Irony abound on Championship Sunday
Football Betting Lines
01/23/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers had been living off turnovers and stellar special teams play all throughout their tremendous 2011 season. Tom Brady had been bailing out a condemned New England Patriots defense time and time again over that same time frame.
Which makes it all the more harder to explain how the former's championship dreams died because of a pair of disastrous mistakes from the NFL's best "third phase" unit over the course of this campaign, or how Brady's maligned mates on the other side of the ball saved their star quarterback's bacon in the first of a strange and spellbinding two games that determined this year's Super Bowl contestants.
Then again, in a season where close contests and rousing comebacks have been anything but uncommon, such puzzling twists of fate probably shouldn't seem all that peculiar.
Still, to have Sunday's NFC Championship nail-biter between the 49ers and New York Giants decided on a second botched punt return by San Francisco's Kyle Williams was a bit weird, a circumstance almost as eerie as the similar sequence of events that unfolded to make Rex Ryan's worst nightmare come true -- a rematch between the Giants and Patriots for all the marbles on the grandest stage of them all four years after the teams put on one of the most dramatic Super Bowl shows ever.
While the lasting image from the Patriots' 23-20 outlasting of Baltimore in the AFC title match will be Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff's shocking shank of a chip- shot field goal in the final seconds that would have forced overtime, that moment of infamy wouldn't have taken place if not for the contrastingly clutch performance of a New England defense universally viewed to be along for the ride for the club's journey to the conference championship. A rag-tag mixture of castoffs, inexperienced unknowns and offensive defections had by far its finest three hours, continually rising to the occasion and keeping a game on the verge of slipping away in several spots within reach before Brady shook off a few uncharacteristic stumbles to engineer one of his trademark late comebacks.
Cundiff's unfortunate initiation into the dreaded fraternity made famous by Scott Norwood and Gary Anderson came about after a game-saving play by New England cornerback Sterling Moore, an undrafted rookie released back in mid- December before being promoted back off the practice squad just prior to the regular season's penultimate week. The green 21-year-old looked like an established veteran, however, in successfully jarring the football out of the unsteady hands of Ravens receiver Lee Evans in the closing seconds, preventing a would-be game-winning touchdown catch and redeeming himself for a costly miscue earlier in the afternoon, when the backup defender whiffed on a tackle that turned into a 29-yard score for Baltimore's Torrey Smith late in the third quarter.
Moore wasn't the only unlikely hero. Right after Smith's touchdown put the Ravens up by a 17-16 count, Baltimore recovered a Danny Woodhead fumble at New England's 28-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. But the defense stood its ground and forced a successful Cundiff field goal when safety James Ihedigbo (an ex- Jet, no less) buried Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco on a third-down blitz.
Baltimore was able to make the most of every break that came its away in last week's hard-earned 20-13 victory over Houston, converting three Texans' turnovers into 17 points. The Ravens induced three more on Sunday, including two interceptions of a surprisingly-shaky Brady, but came away with nothing more than a pair of Cundiff three-pointers off those errors. Four times Baltimore invaded the red zone, but only one of the trips resulted in a touchdown.
"They're the real MVP of this game, without a shadow of a doubt," Patriots guard Brian Waters said of the defense. "You look at how many bad situations they were put in today and they held their own. They create a turnover and we give it right back. We get a turnover on special teams and they hold [the Ravens] to three. They did an unbelievable job of creating pressure, but yet tackling guys."
While Moore, pressed into an increased role after starting cornerback Kyle Arrington sustained an eye injury in the second quarter (which in turn landed another unsung performer, reserve wide receiver Julian Edelman, as the team's primary nickel back), managed to atone for his previous mistake, Williams couldn't capitalize on his opportunity for restitution. The second-year receiver, handling punts with regular return man Ted Ginn Jr. unavailable due to a knee problem, set the Giants up in scoring position early in the fourth quarter by failing to get out of a way of a short kick and watching the opponent recover the loose ball. Less than three minutes later, New York quarterback Eli Manning connected with Mario Manningham for a 17-yard touchdown that loomed large in a game that ultimately went into overtime.
Williams' second fumble, stripped away by Giants' rookie linebacker Jacquian Williams deep in San Francisco territory after the Niners' sturdy defense created a quick three-and-out in the extra period, would be even more pronounced. Shortly after two hard Ahmad Bradshaw runs gave Big Blue a first down inside the 10-yard line, kicker Lawrence Tynes did what Cundiff couldn't and knocked home a 31-yard try for the deciding points in a 20-17 triumph that sparked its share of deja-vu visions from onlookers everywhere.
The kick was one of the two biggest in Tynes' life. The other came four years ago, also in the NFC Championship. On the road. In overtime. In rough weather conditions. Just after the Giants came up with a pivotal turnover. Against the conference's No. 2 seed. Just one week after they upset the No. 1 seed.
And of course, to bring about a showdown with the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Notice the symmetry here?
Now, the historical correlations between this upcoming matchup and the one that took place between these two tradition-rich foes in Arizona's University of Phoenix Stadium during February of 2008, when the underdog Giants pulled off a stunning 17-14 upset of the then 18-0 Pats in Super Bowl XLII, won't at all guarantee a duplicate outcome. But it certainly ensures that the onslaught of media that will be descending upon Indianapolis in the coming weeks won't be scraping for material to promote a game that had a few fascinating storylines already built in.
The idea of Manning attempting to win a second Super Bowl -- or one more than big brother Peyton -- in the city where his elder sibling carved out his legendary career is pure gold for writers and broadcasters, as is the underlying rivalry between the unflappable Giants quarterback and Brady that was unintentionally stoked when Manning confidently commented that he belonged in the same class as his two-time league MVP counterpart over the summer.
There's also a sentimental angle that adds to New England's revenge motive, with the Patriots having dedicated the season to beloved owner Robert Kraft's late wife Myra after she passed away from a long and courageous battle with cancer in July.
Or how about the connection between Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin, two of the game's premier head coaches and former co-members of the Giants' staff under Bill Parcells, who once roamed the sidelines of both franchises and is one of this year's finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with the class to be announced the night before the Super Bowl?
Bring on the hype.
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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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Online Sportsbook Football Betting
Why Sports Betting is so much fun?
Betting Sports
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Points (or Runs) Scored
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Future Bets
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)
Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:- What team will win the coin toss
- What player will score the game’s first touchdown
- What will be the exact margin of victory
Types of Bets
Straight Bet
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
Sports Betting Parlays
A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.
Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.
Round Robin Betting
Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.Betting Teasers
Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!
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