Posted on 10/2/2007 6:11:15 PM

NFL Betting Week 4 Recap and Week 5 Odds

By D.S. Williamson

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Here's a overview of the NFL scene right now. NFC champs are sliding, 14-2 teams are 1-3 and a perennial favorite looks even stronger than imagined.

The most obvious thing that came out of the this past weekend's NFL betting oportunities is that the Chicago Bears just aren't even remotely close to the team they were last year. They have no running game, they have no passing game, and their defense gets tired in the second half.

Forget about what the pundits say - - that this team will bounce back after they get healthy - - no way they win more than six or seven games this year. They're just not as good as they were last year and the overall NFL trend, which says if you are + in turnovers you win and – in turnovers you lose, means as much to this team as any other in the league. Cedric Benson can't hang on to the football. Both Brian Griese and Rex Grossman are terrible. This team is just bad. This week the Bears are on the road against Green Bay where the BetUS line is Chicago +3.5 against the spread. No way they beat that spread. Maybe if Benson grows two extra arms…

The San Diego Chargers are awful by the way as well. No wide receivers, no defensive backs, and their coaching staff can't hide the glaring faults on this team. They won't bounce back either because they just aren't very good. Sure, Antonio Gates and LaDanian Tomlinson are studs, but, seriously, Philip Rivers has nobody to throw the ball to outside of Antonio and LaDanian and that spells disaster for this team.

The Oakland Raiders are improved; both the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs are well-coached. Put a fork into the Chargers in the AFC West. The BetUS line is San Diego +1.5 against the spread on the road versus the Denver Broncos. So what? Shanahan coaches his team to a victory in this one. Denver wins this outright.

The Patriots - - you know what? I'm getting sick and tired about writing about the Patriots. They are just awesome, okay? Patriot fans, the rest of us NFL bettors know this, okay? We don't need to talk about the awesomness of the Patrtiots - - okay? We know. They play the Cleveland Browns at home in this one and the BetUS line is Cleveland +17. Can the Patriots cover another college football betting line? Probably.

Indianapolis isn't that bad either. They shattered the hopes of Denver upsetting them after giving Denver the –10 points against the spread. So, in reality, the Colts were behind by 20 points in their game against the Broncos. All they did was score 38 points and beat the Broncos by 18. That means the Colts not only got to within the –10 spread, but destroyed it by 8 points. Wow. The BetUS line in this game is Colts –11 at home against the spread versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The trend will hold and the Colts will win by at least 17 points.

Interesting how, because the NFC is so bad, the New Orleans Saints really aren't out of it with 3 losses. Not yet, anyhow. They might be with four losses, but not yet. New Orleans plays very well against the teams in their division, it's a pretty strong trend, and this weekend they get to play the Carolina Panthers. If Jake Delhomme can't play, then New Orleans, no matter what has happened so far this year, should absolutely squash the Panthers at home.

If Delhomme does play, then things might be different. The BetUS line in this game is New Orleans –3 at home against the spread versus the Carolina Panthers. This could go either way, but I'm leaning towards the Saints in this one. They're coming off a bye week and maybe that gave them some perspective. Just play football and they might be okay.

The Monday Nighter pits the Dallas Cowboys against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills played very well at home last weekend by beating the New York Jets while Dallas got to man-handle the offensive line-less St. Louis Rams.

The hype in the league right now is all about Dallas, but they might have trouble with Buffalo. Buffalo's defense is better than NFL bettors think and Dallas has had an easy time of it lately destroying pretty awful teams. There's a glaring issue with Dallas's run defense as they have shown trouble stopping running backs at times, up the middle, and the Bills have a good one in Marshawn Lynch. The BetUS line is Buffalo +11.5 at home versus the Dallas Cowboys. I'm inclined to believe that Buffalo puts up a fight. They will probably lose, but I don't think they get blown out in this one.

Until next week, good luck!

The 2007 NFL betting season is here in full force! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The BetUS sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join BetUS today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLII and beyond!