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11/18/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a four-game lead in the NFC West after Sunday's 26-20 victory over Seattle -- the club that has won the last four division titles -- the Arizona Cardinals appear a lock to win their first division crown since claiming the NFC East in 1975.
The Cardinals only hurdle left is beating teams in their former division.
Arizona is a perfect 4-0 this year versus its fellow NFC West opponents, including a sweep of its three road games versus San Francisco, St. Louis and Seattle, respectively. In those four contests, the Cards are averaging 28 points per game.
That has put the club in position to clinch the division as early as this weekend, as a victory by Arizona, a loss by the 49ers, and a tie or loss by the Seahawks would give the Cards the crown.
"I feel strongly about us continuing with our preparation and the way we are playing, and hopefully, when we get into the playoffs, that will continue no matter if we clinch early," head coach Ken Whisenhunt told Arizona's official site on Monday. "Hopefully we are fighting for a higher seed, which is what you always want to do, but it is a good problem to have."
That is all fine and good against a division that can be currently considered one of the worst in the NFL. But if the Cardinals are too make some noise in the postseason, they need to win some games outside of it as well.
With six games left to play, Arizona faces a stiff challenge over the next two weeks. It hosts the 9-1 New York Giants this Sunday before traveling to Philadelphia on a short week to battle the 5-4-1 Eagles in a Thanksgiving Day nightcap.
Though they have been competitive, the Cardinals have still stumbled a bit against all things east. They are 1-1 against the NFC East this year, having posted a big home win over Dallas but also losing a seven-point test versus Washington. Arizona is also 0-3 on the East Coast this year, having lost the aforementioned game in Washington in addition to tests in New York (56-35 loss to Jets) and Carolina (27-23).
So the next two weeks will go a long way if Arizona is to prove it is for real. At 7-3, the Cards are two wins shy of their first winning season since going 9-7 in 1998, also the last time they made the playoffs.
However, with quarterback Kurt Warner (395 passing yards versus Seattle, his franchise-record fourth straight 300-yard passing game) having an MVP-caliber season, and wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald (10 catches for 151 yards against Seattle) and Anquan Boldin (13 receptions for 186 yards) having monster campaigns, the NFC East better not take the Cardinals too lightly.
UP NEXT: Arizona hosts the Giants, a team that beat the Cardinals in New York when the teams last faced each other in 2005. Overall, the Giants have beaten the Cards in five of the last seven meetings between the clubs.
49ERS: NOT CONTENT WITH SOLID WIN
When the San Francisco 49ers walked off the field after Sunday's 35-16 victory over the St. Louis Rams, you would have thought they were walking towards what was sure to be a happy locker room.
After all, the 49ers' first half featured 35 points -- the most the club had put up through two quarters since a franchise-record 42 versus Atlanta in 1992 -- and quarterback Shaun Hill's quarterback rating heading into the break was a perfect 158.3 after two touchdown passes and a 12-for-14 throwing effort.
Add in 67 rushing yards and a pair of scores by Frank Gore in the first half, and you are looking at a complete effort, right?
Unless of course, your head coach is Mike Singletary.
"I thought we did a decent job in the first half," said Singletary. "We talked about coming out and starting fast, executing, doing the things we need to do in order to win the game. So we were very excited about what happened in the first half. We came in at halftime and we talked about going out and finishing what we started in that first half."
Finishing is the key word there. Though the Niners easily won the game, they didn't score in the second half while allowing 13 Rams points. In addition to the lack of offense, San Francisco's defense allowed St. Louis to rack up 203 yards in the second half and 406 total for the game.
"Finishing means that we don't walk off the field," said San Francisco's head coach. "We jog off the field. Finishing means that however we started the game, we need to end the game stronger than we started. That's finishing."
It doesn't sound like Singletary particularly enjoyed his first win as an NFL head coach. However, after getting a few things off his chest, the Hall of Fame former linebacker admitted he was humbled by the win, adding his team deserved it more than he did for how hard they have been working.
Singletary should also be happy that his decision to go with Hill for a second straight week over J.T. O'Sullivan paid off. Hill became the first 49ers starting quarterback to post a perfect passer rating in the first half in team history. Hall of Famer Steve Young held the previous best number for the club in the first half at 156.5.
Hill, though, shared his head coach's assessment that his team was far from perfect.
"The funny thing about that rating is it might say that somebody is perfect, but I promise you there were some mistakes in there about myself," he said after making just his fourth career start. "So, I wasn't perfect."
San Francisco isn't coming off like a team that won just its third game of the season by snapping a six-game losing streak. However, it does sound like one that is ready to finish the year strong.
UP NEXT: The 49ers will hit the road for two straight, starting with this Sunday's test against the Cowboys. San Francisco has won three of its last five over Dallas, including a 31-27 victory that last time the clubs met in Texas in 2002. The Cowboys posted a 34-31 victory in San Francisco when the teams last met in 2005.
RAMS: FALLING BEHIND PACE
Another game and another loss for the Rams. Oh, we are not talking about St. Louis' 35-16 setback to the San Francisco 49ers, but rather another injury to offensive lineman Orlando Pace.
Pace left Sunday's loss late in the first quarter due to a grade 2 MCL sprain in his knee. The ailment will sideline the seven-time Pro Bowl tackle for two- to-four weeks. However, head coach Jim Haslett hasn't ruled out his big tackle landing on injured reserve.
"That is something that we will have to discuss, but right now he is two-to- four (weeks) so I am going to talk to Orlando and see what he thinks," Haslett said on Monday.
It is no secret that the Rams' 2007 miseries began right in Week 1, when Pace suffered a right shoulder injury that cost him the season. Since being selected first overall in the 1997 draft, Pace has missed time due to calf and hamstring injuries in 2002, a torn lift triceps in 2006 and last year's shoulder ailment.
Without Pace last year, the Rams averaged under 100 rushing yards per game (95.4). However, even though he had played in eight of St. Louis' nine games this season before last weekend's loss, the club was averaging just 92.6 yards per week on the ground.
Then came Sunday's loss to San Francisco. Even without Pace for most of the game, as well as guard Richie Incognito due to a strained rotator cuff suffered early in the contest, the Rams posted 126 rushing yards on 23 carries, getting 95 yards from Antonio Pittman.
Still, it is likely St. Louis was missing its big boys in the red zone, as it came away with only 10 points inside the 49ers' 20-yard line.
"I thought that we moved the ball on offense fairly well, but once you get (in the red zone) you can't kick field goals, and we have to start scoring touchdowns," said Haslett.
Running back Steven Jackson missed his second straight game due to a lingering thigh injury and is out again this weekend. In fact, with the Rams just 2-8 on the season, don't be surprised if banged-up players like Jackson and Pace get shut down for the season.
UP NEXT: The Rams, losers of four straight, return home for two consecutive games and host Chicago this Sunday. The Rams lost to the Bears in St. Louis in 2006 to snap a four-game series winning streak.
SEAHAWKS: HASSELBECK, BRANCH RETURN DOESN'T PROVIDE SPARK
The Seattle Seahawks had both quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and wide receiver Deion Branch back on the field for Sunday's contest against Arizona. Their returns did not translate into a win, though, as Seattle dropped a 26-20 contest to the Cardinals to fall to 2-8 on the season.
Hasselbeck's rust was apparent. Returning from a back ailment that caused him to miss the previous five games, the 33-year-old threw for 170 yards with a touchdown pass, but was also intercepted three times. He had thrown for only 53 yards on 7-of-11 passing in the first half.
Heading into Sunday's showdown with Arizona, the Seahawks ranked 31st in the NFL with an average of 144.7 passing yards per game, a number they did eclipse in the loss. However, much of that came in the second half with Arizona already ahead.
Hasselbeck also took some hard hits in the loss, including one by Arizona safety Adrian Wilson, who has already been fined once this season. Hasselbeck said after Sunday's game that he thought the Cardinals might have some more fines coming their way after the game.
However, he felt differently on Monday.
"They (the Cardinals) played hard, they played physical, but they played within the rules and with class," the Seattle quarterback told the Tacoma News Tribune on Monday. "I regret saying that; in fact I hope nobody gets fined."
Branch also returned after missing the last five games due to a heel ailment. In all, it was just his second contest he played in this season, after offseason knee surgery kept him out of the campaign's first three games as well. Branch, the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX while with New England, made four catches for 54 yards.
One season after throwing for nearly 4,000 passing yards while connecting on a career-high 28 touchdown passes, Hasselbeck is out to prove he can still play in the NFL. Both his back and his 2008 numbers might suggest otherwise. In five games this year, the three-time Pro Bowl selection has just a 55.0 quarterback rating to go along with 826 passing yards, three touchdown throws and seven interceptions.
Branch, meanwhile, has yet to make a name for himself in Seattle. Though he played in 14 games in 2006 with the Seahawks following his trade from New England, the 29-year-old missed four games in 2007 due to a foot injury before also sitting out that season's finale because of a calf issue.
With little on the line for 2008, both can work on returning to form for the rest of the campaign in preparation for making a run in 2009.
UP NEXT: The Seahawks play the second of two straight at home, as they host the Washington Redskins this Sunday. Seattle has lost its last four regular- season games against Washington, including a road test in overtime in 2005. The teams haven't met in the Emerald City since 2002 in regular-season play, but Seattle did hand the Redskins a 35-14 loss in last January's NFC Wild Card Playoffs.
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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