NFL NFC Recap – Favre Does it Again and the Lions Finally Win

Are there any doubts in Minnesota anymore? Facing their first loss of the season, the Minnesota Vikings needed a miracle in order to beat the San Francisco 49’ers on the road. One was delivered when Brett Favre heaved the ball some 42 yards down the field to Viking wide receiver Greg Lewis who tip-toed inside the line on the back of the end zone and brought some magic to the Vikings.

Lewis’s catch gave the Vikings a 27 to 24 victory at home in the most entertaining game of Week 3. There won’t be any naysayers for a while because Favre did what he has done most of his career, make the miracle pass and create a great finish. Look closer, though, and things aren’t all that rosy for Minnesota. The Vikings were favored by 7 points against the 49’ers yet they needed the miracle just to win the game.

San Francisco had the victory in their grasps, but let it get away. From a betting perspective, the prospects of the 49’ers beating spreads is much better than the prospects of the Vikings covering spreads. Minnesota is going to get caught eventually on the short end of the stick. It could happen sooner than expected as the Norsemen face Green Bay twice, Pittsburgh once and Baltimore once in four of their next five games.

Saints and Giants Roll Along

The New Orleans Saints and New York Giants continue to do wonders against the rest of the NFL. The Saints won ugly, well, ugly for them anyhow, this past Sunday when beating the Buffalo Bills by a score of 27 to 7. Some Saints’ fans might see the glass has half empty because Drew Brees threw for less than 200 yards and didn’t throw for a touchdown pass.

This NFL betting fan tends to see the glass half full as the Saints found a way to cover a +14 ½ point spread without getting a touchdown pass out of Brees. Not only that, but the Saints held the Bills, a team that had scored 24 points against New England and 33 points against Tampa Bay in their first two games, to only 7 points. The kicker is that all this came on the road.

If New Orleans can win games and cover spreads without Brees playing like Johnny Unitas, does any team in the NFL have a shot at stopping these guys? Probably not.

The Giants were brilliant against Tampa Bay on the road when thumping the Bucs 24 to 0. Can we now end the idea that the G-Men don’t have the wide receivers to challenge for the NFC Conference crown? Both Steve Smith and Mario Manningham have turned out to be sure handed and quick footed. The most important thing about the two, of course, is that quarterback Eli Manning has faith in them.

The G-men have already beaten two division foes in the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. They are an exceptionally good team on offense, defense and special teams and will only get better as the season wears on.

The Giants and Saints are easily the two best teams in the NFC right now.

Detroit Ends the Losing Streak

The streak is finally over for the Detroit Lions. The losers of 18 games in a row finally ended the worst record in NFL history when they beat the Washington Redskins at home.

Forget about Detroit playing well, the truth is that Washington is the biggest mess in the NFL this year. Coach Jim Zorn has no leadership skills. Neither does QB Jason Campbell. This team is a mess and let’s be honest, they’ve already given up. If I were owner Daniel Snyder, I’d make wholesale changes right now. The Redskins not only lost to the terrible Detroit Lions, but they only put up 9 points on the St. Louis Rams a week before.

Congratulations to Detroit for blowing out the +6 ½ point spread when winning 19 to 14 but shame on Washington for being a heartless bunch of losers.

Cutler is Doing Just Fine in Chicago

After Jay Cutler’s awful debut as the Chicago Bears quarterback in Green Bay three weeks ago, the boo birds were out in Chicago ready to turn the former Vanderbilt star into a piñata. Not anymore. Cutler led the Bears to a victory straight-up and ATS as home underdogs against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2 and then, as -1 favorites on the road, beat the Seattle Seahawks.

Since the four interceptions against Green Bay, Cutler has thrown 5 touchdowns and only 1 interception in the two games against Pittsburgh and Seattle. His QB rating has risen from 43.2 against Green Bay to 104.7 against Pittsburgh to 126.4 against Seattle.

Cutler will continue his terrific play, he’s too good of a quarterback not to, and the Bears will continue to win. Minnesota and Green Bay had better watch out in the NFC North Division.

Packers and Cowboys Bounce Back from Losses

The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys both lost straight-up and ATS as favorites at home last week. Green Bay bounced back with a 36 to 17 victory over the St. Louis Rams and Dallas bounced back with a 21 to 7 victory over the Carolina Panthers in the newly built Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Green Bay’s victory was legitimate. The Cowboys’ victory was luck. Carolina is just a terrible team in the 4 th quarter and the Cowboys took advantage of 3 turnovers in order to get their victory.

Whether or not that this is a sign that the ‘Boys can hang with the Giants and Saints in the NFC is debatable. For Green Bay, they are starting to get their offense on track. That makes them a legitimate contender in what is quickly becoming the toughest division in football, the NFC North.