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Bettors Do Not Look Concerned Over Harrison's Injury!
Judging by the number posted at America's most popular online Betting shop, www.sportsbook.com, it looks like the New England Patriots are the choice of gamblers this week. Bill Belichick's troops will try and defend their home soil this Sunday as -10 ½ favorites and will be forced to do so without one of their most revered leaders.
Safety Rodney Harrison will be gone from the team most likely for the entire season as the result of a broken shoulder blade injury he suffered last week against Indy. With the exception of MVP quarterback Tom Brady, Harrison is the one guy that the aging Patriots could ill afford to lose. He is the straw that stirs the drink for the New England team and this team will suffer without him.
The other starting safety, Eugene Wilson, has missed four of the last five games with a hamstring injury and is listed as questionable for Sunday. Without him and Harrison, the likely starters would be Artrell Hawkins and Chad Scott, almost exclusively a cornerback during his previous eight NFL seasons.
"Playing cornerback is like a track meet every down," Scott said. "Safety is more communicating, getting people lined up and being in the right place at the right time." After Harrison was hurt last season, five players started the next seven games at his position before Hawkins took over.
First year New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini will face his former boss for the second time this season and will look to turn the tables after dropping the first meeting 24-17 at the Meadowlands. You have to like the fact that the Jets are coming off a bye week, which in the middle of the season is crucial for dealing with a plethora of injuries. They will need a much better game out of QB Chad Pennington who struggled two weeks ago against the Cleveland Browns, but he will be going up against a club, that as we had mentioned are not exactly spring chickens.
The weather in the Northeast is very mild for this time of year and the over/under total of 39 just may be a bit low for two teams with questionable defenses.
Sportsbook.com has all your NFL action available right now for wagering!
About the Author: Bob is an experienced sports writer and handicapper who has written for the sports industry for over a decade. He has been a regular contributer to Sports Scene, a sports consultant for television's 33 Made and other major motion pictures.
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