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The New England Patriots looked nothing like a team that had gone undefeated at home all season, let alone one of the dominant teams of the past few years. The Baltimore Ravens took advantage of a weak New England rushing defense and some untimely mistakes by QB Tom Brady to lead 14-0 just five minutes. They would end the first quarter up 24-0 and would never be seriously threatened as they coasted to a 33-14 victory. Baltimore used 234 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns to force the Patriots to play from behind, and then let their defense do the rest.

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NFL football betting enthusiasts who took Baltimore as +3′ road underdogs were mentally counting their winnings before the end of the first quarter. The Patriots had dominated the head to head matchups with a 5-0 mark (4-1 ATS) and were undefeated at 8-0 (5-3 ATS) on their home field heading into this matchup.

The Ravens took advantage of three first quarter turnovers by Tom Brady to build their insurmountable lead. Ricky Rice ran for an 83 yard touchdown on the Ravens’ first place from scrimmage, but afterward refused to proclaim the New England era of dominance over for good:

“Their era is not over, they know how to win but for the Ravens, to beat the New England Patriots set a precedent. We’ll always remember this win. One thing we said as an offense is we want to start games fast. I wanted to be the guy today to start fast, whether it was a 5-yard run or an 83-yard run. I wanted to be the guy to say this will be a fast-tempo game. We want the other team to play catch-up to us.”

By the end of the first quarter, Brady and his teammates were hearing boos from the Gillette Stadium fans. For his part, Brady didn’t blame them for their displeasure:

“I’d have been booing us, too, the way we played. Playing the way we played today, we weren’t going to beat anybody.”

New England is done for the year, while Baltimore will head to Indianapolis to take on Peyton Manning and the Colts on Saturday night. Indy has won and covered three straight against the Ravens, though Baltimore gave them a tough fight at home this season before losing 17-15 as a +1 home underdog. The NFL pointspread for this game has the Colts installed as -6′ point home favorites with the total set at 45.

Ross Everett is a well known expert on sports handicapping and a popular freelance writer specializing in NFL football, auto racing, clogging and model railroading. He provides daily free sports picks to Internet and broadcast media outlets. He lives in Las Vegas with three dogs and a retired racing wombat.
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The Green Bay Packers entered the NFL playoffs as one of the league’s hottest teams, and mounted a 21 point second half comeback to force overtime against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Things looked good when Green Bay won the toss, but only moments later their season was over after an Aaron Rodgers fumble that Karlos Dansby returned 17 yards for the game winning score.

Arizona sent much of the NFL football betting public home unhappy as well with their 6 point outright victory. The Cardinals had opened as -2′ home favorites but public sentiment favoring Green Bay had moved the line so significantly that Arizona was a +2′ home underdog by kickoff. With the victory, the Cardinals improved to 5-4 both SU and against the NFL pointspread at home this season.

Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner improved his postseason record to 9-3 SU with one of the most impressive performances in league history. Warner finished with 379 yards passing and 5 touchdowns with no interceptions. Amazingly, Warner had more TD passes (5) than incomplete passes (4). After the game, he reflected on his performance:

“We knew how tough it was going to be on our defense with all the weapons they have offensively and how they’ve been playing. It was just one of those games where I felt great. I loved our playing. I felt like I was seeing everything well and it accumulates to 51 points.”

Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers might be remembered more for the game ending fumble than his own impressive performance, but he matched Warner play for play in what will certainly go down as one of the best quarterback duels in NFL playoff history. Rodgers finished with 422 yards and four touchdowns against one interception. Not surprisingly, the entire Packers’ team along with head coach Mike McCarthy took the loss hard:

“It’s clearly one of the toughest losses I’ve been a part of. I’m very proud of our football team and fight. This is a hard game to swallow.”

Quarterback Rodgers was in no mood to reflect on his excellent numbers, but was instead focused on reliving the decisive final play:

“I was trying to unload it. I should have held on to the ball. I was looking at the front side for Driv [Donald Driver]. It looked like he was getting grabbed a bit. Then I was looking for James [Jones] and they were driving in on him as he was running a little in cut, so I kind of pulled the ball back and someone hit my arm.”

Arizona will head to New Orleans to face the Saints at the Superdome next Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals are a +7 road underdog with the total set at 57. The two teams haven’t met since 2007, a game won by the Saints 31-24 on their home field.

Ross Everett is a respected freelance writer who covers travel, poker and NFL football handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and deep sea diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Brady Quinn outplayed Derek Anderson, giving himself an edge in the Cleveland Browns QB battle, and his team outplayed the Tennessee Titans earning a victory in NFL preseason action. Quinn threw a touchdown pass as Cleveland used a 17 point third quarter to beat Tennessee 23-17.

Browns backers who bet on NFL preseason action were pleased with the outcome, as Cleveland easily covered as a -1 home favorite. The Browns are now 2-1 against the spread in the NFL preseason, while the Titans dropped to 1-2-1 against the number. The 40 combined points just managed to make it OVER the posted total of 38.

At least locally in Cleveland, the battle for the starting quarterback job was the big storyline of the game. After the contest Browns coach Eric Mangini conceded that the battle was very close but declined to give any indication of which way he was leaning:

“I’ll look at the tape tomorrow, talk to the coaches and continue to evaluate it. When the decision is made, I’ll let everyone know.”

Both signal caller aspirants have posted similar stats, but Quinn has thrown the only touchdown pass of the preseason for the Browns and this may make the difference. After the game, Anderson expressed some degree of resignation:

“It’s out of my hands. Let the chips fall.”

Quinn, meanwhile, suggested that the decision made no difference in the way he approached the game:

“I expect to practice on Monday. Derek and I are mentally tough guys. If our coach wants us to go forever, I’m sure we can go forever.”

Wide receiver Braylon Edwards caught Quinns third quarter touchdown strike, but refused to take sides:

“That’s up to coach. Whatever decision he makes we’ll support. Right now, they both look good.”

Despite the loss, Titans coach Jeff Fisher commended the play of his starting QB Kerry Collins:

“Kerry spread the ball around quite a bit. We got some things accomplished that we didn’t see last week. I was pleased with the drives. We gave up a couple of plays, but I thought we handled the run with the starters”

Cleveland will conclude their 2009 NFL preseason schedule on Thursday night, traveling to Chicago for a game against the Bears. Tennessee will wrap up their exhibition slate on the same night as they welcome the Green Bay Packers to Music City USA. The Browns will get their regular season underway on Sunday, September 13th as they host the Minnesota Vikings. Tennessee will begin work a few days before that, traveling to Pittsburgh to face the Superbowl champion Steelers on Thursday, September 10th.

Ross Everett is a noted freelance writer specializing in sports betting, harness racing, clogging, fantasy role playing games and model railroading. He consults with a number of sports handicapping services and has made numerous TV and radio appearances. He lives in Southern California with his Asian houseboy, 3 dogs and a retired racing wombat

Despite the fact that neither their starting QB Carson Palmer nor his Indy counterpart Peyton Manning saw action, the Cincinnati Bengals will take their wins however and whenever they can get them. For that reason, they had to be heartened by their NFL preseason ending 38-7 home rout of the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals rushing game put 296 yards on the board and Cincinnati trounced Indianapolis in every significant offense statistical category.

The Bengals easily covered as a -3 home favorite, evening their NFL preseason record against the spread at 2-2. The Colts ATS mark also matched their SU record, dropping to 1-3 on the exhibition season. The combined 45 points went OVER the posted total of 36.

Peyton Mannings backup, Jim Sorgi, put up a solid performance in limited playing time after missing much of the preseason with a hamstring injury. Sorgi threw for 119 yards on 11 for 19 passing and a touchdown. After the game, he gave a generally upbeat assessment of his play:

“I thought it was pretty solid. I got a little winded out there but all in all, I thought I saw everything real good and got us into the right plays. The hamstring responded pretty well tonight.”

Colts coach Jim Caldwell concurred:

“He hasn’t had much playing time. I thought he found his way out there. He put a pretty good game together and showed some flashes of what he can do.”

Despite the game being a battle of reserve players, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was still happy with getting the win:

“You can’t control who you play against. It was good to let our guys break a sweat and get out there and go.”

Bengals starting QB Carson Palmer, who has sat out much of the preseason with an ankle sprain, said that hes anxious to get back in the game:

“It’s a tease. It’s just good to know that I’m that much closer. It’s a week away. I’m excited.”

Indianapolis will start their NFL regular season schedule on Sunday, September 13th as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium. Theyll head out on the road for their next contest, playing the Miami Dolphins in south Florida on Monday, September 21. The Bengals will host the Denver Broncos in their 2009 NFL season opener.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and noted authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Even when the games don’t count and the starters play little, if at all, the Baltimore Ravens hate to lose. Despite the Atlanta Falcons starting QB Matt Ryan playing only one series and with the Ravens third string signal caller John Beck playing the entire game it was apparent that Baltimore wanted the victory more. The former BYU standout threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdown passes as the Ravens easily beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-3 at the Georgia Dome.

Sports enthusiasts who bet on NFL preseason action were rewarded for their investment in the Ravens, as Baltimore won outright as +3 road underdogs. Baltimore also finished the NFL preseason with a perfect 4-0 mark against the spread, while Atlanta finished 2-1-1 against the number. The 23 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 35. It was the Ravens third UNDER in four preseason games, while the Falcons split their O/U results at 2-2.

Ravens QB Beck hasnt had much playing time in the NFL since his ill fated rookie year in Miami in 2007. After the game, he expressed how pleased he was to get the opportunity to showcase his skills for the entire game:

“He (coach John Harbaugh) told me a few days ago that I would play the whole game. It was very exciting to get to play the whole game.”

Beck made the most of his opportunity, finishing with 232 yards on 16 of 28 passing and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions. The Ravens defensive reserves did their part by holding the Falcons to just 175 yards of total offense.

Despite the lackluster effort by his team, Falcons coach Mike Smith was nonplussed:

“You’ve got to understand in these games, you’re going to call things defensively and offensively to put players in certain situations to evaluate them. You’re not game-planning in a game like this. You’re going to put players in certain situations to see how they handle certain techniques and coverages.”

Falcon cornerback Chris Houston was a little more concerned after a poor showing by the Atlanta defensive secondary:

“We’ve got to work on everybody getting to the ball. We’ve got to try to be more aggressive in our techniques. We made some plays tonight, but other than that, we still have a lot to work on as a defense.”

The Ravens will get the 2009 NFL regular season underway at home, hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, September 13th. The Falcons, meanwhile, will welcome the Miami Dolphins to the Georgia Dome to get their campaign started.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

It was the sort of sloppy NFL preseason game that made the coaches more interested in escaping with as few injuries as possible than with winning or evaluating talent. In a driving rainstorm at Arrowhead Stadium the Houston Texans outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs to take a 16-10 NFL exhibition victory. It was the first game of the NFL preseason for both teams, and they were more or less happy to emerge unscathed from the deluge though Houston did suffer a potentially significant injury to their backup QB.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak summed up the teams attitude toward playing in such awful weather conditions:

“It was a very sloppy night weather-wise and whoever plays the best defense and whoever doesn’t put it on the ground usually finds a way to win in this league. I was glad we did, but we paid a price. We have some guys banged up and that usually happens when you get out there in a mess like that.”

The biggest name to suffer an injury was Houston backup QB Rex Grossman. Kubiak gave an early assessment of his prognosis after the game:

“It looks like he has a pretty good hamstring. The first play when he went in he booted and said he felt his hamstring pull or pop, or whatever. So we’ll have to wait and see.”

Texans running back Ryan Moats had 52 yards on 10 carries, and was happy about just having some actual opposition:

“It felt good to finally hit somebody else for a change and not worry about hurting anybody else.”

Texans QB Matt Schaub was generally pleased with his performance under the circumstances:

“We ran the ball effectively down in the red zone and we were able to finish that drive 95 yards for a touchdown. That’s the way you want to finish off your day.”

Kansas Citys head coach Todd Haley made his NFL coaching debut, and spoke of the experience in his postgame comments:

“It’s your first game as head coach and I know it’s just preseason, but it was an exciting, exciting moment for me. If you tell me the first real one’s a win, I’ll take this loss any day of the week. It’s a special feeling when it’s your team and a lot of responsibility comes with that and I didn’t live up to my end of that. That’s the part that’s got to change.”

Houstons NFL preseason campaign continues on Saturday as they host the New Orleans Saints. Kansas City will play against the Vikings at Minnesota on Friday night. Houston will start the NFL regular season at home against the New York Jets on Sunday, September 13th while Kansas City will play the Ravens at Baltimore.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and noted authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Success in the NFL mandates that even when teams aren’t playing their best they need to find a way to win. After spotting the Bucs a 6-0 lead, Miami used a late first half field goal and scored the only touchdown of the second half to comeback for the 10-6 win. The victory improved Miamis preseason NFL record to a perfect 3-0 while Tampa Bay dropped to 1-2.

A starting QB battle in Tampa was the biggest storyline of the game and veteran Byron Leftwich appears to have gained the edge over Luke McCown. Bucs coach Raheem Morris gave little indication as to his preference in postgame comments:

“Obviously you want somebody to jump up and take it. We’ll find out when we go back, look at the tape and evaluate this thing.”

McCown had a rough night and after the game gave a verbose no comment on his status as starter:

“It’s not for me to say. … My part in it is preparing every day, being the best I can be and getting better from my mistakes. As long as I feel like I’m doing that, then I’m OK.”

Leftwich, meanwhile, was 9 of 17 for 100 yards and came up big on several third down completions. He had very little to say after the game:

“Hopefully, I’m the guy. I felt good. I missed a few, but I hit a few also. Luckily for me on the ones I missed, I made plays on the following play to get those first downs.”

Bucs running back Cadillac Williams returned to action after major knee surgery seven months ago. Hes been limited in the last three seasons due to injuries, but looked solid in picking up 54 yards on eight carries:

“The knee is not an issue to me. … I feel great. I’m just loving what I do.”

Dolphins QB Chad Pennington said that its hard to take much away from a strange game like this one:

“It was a very odd game for us, as far as the rain delay, a lot of stoppages of play and things like that We were able to come out get a score before halftime and get a score after the half. We’ll build on that. We’ll be critical of ourselves and make sure we don’t let a win overshadow what we need to do to get better.”

The Dolphins will conclude their NFL preseason play next Thursday against the Saints at New Orleans. Tampa Bay will host Houston next Friday in their final preseason contest. Miami will get the NFL regular season underway against the Atlanta Falcons at The Georgia Dome on Sunday, September 13. Tampa Bay will welcome the Dallas Cowboys to The Cigar City on the same day to kick off their 2009 campaign.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The good news for the Kansas City Chiefs as they prepare for the start of the NFL regular season is that their starting quarterback is back at practice. The bad news is that they still don’t know when hell be able to play. Matt Cassel returned to the Chiefs practice field on Monday for the first time since he injured his left knee in a NFL preseason game on August 29th. Still, there’s been no confirmation from either he or the team as to when hell return to action.

Cassel, who saw his stock shoot up precipitously as an NFL QB following his solid play in New England after starter Tom Brady went down to a season ending injury, signed a six year, $28 million contract with the Chiefs in the off season. Although Cassel participated in Monday’s practice albeit on a limited basis, head coach Todd Haley was noncommittal about whether he or Brodie Croyle would start Sundays NFL regular season opener on the road against the Baltimore Ravens:

“I think that as the week goes on, we’ll know a little bit more. We’ll know a little bit more with Matt for sure. But it was good that he was out there. He was able to get through some things. As the week goes on a little further, we’ll know a little more as far as where he’s at.”

“It’s good this is a long week. That will help with anybody who’s nicked up. I would say generally you would need to have a full practice to have a chance to play. Generally, you need to have a full Friday practice to have a chance.”

With or without Cassel, the Chiefs offense sputtered in the preseason scoring only two touchdowns. The lack of productivity cost offensive coordinator Chan Gailey his job and Kansas City stumbled to a 0-4 record in their NFL exhibition contests. Haley has taken over the offensive play calling for the time being, though it made no difference in the Chiefs final preseason game. Neither Croyle nor third stringer Tyler Thigpen was particularly sharp in preseason play, though Croyle got the most work and should get the nod on Sunday if Cassell is unable to play. To be fair, neither QB got much work with the Chiefs’ first team offense in the preseason either.

The Chiefs face a tough assignment as they get the 2009 NFL regular season underway, pitted against the defensive tenacity of the Baltimore Ravens on the road. The Chiefs will host the Oakland Raiders in week 2 of the NFL season before traveling to Philadelphia on September 27 for a game against the Eagles.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer who covers travel, casino gambling and NFL football handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, flower arranging and deep sea diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

The Dallas Cowboys used their running game to take a 10-3 halftime lead, but the San Francisco 49ers reserves made the most of their opportunity in the second half. San Francisco outscored Dallas 17-3 after the break to win the NFL preseason contest by a 20-13 final score.

San Francisco won outright as +6 road underdogs”oddly, it was their first pointspread cover of the NFL preseason despite their undefeated straight up record. Dallas ATS mark at 1-2 is identical to their straight up record.

Despite the setback, Dallas was excited about the play of their one-two combination at running back. Felix Jones and Marion Barber carried most of the load during the Cowboys 94 yard touchdown drive in the first half. After the game, Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett expressed his pleasure at the performance of his running back tandem:

“They’re a great combination. You don’t want to pigeonhole one as being this kind of back and the other guy being this kind of back. We just like to get them out there and let them play and they both have proven they can run both inside and outside and they can catch the ball, and they can block and do all those things. It’s just fun to see them get their opportunities.”

Dallas starting QB Tony Romo moved the team well, but missed a couple of scoring opportunities. He gave a reserved assessment of his offense after the game:

“We’re continuing to grow as an offense and I think there is a lot of room for improvement.

Despite the outright victory, Niners QB Shaun Hill knows his team still has a lot of work to do:

“I would have liked for it to have gone a bit smoother than it did. You can’t tell a whole lot right now. I just wish we could have put a few more points on the board. … There’s just certain plays out there that we need to make, but we didn’t. They were stopping those drives. Obviously, we have a lot of work yet to be done.

San Francisco will get the 2009 NFL regular season underway against the Arizona Cardinals at Tempe, Arizona on Sunday, September 13. The Cowboys will face the Tampa Bay Bucs on the road to begin their regular season docket.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, poker and NFL football handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

It’s obvious that the San Francisco 49ers are heading in the right direction under Mike Singletary, but you couldn’t tell by watching their game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The Falcons scored six touchdowns against the Niners, with running back Michael Turner accounting for three of the scores as Atlanta routed San Francisco by a lopsided 45-10 final score. It was the Niners’ worst defeat since a 41-0 loss back in 2006 under former coach Mike Nolan.

The NFL betting lines had the game listed as a ‘PICK’, giving the Falcons the ATS win with their easy straight up victory. It was the 49ers first loss against the spread this season, while Atlanta upped their record to 3-1 to the money. The combined 55 points went OVER the posted total of 39′.

After the game, the fiery Singletary apologized for a verbal altercation with former 49er and current Falcons’ lineman Harvey Dahl:

“I’ll put it this way: I wish I had more coaching etiquette. I don’t. I love my players and when someone responds about my players in a particular way, I may do some things I shouldn’t do. I have to get better at those things as time goes on. Even though the player was talking to me, I should not have said what I said. It wasn’t anything bad, it was just something that shouldn’t have happened.”

Roddy White set a Falcons’ record with 210 receiving yards, and was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on his second touchdown of the day. With his team in full control, Atlanta coach Mike Smith had to be amused:

“He didn’t hit the landing because if he hits the landing it’s not a 15-yard penalty. I told him if he’s going to do it, it needs to be Olga Korbut. And he looked at me like he doesn’t know who Olga Korbut is. Then I told him, ‘Well, maybe Mary Lou Retton.’ And then I figure that’s ‘86, he doesn’t know who Mary Lou Retton is. It went right over his head and my head.”

Smith admitted that he hadn’t been in top form so far this season:

“I felt like I haven’t been playing well up to this point in the season. Me and coach Smith had a talk. He was like, ‘You gotta get back to being yourself again. You gotta go out there and be the old Roddy. No pressure. Just go out there and play.’”

The Falcons will return home on Sunday to host the Chicago Bears, with Atlanta a -3 home favorite and the total set at 45′. They’ll play their next two on the road, traveling to Texas for a game against the Dallas Cowboys the following week and to New Orleans to face the Saints on Monday, November 2. The 49ers will have a bye this week before traveling to Houston to play the Texans on October 25.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on World Cup soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.