Online Football Betting

The 2-1 New England Patriots travel to Miami’s Sun Life Staduim Monday night to face the 2-1 Miami Dolphins in a game that has potential tie-breaker importance. The Patriots are riding an impressive 6-1 record on Monday night in their past 7 games. The oddsmakers have put the Patriots as 1-point favorites.

New England’s defense has struggled to contain opposing offenses so far this year, and they’ll have their hands full again against a Miami team that’s acquired Brandon Marshall, as well as seen their QB, Chad Henne further develop his passing game.

The Wildcat is still a possibility the Patriots have to plan for, but so far this year the Dolphins haven’t gotten much production out of their signature offensive formation. Ronnie Brown will still take a few direct snaps in this game, but Belichick won’t be caught off-guard again.

Marshall should have a great game against a suspect pair of right corner backs, with his size and strength outmatching Kyle Arrington and Darius Butler. Henne will have plenty of other options to exploit as well with Brian Hartline opposite Marshall, and Davone Bess in the slot — the Dolphin’s equivalent to Wes Welker.

Patriot’s QB Tom Brady will look to WR Randy Moss to stretch the field, opening up the middle of the field for Welker to go wild against a porous Dolphin’s linebacking core. Miami will have their hands full containing the Patriots’ offense in what should be a high-scoring affair.

Here are some matchup trends to consider:
All games played at MIAMI since 1992
MIAMI is 10-8 against the spread versus NEW ENGLAND since 1992
MIAMI is 12-6 straight up against NEW ENGLAND since 1992
10 of 18 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL since 1992

Games over the last 3 seasons
MIAMI is 3-1 against the spread versus NEW ENGLAND over the last 3 seasons
MIAMI is 2-2 straight up against NEW ENGLAND over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

The undefeated Green Bay Packers travel to Soldier Field Monday night to take on the undefeated Chicago Bears. Chicago squeaked out a win against the Lions in week 1, and managed to defeat the Cowboys in Dallas week 2. The Packers handled the Eagles’ comeback, led by Vick, in week one and then solidly handled the Bills in week 2, scoring 21 unanswered in the 2nd half last week.

Jay Cutler is playing well for Mike Martz so far, drawing comparisons to Kurt Warner when the “greatest show on turf” was going on in St. Louis. Time will tell if the Bear’s o-line can continue to to give Cutler time to throw. Matt Forte isn’t drawing any comparisons to Marshall Faulk however – at least in the running game. Forte failed 4 times from goal-to-go against the Lions in week 1 and against the Cowboys ran for 29 yards on 10 carries.

The Packers passing game is close to where everyone thought it would be though they struggled a bit against the Eagles. Aaron Rodgers had no such trouble against the Bills. The bigger concern is the lack of a running game. With Ryan Grant out, Brandon Jackson failed to impress. The Packers are surely looking to acquire a back to bolster their run attack.

The offensive margins have narrowed between these teams, so much so that the key matchup will be Julius Peppers against LT Chad Clifton for the Packers. Clifton was only able to play part of the game against the Bills, leaving rookie Brian Bulaga to fill in. He did fine, but he won’t be at home Monday, and Peppers is a different animal.

Oddsmakers have made the Packers 3-point spread favorites for Monday’s game against the Bears (+3). Here are some matchup trends to consider:

GREEN BAY is 4-0 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
GREEN BAY is 3-1 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
4 of 4 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons