tried to post this earlier in the week. forum was having trouble loading. anyways, will post it now. played cleveland plus the points and moneyline. not to be 'after the fact', but you kinda saw this setup coming. pittsburgh was likely to hammer houston in week one. cleveland was trying to get over injuries from the preseason and had a very tough matchup (esp their secondary) against the cowboys. so pitt impressive 1-0, cleveland unimpressive 0-1 really isnt a surprise. but browns players and staff are recognizing this game for what it is - a 'must win', even in week two. normally i dont buy that stuff so early. but it really is. gm savage called it the biggest game for the browns since hes been in cleveland. browns shit on themselves and had the steelers beat in pittsburgh last year (im not too concerned with past matchups. this current anderson-winslow-edwards-lewis group is far better than the shit they put on the field over the last 5-6 years) and not cleveland just has to find a way to seal the deal. cribbs is back, which is huge for the special teams and gives depth to the offense. he was a big factor in last years game (hell, a big factor in most any game he plays). splitting this one 75/25 spread and moneyline. but expecting a cleveland win.
to be honest, i locked into 5.5 earlier in the week. this week ive actually pulled the trigger and cost myself a few half points by playing early. such is life. i thought number would come back the other way. didnt happen. but im happy with 5.5. and 6 or 7 would be even nicer, though i dont think it comes into play. we'll see.
ive gotta take your question from two angles. do winds factor into my capping of games? absolutely. wind is often a bigger factor than rain. that said, it plays more of a role in college than the nfl. tonights game features two quarterbacks with big time arms. story time: i vividly remember watching the mac championship game between bowling green and miami when roethlisberger was at MU and i was about 5 rows from the field so i had a great vantage point. anybody who knows the mac will attest that winds in bowling green in november/december are some of the most brutal anywhere. that stadium is just off the highway and in a wide open area. the winds just whip around and make it incredibly tough to throw. where am i going with this? well i left the game that night amazed by how easy roethlisberger was throwing the football that night. he was throwing the ball 40 yards across the field on out routes and they were right where they needed to be. just remarkable arm strength. anderson is another quarterback whose arm strength has never been questioned. will the winds make the conditions less than ideal tonight? perhaps. but these are two big, strong quarterbacks who can still throw the ball with confidence even in inclement weather. basically, this is a long way of saying that the winds will make it a little tougher today, but not so much that id be running to put down money on the under thinking its going to be run-run-run.
took a piece of cleveland (-3.5) (+380) as well. a lot of this play is based on the fact that i dont think the steelers defense is as good as they appear to be. a few years ago, you could pencil in cleveland and pittsburgh for old fashioned low scoring games. not anymore. both offenses are a lot more diverse and cleveland can win this by a TD just as easily as lose it by a TD. alternate line is worth a small shot.
what book offer that nowadays?
