The pros at FiveStarPick are coming off a 1-3 weekend for our membership in college and NFL football.  This is unacceptable to us.  Tonight we will right the ship with our Monday Night Football ’Total’ winner as the Superbowl Champion New Orleans Saints lace em up on the road at the San Francisco 49rs.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Saints as 5.5-point road favorties with a total of 43.5.  We think this line is DEAD WRONG.

The Saints are coming off a 14-9 victory over the Vikings in Week 1.  After last year’s NFC Title Game, many thought Minnesota was the better team.  Afterall, they outgained New Orleans by 218 yards in the overtime loss.   Last week, however, the New Orleans defense limited Minnesota to 253 yards, while controlling the ball for 33 minutes.

In the preseason, the Niners were the team to beat in the NFC West, but San Francisco got pounded at Seattle, 31-6 as three-point road favorites. Top draft pick Alex Smith has sucked on the road, as the Niners are 1-6 in his last seven road starts.  Smith has been great at home as is evident byt San Francisco finishing last season with four consecutive home victories with him under center.

The defense for Mike Singletary wasn’t bad last week, only allowing 244 yards to the Seahawks.  The offense is the root of San Francisco’s woes.   Running back Frank Gore was held to 38 yards on 17 carries. Smith threw two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.  The Niner’s goose was cooked.

The Saints got to play at home last week which was a bonus,  but New Orleans is average at best against the spread going 5-4 on the road last year.  Since 2006, New Orleans owns a profitable 10-4 Against The Spread record as a road favorite.

The Niners were a strong team to back last season with a 5-2-1 Against The Spread home record. San Francisco was listed as a home underdog only once as they upended the Cardinals, 24-9, last December as four-point ‘dogs on a Monday Night at Candlestick.  Under Singletary, San Francisco is 2-0 Against The Spread in Monday games, including a 29-24 loss at Arizona as a 10-point dog in 2008.

The Saints are 10-5 to the ‘over’ since 2007 in road games with the total listed at 49 or below. The Niners cashed the ‘under’ in six of eight home games last season, while scoring 24 points or less six times.

This game is not an easy game to handicap, but the pros at FiveStarPick.com have broken down every stat, trend, injury report and weather forcast on this game to provide our members with a winning play.  Try FiveStarPick.com today for only ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business that documents our last 30 plays, then displays them on our homepage for all to see.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick are coming off a 1-1 Sunday for our membership in the NFL with plays on the Packers and Falcons.  Tonight we feel confident on our Monday Night Football spread winner as the Baltimore Ravens lace em up on the road at the New York Jets.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Jets as 1.5-point road favorties with a total of 36.  We think this line is DEAD WRONG.

Not only is this the first Monday Night Football game of the season, but after being on “Hard Knocks” and acquiring some high profile talent in the off season, fans and pundits want to know if the Jets can live up to the hype.  The Ravens, on the other hand, are trying to make some noise of their own with the pick up of WR’s Anquan Boldin and T.J. Housshmandzadeh.

Baltimore looked strong in the preseason going 3-1 Against The Spread; their only loss coming against St. Louis.  The Ravens D is still stout limiting their opponents to 25 total points. Since Harbaugh took the reigns, the Ravens are 9-6-1 Against The Spread as a road dog. 

The Jets started last season 3-0 in Rex Ryan’s debut, but lost 7 of their next 11 games.  Indianapolis and Cincinnati each lost their final games to the Jets allowing them to clinch a playoff berth. The Jets made it all the way to the AFC Championship before eventually falling at Indianapolis.  Mark Sanchez enters his pivotal second season as the Jets signal caller.  The second season usually puts to rest whether or not season one was a fluke.  New York finished the preseason 2-2 Against The Spread, with both losses coming at home to the Giants and Redskins.

The Jets had trouble against division opponents last season, going 2-4 Against The Spread in the AFC East.  Against non-divisional opponents in 2009, they finished 9-4 Against The Spread.  New York is 1-4 Against The Spread in their last five Monday Night outings.

So who covers the spread in this Monday Night Football matchup?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com today for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick are coming off a terrible Saturday in College Football, but plan to get back on track today with two NFL plays on opening weekend.  The focus of this preview is our play on the 4pm game between the Packers and the Eagles.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Packers as 3-point road favorties with a total of 38. 

The Packers are coming off a 10-6 season and first-round playoff loss at Arizona, while the Eagles have moved on from Donovan McNabb to Kevin Kolb.

Green Bay has been a great road favorite going 8-4 Against The Spread since 2007, including going 4-2 against the spread last season.  The Packers have outscored their opponents by 10 ppg, with Aaron Rodgers at the helm.  In addition, the Packers have averaged 28.8 ppg under Rodgers, the third-best output in the league last season. The Cheeseheads have also been a great play in their openers, going 3-1 Against The Spread, while compiling a 4-0 Against The Spread record in road openers.

Philadelphia has made the playoffs three of the last four seasons under McNabb, but have not seen a Super Bowl since 2004. The Eagles play the role of a home dog today, a spot they have seen only twice in the last three seasons. The first two times they were in this spot were not good for Philadelphia backers, as the Eagles lost to the Cowboys (2007) and Saints (2009) each by over 21 points. Since 2006, the Eagles are 3-1 Against The Spread in season openers, with the only loss coming at Lambeau Field in 2007, 16-13.

The home team has won each of the previous five meetings between these two teams dating back to January 2004 when the Eagles beat the Packers in the second round of the playoffs, 20-17 in overtime.

So who covers the spread in this NFL season opener?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com today for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the AFC Championship game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Colts as 7-point home favorites with a total of 39.

The Colts (15-2 straight up, 10-4-1 against the spread) held onto a 15-10 lead over the Jets in Week 16 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter when they decided to pull their starters. Backup quarterback Curtis Painter was sacked by Calvin Pace, fumbled, and Marques Douglas ran the ball back for the go-head touchdown. The Jets (11-7 SU, 11-7 Against The Spread) won the game as 4-point road ‘dogs, 29-15.

Oh the irony. If the Colts had kept in their starters and won that game, the Jets would have been virtually eliminated from the playoff picture.  Now, Peyton Manning has to beat the Jets to get to the Super Bowl.  So cool. 

New York has the best rushing offense in the NFL averaging 172.3 yards per game and Shonn Greene has been impressive in the playoffs with 263 rushing yards and two scores. The Jets have needed their rushing game to have a chance with Mark Sanchez under center. Sanchez has completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 282 yards and 2 touchdowns in the playoffs, but the rookie only had 23 pass attempts against the Chargers, completing 12 of them for 100 yards.  Sanchez has only five games this year where he has thrown the ball more than 30 times.

Sanchez should be pretty nervous today, because the Colts defese is playing with high intensity right now.  The Colts gave up just 87 yards on the ground and 183 through the air to Baltimore, winning 20-3 as 6.5-point home favorites.  Joe Flacco was picked twice in the final two minutes of the game.  The Colts are 14th in the league against the pass, giving up just 212.7 YPG.  Sanchez figured that out quickly as he only threw for 106 yards against them in Week 16. The Colt’s achilles heel is defending against the run. Indianapolis has the NFL’s 24th-ranked rush defense, allowing 126.5 rushing YPG.

What the Colt’s do have is the best quarterback the league has ever seen in Peyton Manning.  Manning has a relatively new receiveing corp since his last Super Bowl win, but he’s still getting major contribution out of Reggie Wayne (100 receptions, 1,264 yards, 10 TD) and Dallas Clark (100 catches, 1,106 yards, 10 TD).  He is also getting great performances out of second-year wideout Pierre Garcon (47 rec., 765 yards, 4 TD) and rookie Austin Collie (60 rec., 676 yards, 7 TD).

Indy needs the passing game to click because the Colts are the worst running attack in the NFL, gaining 80.9 YPG on the ground.  Joseph Addai has 828 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and Donald Brown has 281 yards on the ground with three scores, but that’s it.

Success for the Colts on offense is definitely not a lock today. The Jets are giving up 312.5 YPG in the playoffs right now and Darrelle Revis anchors the best pass defense in the league with an average of 153.7 YPG during the regular season.

Recent history for the AFC Title Game shows the favorites have gone 4-3 Against The Spread in the last seven games. The ‘over’ has gone 5-2 in that stretch as well.

Who covers the spread in this AFC Championship game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the NFC Championship game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Saints as 4-point home favorites with a total of 53.

Both teams looked impressive in blowout victories in the Divisional Playoff round. New Orleans beat Arizona, 45-14, and Minnesota crushed Dallas, 34-3.

Minnesota was listed as an underdog twice this season, going 1-1 against the spread. The Vikings lost to Pittsburgh as six-point ‘dogs, while winning at Lambeau Field over the Packers as 3-point ‘dogs. 

New Orleans has seen some huge numbers this year. They are 4-7 Against The Spread laying at least a touchdown, but 5-0 Against The Spread as a favorite of six points or less.  Since 2008, the Saints are 10-1 Against The Spread as a favorite of less than six points. The one lone loss?  The Vikings on Monday Night last October.  Minnesota held off New Orleans, 30-27 as 3-point ‘dogs…And that was without Brett Farve.

This will be Favre’s fifth conference championship appearance in his career, going 2-2 with the Packers. Location didn’t matter, with Favre compiling a 1-1 record each at home and on the road in conference title games. Brees owns a 2-2 career playoff record, with three of those games coming at home.

The game kicks off at 6:30 PM EST and will be televised nationally on FOX.

Who covers the spread in this NFC Championship game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com