If the NFL Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

While we didn't have a wager on the game between the Chargers and Steelers, in a way, everyone lost.

Especially the NFL. Well, them, and the people who bet on the Steelers.

With the Steelers ahead of the Chargers 11-10, San Diego had time for one last desperation play. It went just about how you'd expect a dump-off-and-lateral-from-inside-the-20 play to go, with Philip Rivers throwing a short pass to Ladainian Tomlinson, Tomlinson flipping it back to Chris Chambers, and Chambers lateralling it to nobody in particular.

Chambers' heave was knocked down and scooped up by Troy Polamalu, who ran it in for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 17-10 lead. Unfortunately, due to an illegal forward lateral by Tomlinson, the touchdown was wiped off of the scoreboard. Still, the Steelers won, so no harm done, right?

Wrong.

The Steelers may have won, but anyone who took the Steelers at anywhere from -3 1/2 to -5 didn't share the victory. Okay, so Steelers bettors caught a bad break, happens all the time, right?

Sure, but does it usually happen when 66% of the action is on the Steelers as opposed to 34% for the Chargers, with bookies looking at a huge profit if the Chargers win? Does it also usually happen when the Steelers are penalized 13 times for 115 yards as opposed to two times for five yards for San Diego? And does it usually happen on a call so clearly wrong? Take a look at a couple of screenshots of Tomlinson's pitch back to Chambers. Notice the arm going behind Tomlinson, followed by the ball.

As you can see, Tomlinson tosses the ball backwards to Chambers, and pretty obviously at that. Could this have anything to do with the fact that, as RJ Bell of Pregame.com points out, Vegas was on the receiving end of a $64 million swing as a result of this lateral? From the looks of it, the referees did everything in their power to make sure the Steelers didn't cover. The zebras even admitted to making the wrong call at the end of the game.

So, was this just a huge mix up, or are we just scratching the surface of an NFL betting scandal bigger than the Chicago Black Sox of the MLB (White Sox players rigging the World Series in 1919 for the youngsters out there) or Tim Donaghy in the NBA?

We might not even want to know the answer to that.

Chargers Make It a 3-0 Sunday

The Chargers crushed the Patriots tonight, 30-10, easily covering the -4 1/2 point spread and giving us a perfect 3-0 sweep in the NFL today.

Like in our previous games today, the quarterback play led to an easy cover. Philip Rivers was exceptional for San Diego, making sure that we didn't sweat this one out at all.

All three teams we picked to cover today now move from 2-3 to 3-3. Meanwhile are Free NFL Picks move from 9-5-1 to 12-5-1. Not a bad day.

We'll give a full update of our records momentarily.

Lean Toward the Under Tonight

With the Jets and Chargers facing off on Monday Night Football tonight, a lot of the talk is on the offensive weapons of both teams. But let's take a look at those "weapons."

Philip Rivers has been hot for the Chargers, but we don't expect him to keep it up. Ladainian Tomlinson is injured, and might not even play. As for the Jets, their only offensive weapon is Brett Favre, who has been restricted by the play-calling of Jets coach Eric Mangini and plays in a struggling offense. All of that said, we like the under tonight.

New York Jets/San Diego Chargers UNDER 47

That said, we are still debating whether or not to make this a Free NFL Pick. We need to look at a few more numbers to see if this play qualifies, so far now it is simply a strong lean. Remember, our Free NFL Picks are 7-4 so far, which is 64%.

Stay tuned, as we'll officially announce whether or not it is a Free NFL Pick prior to kickoff. UPDATE: With Ladainian Tomlinson in the starting lineup, we aren't going to make this a Free NFL Pick, as it no longer fits our computer system. We still are leaning this way and might put a small amount on it, though.