teams from the prior season, home teams, favorites, and so one, look even more enticing than usual since there is no current season performance to judge them against. But the question begs: are the oddsmakers setting a trap?
To find the answer, we culled five years worth of Week 1 NFL data. As always, all of our analysis is done from an ATS perspective. The purpose here is to share the most important angles we unearthed and try to explain the logic behind them. So strap on your helmet, throw on your shoulder pads, and follow our lead as we expose some rare holes in the oddsmakers’ line of defense.
Home vs. Away Teams
Over the past five seasons, NFL home teams in Week 1 are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). This of course implies that roadies are a 58 percent winning proposition during this time. The public at large has a tendency to overvalue home teams and this is especially true in Week 1 when there is no current season data to make predictions from. Consequently, the oddsmakers almost surely shade the home teams, by and large making road teams the choice for the value player.
Conclusion: Look long and hard at road teams first when handicapping the opening week.
Price ranges
Favorites are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent) in the opening week over the past five NFL seasons (Coincidentally, home teams hold the same ATS record as noted above). This means that underdogs bark at a 58 percent clip. Mid-range favorites performed the worst among our specified price ranges. In particular, favorites priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 are only 8-15 ATS (35 percent) during this time.
The same basic pattern holds true when looking at home favorites (road favorites gravitate towards a 50 percent mean). Home favorites indeed are just 21-32-3 ATS (40 percent) in the first week of NFL action since 1999. Again, mid-range favorites are similarly the poorest performers when we look at home teams. Consider that home teams priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 have stumbled to a 6-13 ATS (32 percent) mark in Week 1 games the past five seasons.
Conclusion: Like home teams, favorites and particularly mid-range favorites are generally overvalued in Week 1.
Playoff teams
It might surprise you to learn that playoff teams from the prior year versus non-playoff teams from the prior year are a mere 16-23-3 (41 percent) ATS in NFL Week 1 games over the past five seasons. Home teams which made the playoffs versus teams which did not make the playoffs from the prior season drop to a meager 7-14-1 ATS (33 percent) during this time.
Why are playoff teams, and in particular those at home, such bad bets the past five openers? Just as the case with home teams and with favorites, oddsmakers intentionally overprice playoff teams in the opening week to compensate for the public’s propensity to over bet them.
This theory holds true just looking at straight-up records from the past season as well. That is, home teams with winning records from the prior season vs. road teams with losing records from the prior season are just 8-13 ATS in Week 1 NFL games since 1999.
Conclusion: Playoff teams from the prior year and in particular, home playoff teams, are overvalued in Week 1 NFL games.
Scoring defense and scoring offense
Do good defenses and for that matter good offenses from the prior season fare better against the number the following year in Week 1 games? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, teams with a solid offense or defense from the prior season tend to do well in the opening week so long as they are on the road. As a host, however, the best offenses and best defenses from the prior year tend to be overvalued in Week 1.
Consider that the top five scoring defenses (i.e. points allowed) from the prior season are a nice 8-4 ATS (66 percent) on the road in NFL openers the past five seasons. Meanwhile, the top five scoring defenses from the prior season are just 3-8-2 ATS (27 percent) as a host in Week 1 during the same time period.
There is no discernable advantage or disadvantage for teams with a top five scoring offense (i.e. points scored) in Week 1 games. However, when we look at scoring offenses from the bottom up (isolating the five worst offenses from the prior season), the results are rather interesting. In particular, teams ranked in the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are 9-4-1 ATS (69 percent) when on the road in Week 1.
The logic is simply that the public perception is a poor scoring offensive unit from the year prior will have little chance of winning on the road in Week 1. In turn, the oddsmakers compensate for this perception and these poor offensive teams from the year prior carry extra line value on the Week 1 trail.
Conclusion: Teams with top-ranked defenses from the previous season are good bets when playing on the road, but poor bets when playing at home. Also, teams ranked among the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are generally a good value in their Week 1 openers, provided they are playing on the road.
Scoring margin
An exceedingly straightforward way of measuring scoring offense and scoring defense together as a whole is to look at a team's “margin." Margin is simply scoring offense minus scoring defense, which is a fairly clear-cut measure of how a team does on both sides of the ball. Typically, the higher the margin, the better the team.
In this regard, it might seem counterintuitive that teams carrying the higher margin from the prior season in week one matchups are merely 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). Furthermore, road teams with the higher margin are 14-20-6 ATS (41 percent), while home teams with the higher margin are 17-22-1 ATS (44 percent). Once again, these results line up with the theory that better teams from the prior year are overvalued come opening day of the following season.
Conclusion: “Better” teams, which often boast a higher margin than their opponent, are overvalued the following season in NFL openers.
In sum
Oddsmakers cater NFL betting lines to match public perception and also to bait the public into poor bets. The temptation to use the prior year’s success as a buy sign for how a team will perform against the spread in Week 1 of the following season is an enormous trap.
The fact is, isolating road teams, road dogs, non-playoff teams vs. playoff teams, teams with a losing record or low margin vs. playoff teams or ones with a high margin from the previous year is where the line value resides. Quite simply, taking the road less traveled is your surest path to NFL betting profits.
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