The Bears are tied for the second best record in the entire conference but are completely underwhelming. The Vikings can thank the 1-8 Cowboys for preventing them from being the single most disappointing team of the NFL season so far.

But it’s only Week 10 and with the way that the NFC, and the NFC North are playing out so far there is still time for both teams to make the playoffs.

Kickoff for this Thursday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Bears as a 1-point favorite with an over/under total at 40.

The Bears have Bears haven’t been very good at any aspect of the game this season (with the exception of special teams returns) and have managed to outscore NFL gambling opponents just 148-133 and their record is a bit of a mirage.

However, they’re a perfect 2-0 within the division including an impressive Week 3 win over division leader Green Bay (6-3).

But the Bears are just 2-2 at home and against a Minnesota Vikings team coming off a very gutty win in Week 9 it’s going to have its hands full.

Especially worrisome for the Bears offense is the Vikings’ newly found pass rush. In last week’s come from behind win against the Cardinals the team notched 6.0 sacks and DE Jared Allen finally came alive as he grabbed 2.5 sacks in the effort. You can be sure that the Vikings front 7 is salivating at the prospect of playing a Bears team that has given up a league leading 32 sacks in 8 games.

On offense Brett Favre finally looked like his old self in a 446 yard performance, the first game of the season in which he had something resembling a healthy receiving corps. Add to that the fact that the Bears pass defense ranks 19th in the league and have just 5 INTs on the year and Favre looks set for another big day.

Look for the Vikings to run their win streak to 2 games in the Week 10 NFL betting odds action.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Jets as a 3.5-point favorite with an over/under total at 44.5.

It may seem strange but that’s exactly the type of season it’s been so far in the NFL. Parity is at an all time high with no undefeated teams surviving the first month of the season and no clear cut favorite among the ranks. The Pats have the best record in the league at 6-1 but no one is convinced of this team.

The Jets are tied for the second best record in the league and may be the best team but this group faces a dog fight in Detroit this weekend and may not survive.

Detroit is a team on the rise and better than its 2-5 record indicates. After losing its starting QB and rising star, Matthew Stafford, after only a few quarters of action the team floundered for the first month of the season. But with Shaun Hill doing an impressive job filling in behind center and the defense starting to come alive this team is now 2-2 over its past 4 games and is scoring almost 32 points a game (2nd best in the NFL).

With Stafford back in the lineup this team has even more potential to score in the NFL betting odds competition as evidenced by his 4 TD game last week against a tough Redskins D.

The Jets have the 2nd best defense in the league (15.7 ppg) and are all but impossible to run against (88.7 ypg on the ground). But the Lions are not a good running team and will give the ball to Stafford to beat the Jest in the air.

This has been the Jets’ weakness all season. And even though the team’s 218.6 yards passing allowed per game isn’t atrocious, the team has given up 10 passing TDs in 7 games and has just 5 INTs.

That is a very favorable matchup for the gun slinging Lions and even if they don’t win they should be able to beat the sports betting point spread.

As with anything NFL related these days Favre seems to be the main story, but if we delve a bit deeper than the sexting scandal and the impressive Iron-man streak we’ll see that this is matchup of two good football teams and possibly one of the best games of the Week 8 lineup.

The Green Bay Packers are the walking wounded (4-3) and will struggle just to dress 45 healthy players. The New York Jets (5-1) are well rested after a bye and will looking to improve on the best record in the NFL. Both of these teams were preseason favorites to go deep into the playoffs and so far they proving that projection correct.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Jets as a 5-point favorite with an over/under total at 42.

However, as impressive as Green Bay has been despite playing with half its team on the IR, it’s hard to see how they can compete with the talented Jets squad.

Sure, the Jets looked lousy in their very fortuitous Week 6 victory over Denver, but it’s tough for any team to play in Denver and the team was looking ahead to the Bye Week.

Expect this team to look much sharper at home this week and healthy with an extra week of down time. Also look for WR Santonio Holmes to have a big game in New York. With an extra week of practice to get in rhythm with QB Mark Sanchez this duo should do well against a banged up Green Bay secondary.

Green Bay QB Aaron Rogers will have his hands full with the 4th ranked defense in the league as well. The Jets are giving up just 16.7 points per game and have blood thirsty pass rush and some of the best cover corners in the NFL gambling action.

Still, if the Jets have weakness it’s getting beat by the pass as the teams giving up 229 passing yards and a game has already given up 10 passing TDs in 6 games.

Look for a superior and healthier New York squad to get the sports betting win.

In his absence, the Steelers started 4th string QB Charlie Batch and cobbled together a 3-1 record almost in spite of Batch. The team ranked last in the NFL passing offense and struggled to put 20 points on the scoreboard. But it mattered little as the defense is playing like a bunch of lunatics and has only given up 12.0 ppg this season.

And now that Big Ben is back the whole complexion of the offense has changed and this team is now a much more dangerous opponent.

This weekend the 3-2 Miami Dolphins will have the unenviable task of not only having to face this terrifying defense now also trying to stop Big Ben and the passing attack in this weekend’s NFL betting odds.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and sbgglobal sportsbook opened with the Steelers as a 3-point favorite with an over/under total at 40.

The Dolphins defense has not played well this year. The unit ranks 23rd in total defense (22.4 ppg). While it hasn’t given up a lot of yards (311.2 total yards per game) it just can’t seem to keep opponents from scoring.

The pass defense is also a big question mark as this team is very thin at CB and S and has major vulnerabilities down the field.

Big Ben is a master of the deep ball and should provide all kinds of problems for the Dolphins D this weekend as he gets more in tune with favorite new deep threat WR Mike Wallace.

On offense the Dolphins have also been impotent scoring just 17.8 ppg. The only real threat on this unit is WR Brandon Marshall who has caused big problems for opponents but the Steelers are good tackling team and should limit his YAC production. The Steelers’ blitz (16 sacks in 5 games) should also give QB Chad Henne problems and we could see some INTs.

For the Dolphins there’s not a lot of reason to be optimistic and the Steelers should have an easy of it in this sports betting showdown.

But fair or not, that’s what this AFC North doormat gets. And Sunday it’s in for another punishing matchup against one of the best teams in the league: the Bengals.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and sbg opened with the Bengals as a 3-point favorite with an over/under total at 37.5.

That might seem like a pretty narrow points spread for such an obvious mismatch –at least on paper- of two teams. But the crazy thing about the division games and especially in the AFC North is that the familiarity of the teams means that games that, statistically, should be blowouts actually turn into close games.

Look at the Week 3 NFL betting odds matchup between the (0-3) Browns and the (2-1) Ravens. In what should have been a whipping at home the Ravens barely escaped with a come from behind 24-17 win.

Expect the same sort of action this week when the two Ohio teams go head to head in Cleveland. Cleveland is due for a win and Cincy is beatable, especially in the Dawg Pound.

The Bengals defense has not played up to expected levels yet this season and is giving up 300 yards and 18.0 ppg. Its run defense is giving up 104.7 yards a game which is good news for a Browns ground game that racked up 173 rushing yards last week against the Ravens (yes the Ravens) behind RB Peyton Hillis’ 144 yards and 2 TDs.

Still if the Browns want to win they’ve got to stop the Bengals offense which is entirely possible. Carson Palmer has been a huge disappointment so far this year with just a 71.3 passer rating and 3 INTs in 3 games.

The Bengals are very good team but the Browns are due for a win and the Cincy has been playing too sloppy of late to keep up its winning ways.

Look for the Browns to pull off the NFL gambling upset.

The New Orleans Saints are still among the top teams in the league and coming off a loss to division rival Atlanta will be eager to take out their frustration on the stumbling Panthers and make an entry in the division win column.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and sbg global opened with the Saints as a 13.5-point favorite with an over/under total at 44.5.

Why this game isn’t the widest point spread of the week is a good question. Only the Packers -14.5 vs. the Lions are wider, but at least the Lions have proven they can score. Carolina has yet to demonstrate even that football requisite.

This was supposed to be the year that the Panthers bounced back with a new QB and an exciting new offense after an 8-8 season last year that was submarined by the Human Interception Machine, Jake Delhomme.

But Delhomme’s replacement, Matt Moore has been even worse with a 41.8 passer rating and 4 INTs in two games. Sadly, Moore’s replacement, rookie QB Jimmy Clausen has been worse still with no TDs and 2 INTs in his only start. And even this team’s once impressive two-headed running attack of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart has ground to a halt with the two combining for just 82.7 yards per game.

Unfortunately the Panthers have no defense either to try and help stop the bleeding. The team is 22nd in the NFL gambling stats giving up 23.7 points per game.

You could pretty much put any team in the NFL against the Panthers and they would win, never mind the defending Super Bowl champions led by Drew Brees playing at home in the Super Dome in front of the Who Dat nation.

Saints will win this sports betting showdown without even breaking a sweat.

Unfortunately for the Panthers they won’t be playing any of these 0-3 teams this week but rather the defending Super Bowl champion Saints and Drew Brees.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and sbg sportsbook opened with the Saints as a 13.5-point favorite with an over/under total at 44.5.

As is generally the case after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy the Saints have struggled a bit this year. Granted it’s played some quality competition and 2-1 versus the Falcons, Vikings and Niners on the road isn’t a bad outcome, all things considered. But this team is not the high flying, dominant circus act it was last season –at least not yet.

But the offense should get plenty of opportunities to pad the stats against the Panthers 22nd ranked defense. Brees should pick apart a Panthers secondary that’s only giving up 207 yards per game but has given up 6 passing TDs in just 3 games. The run defense is even worse (111 rushing yards per game) and the Saints will be able to set up their devastating play action with little worry.

The Saints defense, which depends on turnovers to keep execute, will have a feast against the stable of noodle-armed QB on the Panther’s roster. Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen have combined for 6 INTs and 2 TDs through the first three games. New Orleans’ secondary will surely add to that total.

The Saints defense hasn’t been as effective as it was last season but the Panthers offense should be just what the doctor ordered. The secondary should get a pick or two and the interior defense should have little problem shutting down Carolina’s decrepit running game in which talented backs Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams are combining for just 82.7 yards a game.

Saints will steam roll the Panthers in this sports betting showdown.

The Falcons opened as 3-point favorites at SBGGlobal.com Sportsbook with an over under of 34.5.

Kansas City finished just 4-12 straight up and 7-9 against the spread last year in rookie Coach Todd Haley’s debut season but that can be written off to it being a massive transition campaign in year one of the Scott Pioli era. Pioli took over as the Chiefs general manager and cleaned house with a new coaching staff and revamped roster.

Part of the changes in Kansas City came with quarterback Matt Cassel, who arrived with much fanfare after a successful 2008 season in which he almost led the New England Patriots to the playoffs subbing for injured Tom Brady. Cassel also had a rough debut in KC with the thin roster but Charlie Weiss has arrived from Notre Dame to coordinate the offense. Weiss and Cassel share New England ties and Haley wanted to give up control of the offense for a bigger picture view of the team.

Another ex-Patriot from New England, Romeo Crennel, arrives to coordinate the defense. Along with special team’s coordinator Steve Hoffman, the Chiefs have a staff that has a combined 13 Super Bowl appearances.

Haley is “very comfortable” with his new staff that he says is more in sync with him. They will use the preseason games to work out the kinks of their new systems on both sides of the line. KC’s backup quarterbacks Brodie Croyle and Tyler Palko will get plenty of reps in preseason.

The Atlanta Falcons are coming off the first ever back-to-back winning seasons in the history of the franchise, which began in 1966. They were 9-7 straight up and an even better 11-5 against the spread.

The offense is led by quarterback Matt Ryan, who is firmly established as the starter and will see limited preseason action as a result. Chris Redman and John Parker Wilson will take most of the exhibition snaps.

Although he should see limited action in the preseason opener, Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez will likely get a series or two against his former team where he was a pro bowl regular and pillar of the franchise.

The big preseason news in Atlanta is the renovated defensive lineup that came with a cost of a whopping $75 million. Coordinator Brian VanGorder will spend exhibition games getting the unit in sync.

“When you get new players, whether it’s through free agency or whether it’s through the draft, there is a process that you go through,” said VanGorder. Number one draft pick Sean Weatherspoon out of Missouri will be a key component of the unit.

It’s not an enviable task but the Vikings should be well rested and despite a sloppy patch in December are still one of the best teams in football. For the Vikings to win they simply need to keep doing what they’ve done all year: loosen up the defense with a steady dose of Adrian Peterson and the running game and then finish them off with Brett Favre and the passing game.

Favre has been a statistical anomaly this season and age 40 put together the best season of his career (4,202 yards, 33 TDs, 7 INTs and a passer rating of 107.1). His experience and numbers in the playoffs speak for themselves and if anyone can score against the stingy Dallas D, it’s Favre.

But Peterson will do the heavy lifting and should provide a healthy antidote to the Cowboy’s pass rush. On defense Jared Allen and his line mates have to make life hell for Romo. Dallas has a tremendous O-line but the Vike’s D-line is the best in the biz and should be able to win this match up. And one other thing: Minny is 8-0 at dome sweet dome this season. Vikes will win this one at home.