NFL Football Betting: Houston Texans at San Francisco 49ers
Week One of the NFL Preseason ends on Sunday night with only one game on the board as the San Francisco 49ers host the Houston Texans. It’s a good thing that there’s only one game on the board since it’ll take all the space I have trying to tie up all of the storylines heading into this season for the San Francisco 49ers. In fact, I won’t even bother trying to do this impossible task and instead will focus on the backstory of how this former dynasty got to this point.
HOUSTON TEXANS AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS:
The San Francisco 49ers have become the biggest soap opera in the NFL during the past few years. If you want to get technical about it, you can date the never ending chaos to the end of the Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. ownership era. The Niners had been an active franchise since the late 1940’s. They were, in fact, the first ‘major sport’ team to play on the West Coast joining the NFL in 1946. They didn’t do much for the next 30 years but that changed when DeBartolo bought the team. All he did was build one of the great dynasties in sports winning 5 Super Bowls and reaching the NFC Championship 10 times. DeBartolo fell victim to the hypocritical moralizing of the NFL in 1998, when he was involved in the (at the time) high profile corruption case against Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. Rather than face the usual unfair odds of US Federal Court he pleaded guilty to one charge of ‘failure to report a felony’ and agreed to testify against Edwards. He avoided prison but had to pay a $1 million fine (it’s always about money with the US Justice Department) and was subject to two years probation.
DeBartolo now denies that he was “forced to sell” the 49ers. Anyone with a modicum of understanding about how the NFL operates should have a tough time buying this. One issue was the nature of DeBartolo’s ‘offense’–he was on the wrong end of an extortion attempt by Governor Edwards who demanded $400,000 in exchange for a riverboat casino license. It was at the time the last license to be issued by the state’s crooked gaming oversight body and DeBartolo initially refused to pay. Edwards continued to work on him, no doubt insisting that it was ‘how we do business in Louisiana’. DeBartolo finally relented and being a classy dude paid Edwards with what was reportedly 4000 crisp, new $100 bills. He was initially approved for the license but had to give it up after he was implicated in the Edwards’ investigation.
The ‘official’ penalty from the NFL was a one year suspension. He turned over control of the team to his sister, Denise, and her husband, Dr. John York. What happened next had elements of bitter family greed but was otherwise bizarre. At his sentencing, DeBartolo stated the he wanted to ‘buy out his sister’ and regain full control of the team after his suspension. Instead, he walked away without a fight. The York family sued DeBartolo and make his life miserable but he otherwise gave up the team he built without a fight. It’s hard to believe that the NFL didn’t ‘pick sides’ in this fiasco. DeBartolo remained persona non grata for years, repeatedly being snubbed for inclusion in the Hall of Fame. He eventually ‘got the call’ this year.
The most plausible explanation is either the NFL’s hypocritical public disdain of gambling in any form or else it was a personal ‘beef’. The NFL is very hypocritical when it comes to criminal offense. DeBartolo was essentially ‘blackballed’ even though he said the right things publicly–he wanted to spend more time with his family, he’d done everything he could in the NFL and so forth. There may have been some truth to that but it’s still curious that he’d walk away from a team he built and loved. It’s worth noting that he’s still revered among players past and present–even players that never played for him have the utmost respect bordering on awe for DeBartolo. If the league can make a buck off of a criminal they’ll look the other way. Michael Vick is a psychopath that found the death and torture of helpless animals ‘entertaining’. He got a slap on the wrist from the league who otherwise welcomed him back with open arms. They spent the next few years doing everything to whitewash his past and promote him as a ‘superstar’ even as his skills eroded. They probably sold a good many licensed ‘Vick’ jerseys which is presumably all that matters to them.
Anyway, a book could be written about the endless soap opera of the 49ers. It may be some vindication to DeBartolo that the team has been a dysfunctional prodigy at best and a dumpster fire at worst under the ownership of the York family. DeBartolo’s Niners epitomized class, success and continuity. The York era 49ers have been a train wreck even when they’re winning. The latest fiasco–former head coach Jim Harbaugh was fired after taking the team out of the toilet and taking them to three championship games and a Super Bowl. He was fired (the ‘party line’ was that he and the team ‘mutually agreed’ to part ways) after an 8-8 season, presumably due to his inability to win a championship. That’s something a team does to an aging coach on the downside of his career or someone that had early success and never replicated it. Harbaugh went 49-22-1 combined regular season and postseason in his four years in San Fran and was in his prime. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to Harbaugh–he took another team out of the toilet, this time the University of Michigan. Harbaugh inhereted a team that went 5-7 in the final year of Brady Hoke’s coaching reign and coached them to a 10-3 mark. He’s got a 7 year deal making $7 million a year. Only Alabama’s Nick Saban makes more and only by a few thousand dollars.
The Niners are now Chip Kelly’s problem. Kelly got a raw deal in Philadelphia but he was unemployed just a few days before the Niners shoved Jim Tomsula aside (with no regard to his 7 years of loyal service) and hired the master of Oregon’s ‘Blur’ offense. Tomsula dropped off the radar–not surprising since the Niners had to pay him $14 million for his one year as head coach. Kelly signed a four year deal worth $24 million and no doubt if he is successful in digging the Niners out of the sewer he’ll get more than that. Kelly has a very big reputation on the West Coast from his days in Oregon and in Philly demonstrated that he could adapt his tactics to the NFL. The problem here is that there’s less talent on hand and still another impatient, megalomaniac owner. Hopefully he talked to the guy that drew up Tomsula’s contract.
All you need to know about this game–Bill O’Brien doesn’t care what happens. He’s got bigger fish to fry and wants his team to be healthy when the games start to count. Kelly is in one of the classic preseason football situations–a new head coach in his first home game. Since Kelly knows better than anyone how quickly things can ‘go South’ in the NFL he’ll want to get off on the right foot with a good performance and a win. The roster has plenty of holes but the quarterback rotation is decent–by preseason standards at least. The starting job is up for grabs as is the #3 job and four players are vying for these positions. They’ve all got a vested interest in making a good showing. Blaine Gabbert has been taking most of the reps with the starting offense this week as Colin Kaepernick is nursing a shoulder injury. Kelly won’t say, but it’s doubtful that Kaepernick will play at all. Gabbert is no Joe Montana but he’s a capable starting quarterback by preseason standards and should move well against a disinterested and banged up Houston defense. The third string battle is between 4th year Thaddeus Lewis and Jeff Driskel, a rookie product of Louisiana Tech.
So we’ve got a disinterested opponent facing a new head coach of a troubled team with demanding ownership in his first home game. Said head coach has a legit quarterback competition and will play at least two and maybe three (if Kaepernick can go) with NFL experience. Everything points to a big offensive showing by the home team and a debut win for Kelly. This game can be found at -3 and -3′ so make sure to shop around for a -3.
BET SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS -3 OVER HOUSTON TEXANS
BET SAN FRANCISCO/HOUSTON OVER 36.5