Classic Poker

NY Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez struggled early, though recovered to throw a TD before he left the game for the night. Despite the score, the Baltimore Ravens held on to defeat the Jets 24-23. The Jets scored a touchdown with :22 seconds remaining and could have tied the game, but as is the norm during NFL preseason went for two points and the win. Baltimore improved to 2-0 on the NFL preseason while the Jets dropped to 0-2.

Sanchez was hit by Ray Lewis on his first drive and threw a bad pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. After the game, he spoke of the play:

“Not obviously the way you want to start. I thought I was doing the right thing; I felt Ray come free on the right side from the protection. I was checking it down to the flat, perfect. Haloti just jumped right in front of the ball and made a really athletic play.”

Ravens defensive leader Ray Lewis talked about the young QBs inexperience:

“You put a young guy like Sanchez in there and you see our defense, it can be difficult. You saw his eyes get big, and he was jumping around in the pocket. Bottom line: We gave a lot of looks and disguises and we confused him a little bit.”

Sanchez agreed:

“Oh, they were flying. They were flying around. You practice for it and you see it on film. These guys were doing it. You’re trying to keep one eye on Ed Reed and one eye on Ray Lewis and a D-lineman gets you.”

Jets head coach Rex Ryan talked about his QB’s play after the game:

“I’m proud of the way he responded. It ain’t going to be perfect; sometimes you have these type of nights. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and most of that goes to their defense.”

The Jets will get the NFL regular season underway on Sunday, September 13th as they travel to Houston to play the Texans. The Ravens will host the Kansas City Chiefs.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly 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 interior secretary James Watt.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been playing the Cleveland Browns for longer than any other team in the National Football League, dating back to’50. And while it hasn’t been quite that long since the Cleveland Browns won a game against the Steelers it may be starting to feel like it. On Sunday, Pittsburgh won for the twelfth straight time dating back to 2003 as they topped Cleveland by a final score of 27-13.

The good news for NFL betting enthusiasts who took the +13′ with the Browns as a road underdog is that they managed to cover the pointspread by the slimmest of possible margins. Betting against the defending Superbowl champion is a long standing handicapping concept, and this season at least its worked like a charm-the Steelers have only covered one of their first six games. Cleveland, meanwhile, evened their NFL pointspread record at 3-3 on the season. The Browns have covered three straight after dropping their first three both straight up and against the spread. The 40 combined points went OVER the posted total of 37′. Pittsburgh has now gone OVER in four straight after starting the season with two UNDERs while the Browns evened their NFL totals mark at 3-3.

Pittsburgh dominated the game in virtually every statistical category. They amassed 28 first downs to 12 for Cleveland, held a 543 to’7 total yardage advantage and a 36:46 to 23:14 time of possession advantage. Both teams turned the ball over four times, and the Steelers led only 17-14 in the third quarter. Most of the post game talk from both sides was about a controversial spot in the first half where the Steelers were given a first down on a short yardage play when it appeared that they didn’t make the required yardage.

After the contest, Derek Anderson spoke of the frustration of continually coming up short against the Steelers. The Browns have only one once in ten games since Pittsburgh moved into their new home at Heinz Field:

“We’re not trying to lose every time we go out here. We put tons of hours in and … it’s frustrating. Every single week, it’s frustrating.”

Steelers’ tight end Heath Miller said the team is happy to be where they are at this point despite not playing up to their standards:

“I think we haven’t played our best ball yet and that’s pretty comforting. We’ve gotten a few wins here without playing our best.”

The Steelers will host Brett Favre and the 6-0 Minnesota Vikings next Sunday. The Steelers are a -4 home favorite with the total set at 45. After a bye week, the Steelers will hit the road to play another undefeated team as they take on the Denver Broncos on Monday, November 9. Cleveland will host the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, with the Browns a +7 home underdog and the total set at 42′.

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 betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Jake Delhomme is having a season he’d like to forget, and things got even worse on Sunday at home against the Buffalo Bills. Despite dominating the Bills on the stat sheet, Delhomme threw three interceptions that allowed Buffalo to take a 20-9 victory over the struggling Panthers. Delhomme threw for 325 yards, though without any touchdowns. His three picks pushed his total for the year to- which leads the NFL. The Panthers dropped to 2-4 while the Bills improved to 3-4.

Buffalo rewarded NFL pointspread players with the outright victory as +7 road underdogs. The Bills have covered four of their seven games this season, while the Panthers have an awful record against the spread-they’ve only covered once this season for a 1-5 ATS mark. The 29 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 37. Buffalo has gone UNDER in 4 of 7 games this season while Carolina evened their NFL totals mark at 3-3.

The Bills’ Terrell Owens was again a non-factor, but gave credit to the defense for earning the victory:

“You can’t really complain about a win. Defensively, those guys are keeping us in ballgames.”

Buffalo defensive end Chris Kelsay commended his team’s victory on the road:

“Never once on the sidelines was there any doubt that we were going to win the game. Regardless if it’s an ugly win over not, it’s hard to win in this league.”

Ryan Fitzpatrick started at QB for Buffalo in place of the injured Trent Edwards and was solid, if not spectacular. Coach Dick Jauron observed:

“He made the plays when we had to make them.”

Panthers’ coach John Fox has said he’s going to’re-evaluate’ whether the struggling Delhomme should continue to start, and even the quarterback himself couldn’t make an emphatic case that he should keep his job:

“In my heart, yeah, but I mean let’s be honest, I don’t think I’m a dummy. When you’re not playing well offensively, you always have to look at the quarterback.”

The Panthers’ schedule doesn’t get easier this week as they head west for a game against the improving Arizona Cardinals. Carolina is a +9 road underdog with the total set at 43′. They’ll head south the following week to face the red hot New Orleans Saints. Buffalo will host the Houston Texans this weekend, with the game currently off the board due to injuries on both teams.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal 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 Kansas City Chiefs have had an awful preseason, primarily due to their inability to put points on the board. St. Louis scored an offensive touchdown late in the first half and used a third quarter interception return for a score to beat Kansas City 17-9. The Chiefs finished the NFL preseason with a winless 0-4 record, while St. Louis posted a 3-1 mark.

NFL preseason betting aficionados who took a flyer on the Rams were rewarded by their outright victory in the pickem game. Kansas City also finished 0-4 against the spread, while St. Louis finished 3-1 to the number.

The only offense that the Chiefs were able to generate came off the foot of former University of South Carolina placekicker Ryan Succop who converted three field goals. Despite his teams continued offensive struggles, Haley tried to put a positive spin on his playcalling debut:

“I made a few mistakes out there but overall it felt good. Obviously, there were a couple of plays I would like to have back. After I got the feel a little bit, I didn’t feel too out of sync with the game and what was going on. I thought our defense gave us a chance to win. Running the football is something we can feel good about.”

The Chiefs moved the ball well, generating 406 yards of total offense but had trouble converting in the red zone. They also turned the ball over three times, the most costly a third quarter interception thrown by reserve QB Tyler Thigpen and returned for a touchdown. Afterwards, the Rams Quincy Butler suggested that his team has a new mindset:

“Every time the ball’s in the air, we all think ‘It’s my ball. We all go and get it.”

The Rams have 12 takeaways in the 2009 preseason under new head coach Steve Spagnuolo after finishing with only 1 in the 2008 preseason. Spagnuolo was generally pleased with his teams effort in the victory:

“It was good to get those guys back in the swing. Now we’ve just got to get Marc (Bulger) cranked up.”

Bulger has missed most of the preseason with a broken pinkie but is expected to start in the Rams regular season opener. Spagnuolo wasnt too concerned about all of the yardage his team gave up:

“The silver lining is the defense held them and got them to kick a field goal. So there’s some good and bad always.”

St. Louis will head to the Pacific Northwest next Sunday as they open their regular season against the Seattle Seahawks. The Chiefs will also open the NFL 2009 campaign on the road, heading to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. The Rams will remain on the road for week #2, playing at Washington while the Chiefs will host the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published 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 interior secretary James Watt.

Tom Brady returned to NFL action and looked good in limited playing time as the New England Patriots opened their preseason schedule with a 27-25 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Brady played into the second quarter, moving well and showing no lingering effects of his knee surgery.

The Patriots also rewarded their NFL preseason financial backers by winning outright as a +2 road underdog. The combined 52 points scored shattered the posted total of 32 for an easy OVER–with the Pats and Eagles putting 27 points on the board in the first half, the total had almost been surpassed by the halftime break.

Bradys solid play was no doubt a heartening sight to Patriots fans, though he had little to say after the game on the specifics on his performance:

“I need the work, we all need the work. You can’t duplicate this on the practice field.”

Instead, Brady focused on the less tangible aspects of life in the NFL:

“There’s no place I’d rather be. This is the place where I probably have the most fun and enjoy it the most. Preseason game doesn’t have quite the feel of a regular-season game, but to be out there on the field with my teammates and celebrate after a win, and the bus ride home … those are the things you probably enjoy the most.”

Tight end Chris Baker was more candid in discussing Bradys comeback effort:

“I thought he was sharp. He went out there and moved us up and down the field and put some points on the board.

New England took a 21-6 lead into the locker room at halftime, but would have to hold on for the victory after Philadelphia responded with a 16 point third quarter. The third period onslaught allowed the Eagles to hold a significant edge in most offensive categories including total yardage and time of possession. They had a shot to win the game late, but David Akers missed a 43 yard field goal with just under a minute remaining.

Brady, the two time Superbowl MVP, is expected to get a significant amount of playing time in exhibition games this year as he tries to regain his regular season form after missing the entire 2008 regular season due to a knee injury.

Next up for New England in preseason action will be the Cincinnati Bengals, who come to town on Thursday, August 20th. Philadelphia will play at Indianapolis against the Colts on the same night.

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 an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.