Week One NFL Betting - Baltimore Ravens at Dallas Cowboys
by BetUS Staff
BetUS NFL Betting Odds: DALLAS -11.5
NOTABLE STAT: Dallas was second to New England in NFL scoring in 2007 (28.4 ppg)
KEY NFL FOOTBALL BETTING TREND: Baltimore has dropped its last eight road games against the spread
The Dallas Cowboys (13-3 SU, 9-7 ATS in regular season) in action that will be part of a special NFL Network telecast that begins at 8:15 PM ET at Texas Stadium (artificial turf) in Irving, TX.
In the BetUS NFL football future betting odds, the Cowboys are listed as an 11.5-point advance road favorite
Here are some NFL sports wagering matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* BALT has lost nine of its last ten games SU
* BALT has covered two of its last ten games
* BALT has played six of its last seven games OVER the total
* BALT has lost seven of its last eight road games SU
* BALT has lost its last eight road games ATS
* DALL has lost three of its last four games SU
* DALL has won eight of its last 11 games SU
* DALL has played its last four games UNDER the total
* DALL has lost its last five games ATS
* DALL won four of its last six home games SU
* DALL has covered five of its last 12 home games
* DALL has played four of its last six home games UNDER the total
* BALT has won four of the last five meetings SU
* BALT has covered the last three meetings
As the Ravens enter the 2008 season, they really don't know what the future holds for them on offense, particularly at the quarterback position. What is certain is where they WANT that future to be. That much was confirmed when Baltimore used a first-round draft choice to select quarterback Joe Flacco of Delaware, an FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) school. It is more less a foregone conclusion that the Ravens will start the season with Kyle Boller at the helm, and while Troy Smith, the former Heisman Trophy winner out of Ohio State, could take over at some point, if and when Baltimore is officially eliminated from playoff contention, the rest of the season will not be about developing Smith for the future, but giving Flacco his baptism under fire. Inasmuch as this will be the next-to-last game of the season, it would not be unreasonable to expect that the Ravens will have the rookie running their offense.
By the same token, many people would expect Dallas to have wrapped up a playoff spot by this time, whether it be as a wild card or as champion of the NFC East. Because the Giants are in the same division, my own suspicion is that Dallas will have a fight on its hands, and at the very least will not have sewed up home field advantage, in any round of the playoffs, by the the time they are playing ahead of most teams on this particular weekend. So we may well have a Cowboy team with sufficient motivation against a Ravens squad that might be, shall we say, "experimenting."
If those are the parameters, it would not be surprising at all to see Flacco struggle against Dallas' aggressive defense, which will have some additions to its secondary, when you consider that Pacman Jones, barring any arrest, will most likely be active and rookie cornerback Mike Jenkins will have almost a full season under his belt. Dallas can bring a pas rush, which will complicate things. And Willis McGahee, the primary weapon in this offense, may or may not be a little burned out by this time.
No one doubts that the Ravens have more than enough personnel to play a spirited brand of defense. They did so on many occasions last year, including the game in which referees helped the then-unbeaten Patriots snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Still, Dallas, which was second in the league in points scored last season, can move it on just about anybody, and I wouldn't discount that Jerry Jones will have made a move to find someone to team with Terrell Owens at the wide receiver spot. Felix Jones, the first-round pick out of Arkansas, may be a big-play situational threat in his rookie season as well.
The bottom line here is that Baltimore, which didn't cover any road games in 2007, is going to have an extremely difficult time trading points. If they've got some incentive, this one could be a walk. In this futures play, let's lay the points with Dallas, the 11.5-point favorite in the BetUS NFL football betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: DALLAS (-11.5)
The 2008 and beyond!
(Charles Jay of www.ebookies.com is a member of the NFL too - that is, "not for long" if you don't get results. He is now a regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room)
