NFL Record: Best Bets 4-4, Regular Picks 13-7 (Updated Nov 13)

Most weeks we provide our NFL best bet of the week and an additional two to three picks that we believe offer some betting value. Last season our top play crushed the book with an incredible 15 point spread covers from 21 selections. Good for a 71.4 winning percent. While it will be difficult to improve on that record, we'll do our best to help our readers in their quest of a profitable football handicapping season.

Indianapolis was aided by a dubious Bill Belichick call late, in a thrilling 35-34 victory over New England last week. Baltimore struggled to a 16-0 victory over hapless Cleveland. Colts QB Peyton Manning has been very successful against this defense in six-straight wins against the Ravens dating back to 2002. He has handled the blitz very well and Baltimore is expected to be missing OLB Terrell Suggs (check status), their best pass rusher. The secondary has not played well in 2009 and expect Manning to have a lot of success. TE Dallas Clark has been a handful and is among the league leaders in catches and yards, rare for a TE. FS Ed Reed is a good defender but he won't be able to play centerfield against this group of receivers. The Ravens run defense hasn't been nearly as good as in years past but the Colts are far from an elite running team. They will run the ball early but we feel Manning will keep passing until Baltimore shows they can stop it. The Ravens offense had a lot of trouble last week against the Browns with the offense failing to score a TD. They have averaged 30 points-per-game in their four home games but that will be difficult here. Indy has lots of injuries in their secondary but their backups are holding up. The Ravens lack the deep threat the Patriots have in WR Randy Moss and the Colts DBs should be able to hold up. DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis go up against two huge but young OTs in Jared Gaither and rookie Michael Oher. Look for them to give QB Joe Flacco trouble. RB Ray Rice needs to have a big game for the offense to move the ball consistently and Indy will certainly key on him as he is the Ravens' leading rusher and receiver. QB Joe Flacco has played well at home but he'll have to deal with real pressure in the backfield. The Colts have owned this matchup in the past five years, winning once each season by an average score of 27-9. The Ravens defense has given several offenses fits over that time period but they have had no answer for Manning and the Indianapolis offense. Conversely, the Colts defense has also played well in this matchup and we feel that Manning and the D-line will dictate the outcome of this contest. This is a real live dog that has really dominated their opponent in recent years.

Additional Pro Football Picks
Other games selections that we like this week are listed below.

• Oakland +9.5
• St. Louis +9
• Chicago +3