boracka-vgd

The Dallas Cowboys received a solid effort from QB Tony Romo in his first action of the NFL preseason, but ultimately went down in defeat to the host Oakland Raiders by a 31-10 final score.

Theres been a lot of concern about the need to develop more long yardage passing threats after the depar’ture of Terrell Owens. After the game, he brushed aside this talk:

“I don’t think it means anything. If one guy caught six straight balls and then we scored, that’s fine, too. It’s just about whatever the defense allows us on that specific play.”

Receiver Roy Williams sounded his vote of confidence concerning the Cowboys offense:

“If we execute like that, any team is going to have trouble. But we’re going to have our adversity and have our hard times where we can’t get open or the quarterback gets sacked or a bad throw. But tonight it all fell into place.”

Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell didnt have a particularly productive outing, but Oakland coach Bruce Cable still gave him props for a good effort:  Read more...

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. The Browns improved their NFL preseason record to 2-1 with the victory, while Tennessee dropped to 2-2.

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. Cleveland is now 2-1 O/U in the preseason, having gone OVER in two straight games. Tennessee has gone OVER in all four of their NFL preseason contests.

At least locally in Cleveland, the battle for the starting quarterback job was the big storyline of the game. After the game Browns coach Eric Mangini 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.”  Read more...

After an erratic start to the 2009 NFL regular season, the New England Patriots have finally found some balance to their offense. Tom Brady had carried all of the weight in the Pats first two regular season games due to their one dimensional offense, but on Sunday he received some long overdue help from running back Fred Taylor who ran for 105 yards. As a result, the Patriots dominated the time of possession battle holding onto the ball for nearly 40 minutes en route to a 26-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams are now 2-1 on the season.

NFL betting enthusiasts who backed the Patriots as -4 home favorites cashed their tickets with the 16 point victory. It was New England’s first ATS triumph of the season, while Atlanta lost to the money for the first time in the 2009 campaign. The 36 combined points scored went UNDER the total of 45.

Running back Taylor talked about the importance of a balanced offense in his postgame interview:

“You want to be balanced going into games, but some situations don’t allow for it. You want to establish that momentum and look over across the ball and see the frustration in the defensive guys’ eyes.”  Read more...

Its been a rough NFL preseason for last years Superbowl runner up. The Arizona Cardinals have only scored one touchdown in two games as they’ve stumbled to a 0-2 record. On Saturday night the visiting San Diego Chargers added to their offensive woes en route to a 17-6 victory. The Chargers evened their record at 1-1, while the Cards slumped to 0-2.

The Chargers cornerbacks performed admirably against Arizona, and Antonio Cromartie said scoring defense has been a focus for the team during the preseason:

“That’s one of our biggest focuses. Do whatever you’ve got to to keep them out of the end zone. We did that.”

Despite the teams struggles Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt wasn’t particularly concerned:

“I’m disappointed that we haven’t had more touchdowns, obviously but I will say this, we haven’t game planned in the red zone. A lot of times when we game plan in the red zone we’re one of the best teams in the NFL, because we put our players in a position to best give them a chance to win.’

QB Warner sounded a similar tone:  Read more...

LaDanian Tomlinson is still not fully recovered from a sprained right ankle, and as a result hell miss his second consecutive NFL regular season game this Sunday as the Chargers host the Miami Dolphins. Tomlinson was hurt in the San Diego Chargers season opening victory over the Oakland Raiders and didn’t play last week.

After playing in eight consecutive regular season games last year, the superstar running back has missed three of the Chargers last four games. Most significant was last January, when a groin injury kept LT out of the Chargers AFC playoff loss to the eventual Superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

When asked about his injury, Tomlinson refused comment:

“I don’t have a comment about it. It is what it is.”

Until his recent bouts with injury, Tomlinson had been one of the most durable running backs in the league. Prior to last season, the only start hed missed in his career was the season finale in 2004 when then-coach Marty Schottenheimer rested Tomlinson and other starters in advance of the NFL playoffs.

Chargers’ coach Norv Turner spoke about ‘LT’s’ injury:  Read more...

Until Sunday, it looked as if the return of Brett Favre to the NFL would have a storybook ending and propel the Minnesota Vikings to the Superbowl. Instead, the New Orleans Saints will be heading to the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history. Garrett Hartley nailed a 40 yard field goal in overtime to give the Saints a 31-28 victory in the NFC Championship game after Brett Favre was intercepted deep in Saints territory during the final seconds of regulation. Favre may be headed back to retirement, while the Saints are headed to Miami to play the biggest game of them all.

The Vikings did reward NFL betting fans who took them as +4 underdogs with a pointspread cover. Minnesota finished the season a solid 11-6-1 against the NFL pointspread. The 59 combined points scored went OVER the posted total of 53′. The Saints went OVER for the second consecutive game after playing four straight UNDER verdicts to close out the regular season.

After the game, head coach Sean Payton drew an analogy to the city of New Orleans’ recovery after Hurricane Katrina:  Read more...

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.

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.”  Read more...

It wasn’t a game for the ages by the Buffalo Bills, as they blew much of a 17 point lead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still, they did what they had to do and put some offense on the board en route to a 33-20 National Football League victory.

NFL sports betting enthusiasts who took the Bills as -4 home favorites cashed their tickets with the pointspread cover. Despite a 1-1 straight up record, Buffalo improved to 2-0 against the spread. Tampa Bay has lost both of their 2009 NFL games straight up and against the number for a 0-2 mark in both categories.

Terrell Owens capped the game with a long touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Trent Edwards expressed his excitement and seeing T.O show some of his ability to be a deep threat for the team:

I was excited and he was excited. I don’t really recall what was said, but I’m honestly hoping that that continues to happen. I think that’s why we have him.”

“We learned our lesson from last week and it’s a valuable lesson we’re going to need throughout the season. We have to finish games and that’s what we did today.”  Read more...

The Arizona Cardinals haven’t looked anything like a Superbowl team in the NFL preseason. They entered their final exhibition contest against the Denver Broncos looking for their first win. The Broncos controlled the contest on both sides of the ball en route to a 19-0 shutout victory over the struggling Cards. Denver managed to improve their preseason record to 1-3, while Arizona ended the exhibition campaign winless at 0-4.

Arizona was installed as -3 road favorites, but NFL preseason bettors who backed Denver ended up collecting the money with the outright win. The Broncos scored 16 of their 19 points in the first half, and the eventual outcome”straight up or against the spread”was never really in doubt after that.

Denvers biggest issue has been injuries, with their starting QB Kyle Orton and backup Chris Simms both out of action. Orton is suffering from a cut and dislocated finger on his throwing hand, while Simms is recovering from a sprained ankle. That provided a great opportunity for rookie Tom Brandstater, and he may find himself playing next Sunday for real. Brandstater finished with 187 yards on 16 of 30 passing with one interception, but moved the team well as the Broncos managed to avoid the dubious fate of the first winless preseason in nearly 50 years (1960). Afterwards, Broncos coach Josh McDaniels was full of praise for his young signal caller:  Read more...

It may only be preseason in the NFL, but the Atlanta Falcons are making a statement that they’ll be a factor in the NFC. The Falcons starters behind QB Matt Ryan were almost flawless, and left the reserves with a 14-0 lead before eventually beating the St. Louis Rams 20-13 at the Edward Jones Dome on Friday night.

Running back Michael Turner was unstoppable in his limited playing time, churning out 65 yards in the Falcons opening drive. After the game,he spoke of his team’s impressive offensive showing:

“We wanted to come out and execute. They were preaching that all week and we wanted to show that on game day. We’re way better than we were last year at this time.”

Quarterback Matt Ryan was 7 of 8 for 81 yards and a touchdown pass before he called it a night. Tony Gonzalez praised his signal caller in his postgame comments:

“He’s a great quarterback. It’s obvious he’s figuring things out. He has a great arm, talent, and knows how to play with poise.”

It was a disappointing home debut for new Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo, who tried to frame the loss as a learning experience:  Read more...