AFL Betting: The Move of the Week that Cost You Money – April 12th 2010

The Move of the Week that Cost You Money
Courtesy of Mike Rose at Handicapperspicks.com

The Jacksonville Sharks came into their Week 2 AFL betting duel with the Alabama Vipers knowing that they could take a commanding lead in the Southeast Division with a win. The AFL odds on the day had the Sharks favored by 3.5 points on the road against the Vipers.

All looked great for this team through two quarters of play. QB Aaron Garcia was throwing darts all over the field. Scoring was easy for Jacksonville, while the Vipers labored offensively. Even though they were kicking off in the second half, the Sharks mustered one stop right at the end of the first half to take a 28-14 lead into the locker.

The second half started off great as well, as Jacksonville got a stop and a score to go ahead by three touchdowns and seemed looked like it was on its way to yet another ‘W’ to move to 2-0 SU on the year.

Think again.

Following a 27-yard touchdown pass from Alabama QB Kevin Eakin to WR CJ Johnson, Alabama HC Dean Cokinos decided to go with an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. The Vipers recovered.

The wheels simply fell off of Jacksonville at that point. The Sharks only held Alabama one time in its next five possessions and couldn’t score anywhere in between.

Why was that? The Vipers continued their onside kick strategy. After every single score in the second half until the final one, the team executed an onside kick. Though they didn’t recover any of the four attempts, what they successfully did was shorten the field on Garcia.

That being said, WR Jason Willis, who caught two touchdown passes in the first half, wasn’t able to score from long distances away. The defensive backs were given a chance to defend a significantly smaller space, and in the shortened end zones of the AFL, it makes playing defense even easier. The end zones in Alabama are also rounded, cutting off some real estate for wide receivers to work with.

Jacksonville HC Les Moss failed to counter with any answers for his offense, which was ultimately outscored 35-0 in that run.

Though they failed their betting backers in this spot, the Sharks won’t run into this tactic every week. Don’t let that one dismal quarter and a half of football scare you from backing a very solid team in the future.

The Sharks will look to turn the page on this tough loss on Friday night on the NFL Network’s national televised broadcast against the in-state rival Orlando Predators.

Click here for expert arena football picks from Mike Rose

Related posts:

1. AFL Betting: Inside the Week 2 Box Scores – April 11th 2010
2. AFL Picks: Chicago Rush vs. Cleveland Gladiators: April 9th 2010
3. Final Four Betting: Butler Bulldogs vs. Michigan State Spartans Prediction: April 3rd 2010