The NFL Week 8 props are all about quarterbacks as Brett Favre prepares to play on a gimpy ankle, Jon Kitna steps in for Tony Romo, and Troy Smith gets his shot as a starting quarterback.
Favre will lead the Vikings onto the field in New England on Sunday - if his fractured ankle allows it, that is. As long as Favre gets the start against the Patriots there is a nice list of prop bets that bettors should take advantage of over at Sportsbook.
Favre may be a football ironman, but if he takes a bad shot on Sunday the ankle injury could land him on the sidelines whether he wants to come out or not. Keep that in mind when you take the OVER or the UNDER on Favre's props.
Favre's passing-yards prop has been set at 235.5 yards. On the season Favre is averaging only 198.5 yards passing per game. Last week against Green Bay he put 212 yards on the board. Even if Favre is able to play the entire game I'd take the UNDER on this one.
The Dallas Cowboys had been dangling on the edge of a cliff for a while now, and they tipped over into the abyss last week after Tony Romo went down. Veteran Jon Kitna takes over the underachieving offense, but at least he gets a favorable opponent this week in Jacksonville.
At Sportsbook they've set Kitna's passing yards prop total at 225.5 yards. In his career Kitna has averaged 213 yards per game, while before his injury Romo was averaging 267.7 yards per game this season. After getting some reps with the No. 1 unit that includes superb talent such as Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, Kitna could possibly put up similar numbers. Against the Jaguars and their 27th-ranked pass defense I'd take the OVER on Kitna.
And finally, there's Troy Smith. The former Heisman Sportsbook gets his shot to prove himself this week in London. Unfortunately, he has to do it with an underachieving Niners offense. Smith only attempted 89 passes in three seasons as a backup in Baltimore, completing 48 of them for 558 yards.
Smith's passing-yards prop total was set at Sportsbook. The Niners face the Broncos this weekend and they sport the 10th-ranked pass defense in the league and the 30th-ranked run defense. So expect a lot of Frank Gore and not a whole lot of Smith dropping back to pass. Take the UNDER.
