The NFL's Worst Teams

NFL's Worst: Teams You Should LOVE To Wager Against!
By David A. Lane Predictem.com

Everyone has their favorite teams in the National Football League and who can blame them- there are a lot of great teams to watch and wager on. Many fans like their teams for a variety of reasons such as the region one grew up in, a group of players people like to watch, or because they enjoy getting aboard a winning team's bandwagon. Others enjoy watching teams for different reasons- the complete balance of the New York Giants, the hard running of the Tennessee Titans, great defense of the Baltimore Ravens, or the unearned arrogance of the Dallas Cowboys. Whatever the case, my favorites seem to change from year to year and sometimes even from game to game. This season these teams are winners in my book despite never even being close to it on the field.

When we're talking about cashing in winning tickets, gamblers 'favorite' teams obviously tend to be a bit out of the norm and for good reason. It's hard for a player to continuously find teams that show up week in and week out, so in mid to late season when the books know to tax the favorites not only heavy but heavier, it only begins to make sense to begin to look for teams that are underperformers to bet against. If not consistently good, you got to absolutely love consistently bad- something one CAN count on.

In the 2008 edition of the NFL, there are a lot of not so great teams but certainly to find bad teams, one only has to look too a handful of states- ones John McCain would have loved to carry in the election- California, Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, and Washington. In all these eight really bad teams (no, the San Diego Chargers (5-8) aren't included) total a record of 37-63-2 against the number and a pathetic 15-75-1 record straight up: The Oakland (vault) Raiders (3-10) misrepresent Cali, the Missouri misery belong to the St. Louis R(h)ams and Kansas City C(t)hiefs (2-11), the Cleveland Drowns (4-9) and Cincinnati Ben gals (1-11-1) bring down Ohio, the heartless Detroit Lions (0-13) shame Michigan, the Jacksonville Lag-uars (4-9) who've gone to the gators in Florida, and last but maybe least lets not forget the Seattle seldom See chalks (2-11). That's a lot of teams that represent a lot of futility- and these five in particular are the worst of them ATS totaling a record of just 20-44- giving us always a disrespectfully poor effort and dependably consistent bad performance we can count on:

Cincinnati Bengals- Hard to find any bright spots in a team that seems to regress year in and year out. Chad Ocho 'No Show' has performed much more dependably with his mouth than with his hands. Going 4-9 ATS thus far while showing very little fight doing so makes it such an easy choice to take their opponent every time!

The Oakland Raiders- Having just jettisoned their biggest free agent acquisition in D'Angelo Hall and with the distinct possibly that more high priced players will also be cut; Al Davis and his Raiders have shown a non-committal commitment to non-excellence. Packing things in so early can't possibly send much of a message to a team that played much better under former coach Lane Kiffin. Flashing a sweet 5-8 record ATS, black and silver becomes my new colors of choice to bet against until they prove different.

The Detroit Lions- Years and years of all the high draft picks yet this is the product they have to show for it on the field? A team that clearly hurts its fans hearts and eyes annually continues too- never rising above its losing reputation. Signing quarterback Dante Culpepper out of retirement only further highlight's why this is a team continuing to go the wrong direction. Instead of developing younger talent that could lead to a future they turn to a guy that's already a name from the past. Somehow they seemed motivated last weekend against the Vikings pushing them to the limit in a 16-20 loss in a game that the team seemed to play like it might have best represented their last opportunity to avoid a no win 0-16 season. Their record of 5-8 ATS makes them a fine choice at the betting window every time.

The Jacksonville Jaguars- They have fallen the farthest the fastest this season from a perch deep in last seasons playoffs to a league worst 3-10 ATS/ 4-9 record. Somehow, head coach Jack Del Rio has lost his team completely as everything has unraveled for them, culminating with their last two embarrassing losses which weren't even close. Between the injuries and the bad luck this team has faced, their body language on the field says they've been thinking off season for some time- a consistency that a bettor can count on.

The St Louis Rams- Another team to be against at 4-9 ATS, the highlight of their season was completely rolling the Dallas Cowboys 34-14 when quarterback Tony Romo was healthy a week after beating the Washington Redskins on the road 19-17. Then there's the weekend when they were down to the New York Jets 0-40 at the half. Most recently they took part in a 10-34 loss that had to be a particularly bitter pill for the city and its fans because it allowed the Ram's predecessor in St. Louis, the Arizona Cardinals their first division title in eons. Their season was done a long time ago, possibly even before it started- making them a real favorite to pick against down the stretch.

Another thing, don't fool yourself into thinking that only teams with losing records are bad at covering the number because that's a serious misconception. There are teams like the Denver Broncos who are division leaders at 8-5 SU and have the second ranked offense in the league but are still a lowly 4-8-1 ATS thanks in part to having one of the leagues worst defenses. The Minnesota Vikings are another such team having a decent 8-5 record outright but are among the leagues worst ATS at 5-8.

Though there are plenty of bandwagons to jump aboard this season and even some of them have come with surprising results, this is the most important part of the season where one should take advantage while there are still many games going on. It's important for a player to cash in on those opportunities while he/she can because soon we'll be into the playoffs where all the teams are good ones and anything can happen. Not every team can compete or win in this league so why not just define the ones that definitely can't? Their misfortune, inability, and apathy, truly makes them favorites of mine in every sense of the word.

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