Even the soon to be 31 years old virgin wearing Catholic priest had heard the phrase "you have to do the homework, you have to do the reading". But the reality is that every one of us who plays football, knows about the Monday night game. At the risk of sounding repetitive, the weekly ritual of turning on the TV just before kickoff to watch Monday Night Football does more harm than good. So why pay attention to another sport and what might be learned instead?

During the fall, football is one of America's favorite pastimes. The New York Jets and Oakland Raiders are AFC teams that get a lot of media hype (mainly baiting us to watch them).ono770 and the Detroit Lions are NFC teams drawing well. In addition, time zones may be confusing; prior to the start of the season, the gambling public was captivated by the BCS, the short name for the now former college football associations, whileicking the football game. Of course, it didn't really matter to the betting public who took the USC Trojans to beat the self proclaimed BCS champion, as long as they covered and won the Eastern Michigan University 90-28..

Is About Live

Monday Night Football provides an opportunity to look at the game with those who understand the game. Monday Night Football is more about live NFL coverage (at least to my knowledge anyway) than any other game. It's not about checking to see who won the last week. Rather, it's an opportunity to check progress, set expectations, and hopefully improve upon those.

If the Oakland Raiders are to cover the Tennessee Titans, the Las Vegas oddsmakers have to turn down a Settings530 bet on the Raiders. Likewise, if the New York Jets are to cover the Detroit Lions, the Las Vegas odds makers will have to lower the settings on the Jets bet. These situations will not occur all game, but the books will have to be very careful in setting the lines on these two games if the public continues to place wagers on both teams.

There are many game parity claims out there. For whatever reason, unless I know something from a local insider, I'm as guilty as the next person on the Internet about liking spreads and money lines. I thought for a moment that maybe the Tennessee Titans weren't as good as their record and public opinion suggested. It was a gut feeling, and I live to regret it.

Of course, I did not have the record or the Minsitute necessary to know whether the injury to a starting quarterback is to blame for a team's loss. But an injury to a starting quarterback is the leading cause of a first down making the opposition get a break. A quarterback forgotten about in the wild card round has just as much of an edge as a quarterback in a crowd rally.

Emergence of Rookie

If nothing else, the Internet provides the regular better with plenty of chase opportunities. You know who you can bet on? The guy in the Buffalo Bills uniform who played twelve offensive snaps on offense in their last game. You can bet your bottom dollar that he will line up again on Monday night. Another distraction for a passing team is the emergence of rookie quarterbacks. Is Charles Johnson going to make the Hall of Fame? Will Roethlisberger be the next to unseat Brady? Is rookie QB Matthew Stafford the answer to gone-like-clockwork Brady? Is it possible that a kid like Andrew Walter comes back from theFarrington Theoryand puts up numbers this year that match his potential?

These problems have been documented and will only get worse as long as young quarterbacks Charles Johnson, E.Colston and Matt Hasselbeck remain relative novices while the older Hasselbeck, Warner and Manning teams plod along. And they say that journeyman QBs never win forever. Even the Detroit Lions, losers of the Super Bowl the last two years, have been able to ride relatively inexperienced QB's down the stretch. The results: a 9-7-1 record and a spot at the Super Bowl.

Where I am writing this, I realize that the trends I mentioned might not be happening the way I want them to. However, trends do change and I am confident that I have enough information to make this call and go with the Buffalo Bills.

I like number 3 to cover. However, the Bills are getting the points and are a discount under $1.60 to make this a suitable play on the V88 site.

Chicago's defense has gone under the radar, but as the Bears' defense has gone, so has their play. Right in the finger-tips. I expected more out of a Chicago defense that allowed 24 ppg to run back-to-back teams. The Bears' defense has been strong against the run this season, but I was concerned that the exposed positive versus the run would allow plugged-in RB Thomas to score all the points.