Posts Tagged ‘football’
Jets Win Their First NFL Preseason Game By Beating Giants
May 23rd, 2010 | 
Author: A week after being named the New York Jets starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez rewarded his first year NFL coach with a victory. Rex Ryan got his first win at the helm of the Jets as his team held off a 4th quarter comeback to nip the crosstown rival New York Giants 27-25. Both teams are now 1-2 in NFL preseason play.
NFL preseason betting enthusiasts who took the Giants as +3 point underdogs were rewarded with the outright victory. The Jets improved to 2-1 against the pointspread, while the Giants dropped to 1-2 against the money as they dropped their second straight ATS verdict.
Sanchez finished with 149 yards on 13 of 20 passing and a touchdown pass to former University of South Carolina standout receiver Chansi Stuckey. After the game, he was pleased with his effort and the victory:
“You get a little more confidence when you know your coach believes in you and has named you the starter. It was similar to that at SC. Once you’re the guy, you talk a little different, you walk a little different and you act a little different.”
Falcons Hold Off Late Bears Rally
The Atlanta Falcons didn’t so much win their Sunday Night NFL Football game against the Chicago Bears as much as the Bears lost it. A series of costly mistakes and turnovers in the red zone negated an otherwise solid road effort for the Bears, as Atlanta held on to win 21-14 at the Georgia Dome. Chicago held a decisive edge in most of the statistical categories, but was undone by untimely turnovers.
Chicago also disappointed fans who bet on NFL football by failing to cover the pointspread as +4 road underdogs. Both teams’ ATS records match their straight up records with the Falcons moving to 4-1 against the number while the Bears slumped to 3-2. The 35 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 46. Both teams have now gone UNDER in three of five games this season.
Winning Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan chose to credit his defense rather than point to Chicago mistakes as the determining factor in the outcome:
“Our defense, give them some credit. Our guys stepped up and made some plays when we needed them to.”
Top Ranked Florida Dismantles Troy State
The 2009 college football season is already two weeks old and so far its looked almost too easy for defending national champions Florida. That was expected last week, as they destroyed overmatched FCS opponent Charleston Southern 62-3, but it wasn’t much harder today against a better class of opposition. QB Tim Tebow threw for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth as the Gators demolished Troy State 56-6. The Gators led only 7-3 at the end of the first quarter before scoring seven unanswered touchdowns. Florida is now 2-0 on the season, while Troy dropped to 0-2. The Gators have outscored their first two opponents by an outlandish aggregate score of 118-9.
Despite a generous head start from the pointspread, Troy State lost against the money as well. Florida covered as -37 home favorites”their third straight ATS cover as a favorite of 31 or more. The Gators also won and covered the last time the two teams met, cashing tickets for college football betting enthusiasts as a -26 favorite in 2007. The 65 points scored just barely made it OVER the generous total of 61.
Football Flashback: Defense Is The Key As #1 Florida Beats Tennessee
Tennessee put up a gutty effort against #1 ranked Florida in The Swamp, but ultimately the Gators defense were too much for the Vols. Florida held Tennessee to 210 yards of total offense en route to a 23-13 SEC victory on Saturday and in the process won their school record 13th consecutive game. The Vols fell to 2-7 all time when playing a #1 ranked team. Florida has now beaten Tennessee in five straight, and has won 10 of the last 12 meetings at home.
Sports gamblers who took the points with UT in their bet on college football were smiling at the end, as Florida never really threatened to cover as -29 home favorites. Despite the ATS setback, Floridas pointspread records remain outstanding–they’re 20-7 ATS overall in the past three years, as well as 13-4 ATS in SEC games and 10-3 ATS at home. The 36 points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 52. It was only Florida’s 4th UNDER verdict in their last 14 home games, while Tennessee has now gone UNDER in 14 of their last 18 Southeast Conference contests.
Florida Defense Shuts Down LSU In SEC Battle
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow shook off the effects of a concussion suffered against Kentucky two weeks ago and returned to lead the #1 ranked Gators to a hard fought 13-3 victory over #4 ranked LSU. Tebow got a good deal of help from a nasty Florida defense, and the largest crowd in LSU history (93,129) left disappointed as the Bayou Bengals offense was almost completely shut down.
College football betting enthusiasts who backed Florida as a -9 road favorite weren’t able to breathe easy until the final whistle, but eventually enjoyed a payday with the narrowest of pointspread covers. The Gators improved their ATS record over the past three years to a glossy 22-7 and they’ve covered 8 of their last 9 on the road. The combined 16 points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 45.
After the game, Tebow explained that he tried to play without fear:
“I tried to play smart. I told him, I said, when we were talking to Coach [Urban] Meyer, I said, ‘I’m not going to go out there and play tentative or scared. That’s not me.’ I did try to play smart but I wasn’t scared or timid at all.”
NY Giants Open NFL Season With Win Over Washington
The New York Giants jumped out to a 17-0 lead against their NFC East rivals from Washington, and were never threatened as they went on to beat the Redskins by a final score of 23-17. Defensive stalwart Osi Umenyiora returned from a serious knee injury and scored a touchdown on a fumble return, while the Giants offense controlled the ball well and completely dominated the time of possession. The Giants held a lopsided edge of 36:08 to 23:52 in that department, which helped them overcome a couple of turnovers. Eli Manning played well, throwing for 259 yards and a touchdown to counteract one interception.
NFL sports betting enthusiasts who took the Redskins as +5 road underdogs were likely not heartened by the near miss on a backdoor cover. The Redskins scored a touchdown with 1:30 left to get within a ” point of the spread but the Giants still got the cover by the slimmest of margins. The Skins dropped to 13-17 ATS over the past three years with the setback, while New York improved their pointspread mark to an impressive 27-11 against the number. NFL totals players also witnessed a late game change of fortune due to the Skins touchdown, with the 7 points pushing the point total OVER the posted 37. New York evened their O/U record at 19-19 over the past three seasons, while Washington made a dent in their lopsided UNDER biased record. The Skins have gone UNDER in 21 of their last 33 lined contests.
Florida State Comes From Behind To Upend North Carolina
Florida State won their first ACC college football game of the year on Thursday, though it certainly wasn’t easy. The Seminoles were down 24-6 midway through the third quarter before mounting a furious comeback to defeat North Carolina 30-27. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder threw for a career high 395 with three touchdowns and no interceptions to pace his team. The Seminoles improved their overall record to 3-4 while North Carolina dropped to 4-3.
College football betting enthusiasts who overlooked the Seminoles dismal record against the spread were rewarded by Florida State’s outright win as +2′ road underdogs. FSU covered for only the second time this season, upping their record against the college football pointspread to 2-5. The Tar Heels haven’t been a very good investment either, and the loss left their ATS tally at 2-4. The 57 points scored went OVER the posted total of 48′ for the Seminoles fifth OVER in six lined games. North Carolina played OVER for only the second time this season against three UNDER verdicts.
With the uncharacteristically slow start by Florida State, there has been a good deal of speculation that the venerable coach should step away from the program. He expressed some relief in his postgame comments:
Ravens Use Big Fourth Quarter To Put Away Chiefs
The bad news for the Baltimore Ravens in their 2009 NFL regular season opener was that their vaunted defense gave up 24 points despite holding a decided advantage in every other statistical category. The good news was that their offense was more than up to the task, answering with 38 points and a franchise record 501 yards. All told, the Ravens opened their season on a winning note beating the Kansas City Chiefs 38-24. Quarterback Joe Flacco threw for a career high 307 yards in the victory.
NFL sports betting devotees who took the +13 points with the Chiefs as a road underdog were hard luck losers as the Ravens managed to cover the pointspread by a single point. The win evened Baltimore’s ATS record over the past three seasons at 18-18, while the Chiefs fell to 14-19 in the same timeframe. The 62 combined points scored easily exceeded the posted total of 37. Despite Baltimore’s reputation as a defensive powerhouse they’ve shown a decided bias to the OVER in recent years, with 22 OVER verdicts in their last 35 games.
Afterwards, Joe Flacco was clearly elated at being given the opportunity to throw the ball more:
Buffalo Uses Offense To Run Past Tampa Bay
It wasn’t a game for the ages by the Buffalo Bills, as they blew much of a 17 point lead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still, they did what they had to do and put some offense on the board en route to a 33-20 National Football League victory. The Bills shot out to a 17-0 first quarter lead before Tampa Bay answered with 14 of their own in the second quarter.
NFL sports betting enthusiasts who took the Bills as -4 home favorites cashed their tickets with the pointspread cover. Despite a 1-1 straight up record, Buffalo improved to 2-0 against the spread. Tampa Bay has lost both of their 2009 NFL games straight up and against the number for a 0-2 mark in both categories. The combined 53 points put on the scoreboard went OVER the posted total of 41.
Terrell Owens capped the game with a long touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Trent Edwards expressed his excitement and seeing T.O show some of his ability to be a deep threat for the team:
I was excited and he was excited. I don’t really recall what was said, but I’m honestly hoping that that continues to happen. I think that’s why we have him.”
College Football Flashback: #3 USC Outlasts Ohio State
While not a vintage performance by their lofty standards, the University of Southern California Trojans overcame a number of mistakes to make big plays when they counted to prevail in a come from behind victory over Ohio State. Stafon Johnson capped a late game drive by scoring the game winning touchdown with just over a minute remaining as the Trojans won by a final score of 18-15. It was the first time the Trojans held the lead since early in the first quarter.
Ohio State did cash tickets for college football bettors, however, covering the spread as a +7 home underdog. USC won and covered last year, but the pointspread setback this year dropped the Trojans to a still impressive 13-5 ATS against the Big Ten conference since 1992. It was also only the second non-cover by a USC team in a non conference game in their last ten opportunities. The 33 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 45. Last years game also failed to exceed the total, and USC continued a strong UNDER tendency of late”the Trojans have now gone UNDER in 19 of their L27 lined games.