NFL Betting Picks: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns

The Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cleveland Browns in a battle of AFC North division rivals on Sunday Night Football (8:15 pm ET, NBC).

Pittsburgh is a 6.5-point, -270 moneyline favorite in NFL Betting Odds at Sportingbet.com. The total is 44.5.

The Steelers are 9-1 SU and 7-2-1 ATS over the past 10 meetings. The teams last met on Nov. 11 last season, when the Steelers edged the Browns 31-28 as a 9.5-point home favorite.

The Steelers beat the Houston Texans 38-17 as a 7-point favorite last week. The score went over the total of 44. The Browns lost to 28-10 to the Dallas Cowboys as a 6-point underdog last Sunday. The score went under the total of 48.5.

Pittsburgh is 5-0 SU in the past five meetings overall, and in the past five meetings in Cleveland. Seven of the past 10 meetings have gone over the total.

Pick: Steelers

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Sportingbet Plc, the world’s largest online betting and gaming group, is based in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market (LSE: SBT). The company has over 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place over 1,000,000 bets (casino, poker, sports and virtual games) per day.

NFL Betting Picks: New England Patriots at New York Jets

The New England Patriots play their first game without 2007 NFL MVP Tom Brady when they visit AFC East rival New York Jets on Sunday (4:15 pm ET, CBS).

New York is a 1.5-point favorite at Sportingbet.com and the total is 37.

New England is a dominating 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS in the past 10 meetings with the Jets, including a 20-10 win last Dec. 16. The Pats failed to cover the 20.5-point home spread.

The Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 as a 16-point favorite in Week 1, and the score went under the total of 43. Brady was injured in the first quarter and lost for the season with a torn ACL.

New York, with new QB Brett Favre, defeated the Miami Dolphins 20-14 as a 3-point underdog last week. The score went under the total of 37. Favre completed 15-of-22 passes for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

New England is 5-0 SU and ATS in the past five meetings in New York. New England is 19-1 SU in its past 20. The Jets are 4-2 ATS in their past six. The total has gone over in four of the past six meetings.

Pick: Jets

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Sportingbet Plc, the world’s largest online betting and gaming group, is based in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market (LSE: SBT). The company has over 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place over 1,000,000 bets (casino, poker, sports and virtual games) per day.

Brady injury shakes up NFL future betting odds

Tom Brady’s season-ending injury has had a major domino effect on NFL Futures, causing lines to move on everything from MVP to Super Bowl betting.

Hours after the Patriots’ pivot suffered a torn ACL on a hit by Kansas City Chiefs’ safety Bernard Pollard on Sunday, New England rose to 9-1 from about 3-1 in Super Bowl Futures Betting at Sportingbet.com.

The main benefactor of Brady’s bum knee has been the Dallas Cowboys, who dropped from 7½-1 to 3-1 and are now the top pick to win Super Bowl XLIII at Sportingbet.com.

Brady, the 2007 NFL Most Valuable Player, will miss the entire 2008 season because he will need surgery to repair the injury that occurred in the first quarter of New England’s 17-10 Week 1 win over Kansas City.

Sportingbet.com’s David Main said Super Bowl futures betting has been very active since Sunday, and not just because of Brady’s injury. A number of Week 1 upsets have also caused line movements.

The Chicago Bears 29-13 road win over the Indianapolis Colts helped push Chicago to 33-1 Super Bowl odds from 50-1 before the game started. And the Carolina Panthers’ odds were cut in half (20-1 from 40-1) after an upset win over the San Diego Chargers.

Despite the loss, however, the Chargers moved up slightly, from 7½-1 to 7-1.

“This is a case where it is partly because of Brady, partly a result of Indianapolis losing to the Bears,” Main said.

Other teams benefiting in Super Bowl odds are the Philadelphia Eagles, up to 14-1 from 20-1, the New Orleans Saints (16-1 from 20-1), the Pittsburgh Steelers (14-1 from 25-1), and the New York Jets (33-1 from 50-1).

As for the AFC Championship, former favorite New England is now 7-2 while the San Diego Chargers are up to 3-1. But interestingly, the Pats are still favored to win the AFC East division at Sportingbet.com, at 4-9 (-225) odds. AFC East odds for the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets have moved up slightly, to 7-2.

In NFL MVP betting, Brady’s injury not only killed his chances at a second-straight award, but dropped MVP odds for teammate Randy Moss. Main said the Pats’ WR had been 16-1 but will be up to about 25-1 when MVP betting resumes later this week. Dallas QB Tony Romo is now the favorite.

The Tennessee Titans also lost quarterback Vince Young for up to four weeks when he was injured Sunday, but that hasn’t changed future odds for the team.

“The Titans have pretty much stayed constant at 40-1 to win the Super Bowl,” said Main. “Obviously the loss of Young will hurt them, but backup Kerry Collins is experienced enough to take the reins.”

By Rob Gerein

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Sportingbet Plc, the world’s largest online betting and gaming group, is based in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market (LSE: SBT). The company has over 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place over 1,000,000 bets (casino, poker, sports and virtual games) per day.

NFL Football Betting: Redskins at Giants

The New York Giants head into the 2008 NFL season opener against the Washington Redskins on Thursday without their top defensive weapon, but that hasn’t stopped football betting fans from taking the Giants to beat the spread and win outright.

New York is a 4-point, -200 moneyline favorite against their NFC East division rival in NFL Betting Odds at Sportingbet.com.

The London, England-based sportsbook said Wednesday that about 61 per cent of wagers on the game are on the Giants.

The heavy action on the Giants comes despite the fact they’ll be without Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who is out for the entire season after undergoing surgery for knee cartilage damage suffered during a preseason game against the New York Jets.

Umenyiora’s 13 sacks last season helped the Giants lead the NFL in that category with 53, and his four tackles paced their surprising Super Bowl win over the heavily favored New England Patriots.

Combined with the retirement of defensive end Michael Strahan, the all-time NFL sack leader who called it quits in June, the Giants defensive line is a shadow of the one that shut down the Patriots last February.

The over/under total for Thursday’s opener is 41, which is up from the opening line of 39½.

Sportingbet.com will have Live Betting available for the Redskins-Giants game (7 pm ET, NBC).

Bet NFL and NCAA Football at Sportingbet.com.

Sportingbet Plc, the world’s largest online betting and gaming group, is based in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market (LSE: SBT). The company has over 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place over 1,000,000 bets (casino, poker, sports and virtual games) per day.