'08 season one for the book(ie)s

Turns out the Lions weren't as bad as we thought last season -- if you knew how to bet them, anyway.

Handicappers blog capperspicks.com points out that the Lions were double-digit underdogs in eight games last year, but covered the spread seven times in those games.

While the team was an awful 1-7 against the spread at home, it was 6-2 against the spread on the road (mostly because of inflated point spreads and little faith in the team).

Capperspicks analyst Jim J. says the Lions could be a good bet this year, too, (if you're somewhere where sports betting is legal, of course. Ahem.) again because of low expectations.

This season’s sked is much softer, with non-conference road games coming at New Orleans, Seattle, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and San Francisco. The Lions host non-conference foes Pittsburgh, Washington, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Arizona. Only three of those teams finished above .500 last season.

Detroit is still going to be bad, but better than last year. With the addition of rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford, and a full camp for Daunte Culpepper, the Lions’ offense should climb out of the NFL basement. Even the defense, which allowed 32 points per game last season, has improved.

If playing Detroit’s spreads is too risky, bettors should look to the totals. The Lions were the second-best over play in 2008 (10-5-1 over/under), and will put more points on the board this year.

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