Winless Eskimos pay visit to undefeated Roughriders
Football Betting Lines
07/13/2010 -
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The highest scoring team in the CFL takes the
field at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders
attempt to move to a perfect 3-0 when they clash with the winless Edmonton
Eskimos in a Western Division showdown.
The Roughriders opened the 2010 regular season in style when they slipped by
Montreal in overtime, 54-51. Living up to the expectations after that
momentous victory might be difficult, yet Saskatchewan followed with a 37-18
triumph versus British Columbia on the road last Saturday, making it one of
only two teams to begin the season a perfect 2-0.
While the Roughriders defense knocked out BC starting quarterback Casey
Printers, the offense for the visitors produced a balanced attack that
generated 188 yards on the ground and 252 yards through the air. Quarterback
Darian Durant not only converted 18-of-29 passes and hit on a TD toss to
Prechae Rodriguez, he also gained 33 yards on four carries and scored once on
the ground, keeping the BC defense guessing.
Wes Cates posted a game-high 93 yards and scored once on 16 rushing attempts.
Kicker Luca Congi contributed with three field goals.
Brent Hawkins returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown late in the meeting
for the Roughriders, while the Lions continued to defeat themselves by being
flagged 16 times for a loss of 116 yards and had control of the ball for just
over 25 minutes.
As for the Eskimos, they started off well enough against the Montreal
Alouettes on Sunday night, but then saw their offense drop off and their
defense get exploited by Als quarterback Anthony Calvillo. Edmonton was able
to come up with 443 yards of total offense in the meeting and controlled the
ball for more than 36 minutes, but that just goes to show how little stats can
mean to the final outcome.
Quarterback Ricky Ray made good on 23-of-39 passes for 340 yards and a score,
but he was also sacked once and intercepted twice, one of which was returned
by Jerald Brown 40 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as part of the
Montreal comeback bid. Fred Stamps caught six balls for 119 yards and a TD,
while Kelly Campbell turned his nine receptions into a game-high 170 yards.
Running back Arkee Whitlock posted a game-high 99 rushing yards on 15
attempts.
If not for kicker Derek Schiavone, who knocked through five of his six field
goal attempts and added a single, the Eskimos would never have been in
contention in the first place. It was the first game of the season for
Schiavone, who was on the sidelines for the opener and watched as Noel
Prefontaine handled the kicking duties.
The success of the Eskimos comes down to the play of Ray under center. As
someone who threw for more than 10,000 yards and had 48 TDs through the air in
the two previous seasons, Ray's efforts help to open up the rest of the
offense for guys like Whitlock. However, Ray has seen just one of his 50
completions in the first two games this year reach the end zone. As someone
who showed an ability to break out of the pocket and pick up some meaningful
yards on the ground the last few years, leading to a total of 11 touchdowns,
Ray so far has been credited with just two rushing attempts and has already
fumbled the ball twice according to the stats.
Whitlock was huge for Edmonton in his first year when he averaged better than
six yards per carry and hit the end zone 12 times. He is off to a similar
start in 2010 with close to seven yards per attempt and has already carried
the ball 31 times in two games.
Durant is off to a fast start for the Roughriders this season, thanks in large
part to his effort against Montreal in the opener when he threw for a career-
high 478 yards and five touchdowns, on his way to being named the CFL
Offensive Player of the Week. His numbers dropped off considerably in week
two, yet the outcome was still the same for Saskatchewan. Durant, who threw 24
touchdowns a year ago but was also picked off 21 times, already has six TDs
this season and has yet to see one of his attempts head the other way and that
has his quarterback rating at a staggering 125.0 at the moment. The same goes
for Durant on the ground thus far, with him having averaged 9.4 yards per
attempt and made his way into the end zone twice, compared to just three
scores all of last season.
Perhaps Durant's burst in the rushing department will take some of the
pressure off Wes Cates who is already averaging better than seven yards per
carry and has a pair of TDs on the ground as well.
Last season, Edmonton took two of the three meetings between the clubs, but it
was the Roughriders who recorded a 23-20 win in the most recent contest in
late September. Nevertheless, the Eskimos still maintain a healthy 106-75-2
regular-season series advantage coming into 2010.
Even though the Eskimos have Ray to lean on, the team had far too many drives
stopped prematurely last week, and if Saskatchewan has anything to say about
it the same will happen again this time as well.
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LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP
With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.
There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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