Brady, Cushing and Royal take home AFC weekly honors

Football Betting Lines

10/21/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing and Denver Broncos kick returner/punt returner Eddie Royal have been selected as the AFC's top players for Week 6 of the NFL season.

Brady helped engineer a record performance for the Patriots this past Sunday in a 59-0 blowout of Tennessee. New England set franchise marks in points scored, yards (619) and margin of victory, which was also the largest in the league since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

The quarterback himself earned the weekly offensive award, his 14th such career honor, for his part in the shellacking, throwing five touchdown passes in the second quarter alone to set an NFL record. He threw for 380 yards and six TDs in all on 29-of-34 attempts. His 345 passing yards in the first half set a club record and the five first-half TDs tied the franchise mark.

Cushing captured the defensive award after registering nine tackles, one interception, forcing two fumbles and defending two passes in a 28-17 win over Cincinnati. It was the Southern California product's first career interception in his rookie season, and led to his first career weekly honor. Cushing leads the Texans in tackles with 48 -- a number that also heads the list of all rookies in 2009.

Royal earned special teams honors for returning both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in Denver's 34-23 triumph over division-rival San Diego on Monday night. The Broncos wideout became only the 11th player in league history to return both a punt and kickoff for TDs in the same game. Royal totaled 253 return yards in all to set a team record, with 158 coming on kick returns and 77 on punt returns.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.