NFL Betting – Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football is one of the most exciting elements of NFL betting. After a long Sunday with a full card, Monday Night Football gives us one more chance to get some NFL action before next Sunday. For opening week, there will be two MNF games instead of just one. Here’s a look at this Monday night’s matchups.

Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets

The matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets in the Meadowlands features two of the AFC’s best teams. Both teams are built around stingy defenses, and will attempt to get their seasons off to a winning start Monday night.

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Baltimore finished last season up with a 9-7 record SU and an 8-7-1 record ATS. One of the biggest highlights of the season for the Ravens was the breakout campaign of their young running back Ray Rice, who amassed over 2000 total yards (1,339 rushing, 702 receiving). Baltimore bolstered its offense further this offseason with the signings of wide receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

Since 2008, Baltimore is 1-2 SU in Monday night games and 2-1 ATS. Last season, the Ravens won and covered as 11-point favorites in Cleveland, but lost and failed to cover as 4-point underdogs in Green Bay. On the road last year, Baltimore was 3-5 SU and 3-4-1 ATS.

The New York Jets also finished last season with a 9-7 record SU, and finished 9-7 ATS as well. Rex Ryan’s league-best defense established itself in the playoffs, upsetting both the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Diego Chargers, surrendering only 14 points to each of them. With Darrelle Revis back from his long holdout, the Jets believe they have the pieces in place to make it back to the AFC Championship.

Over the last two seasons, New York is 0-2 both SU and ATS in Monday night games. Last year they lost as 3-point favorites in Miami, and in 2008 they lost as 8-point underdogs in San Diego. The Jets will try to turn their luck on Monday nights around tonight. At home last year, New York was 4-4 both SU and ATS.

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

The San Diego Chargers’ quest for a fifth straight AFC West title begins this Monday night in Kansas City against their AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs. While the Chargers are heavy favorites to take the division once again, many experts are expecting Kansas City to start turning things around this season. Monday night will serve as a good barometer.

For San Diego, it’s been the same story for the last four seasons; win the AFC West title, look great down the stretch, but then fall short in the playoffs. They finished with the AFC’s second best record at 13-3 SU last season while going 8-7-1 ATS, but fell to the New York Jets in their first playoff game. The Chargers released LaDainian Tomlinson (who had been the face of the franchise for years) this offseason and will turn to first-round pick Ryan Mathews to replace him.

The Chargers are 2-1 SU and 1-2 ATS since 2008 in Monday night games. Last season, they won but failed to cover as 10-point favorites in Oakland, and lost as 3.5-point favorites at home against Denver. San Diego actually fared better on the road last season than they did at home, going 7-1 SU and 5-3 ATS.

Last season was another difficult one for the Kansas City Chiefs as they finished 4-12 SU and 7-9 ATS. It was the Chiefs’ third straight season of winning four or less games. Because of their struggles, the Chiefs have amassed some good young talent on both sides of the ball, including wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, safety Eric Berry, and defensive linemen Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson. Will this be the year the young Chiefs start to mature?

This game will be the first time Kansas City has played on a Monday night since 2005. Arrowhead Stadium used to be a tough place for opposing teams to play, but it wasn’t last year; Kansas City was an abysmal 1-7 SU and 2-6 ATS at home. The Chiefs were blown out in both of their meetings with San Diego last season, losing 37-7 at home and 43-14 in San Diego.