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Falcons Hold On To Beat Bears

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The Atlanta Falcons didn’t so much win their Sunday Night NFL Football game against the Chicago Bears as much as the Bears lost it. A series of costly mistakes and turnovers in the red zone negated an otherwise solid road effort for the Bears, as Atlanta held on to win 21-14 at the Georgia Dome. Chicago held a decisive edge in most of the statistical categories, but was undone by untimely turnovers.

Chicago also disappointed fans who bet on NFL football by failing to cover the pointspread as +4 road underdogs. Both teams’ ATS records match their straight up records with the Falcons moving to 4-1 against the number while the Bears slumped to 3-2. The 35 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 46.

Winning Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan chose to credit his defense rather than point to Chicago mistakes as the determining factor in the outcome:

“Our defense, give them some credit. Our guys stepped up and made some plays when we needed them to.”

The Bears did a good job shutting down Falcons’ star running back Michael Turner holding the NFL’s second leading rusher to only 30 yards. He came through with the game on the line, however, rushing for the winning touchdown with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Ryan praised his running back’s effort:

“Our offensive line did a great job just giving me just enough time to get the ball off, and then Michael Turner did what he does. The offensive line provided a great push and just paved his way.”

The Falcons are now 4-1 for only the fifth time in team history, the last coming in 2004. Despite their solid start, they’re still trying to keep pace with the red hot New Orleans Saints who improved to 5-0 with their win over the New York Giants earlier in the day. On this occasion, the Falcons’ Ryan was outplayed by the Bears Jay Cutler between the twenties but the Atlanta signal caller made all of the right moves in scoring range.

Atlanta can improve to 5-1 and break the mark for best start in franchise history with a win on the road at Dallas next Sunday. That’ll be followed by an even bigger road game, on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints-a contest full of all sorts of implications for the eventual divisional championship in the NFC South. They’ll return home the following Sunday to host the struggling Washington Redskins. The Bears will be back on the road next weekend to take on the Cincinnati Bengals before returning home for games the following two Sundays against the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer specializing in travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free 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.

Cowboys Slip Past Chiefs In OT

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The Dallas Cowboys entered Sundays game with the Kansas City Chiefs with a 2-2 record, and may have expected an easy afternoon. The winless Chiefs, however, hung around throughout the contest and forced overtime before a Tony Romo touchdown pass to Miles Austin secured the victory for Dallas by a final score of 26-20. Austin was the Cowboys offensive star, catching two touchdown passes as part of a 250 yard receiving day. Tony Romo played better than he has all year, finishing with two touchdown passes and 351 yards with no interceptions. The Cowboys improved to 3-2 with the victory, while the Chiefs remain winless at 0-5.

NFL betting enthusiasts who took Kansas City as +7 home underdogs enjoyed a profitable day as the Chiefs got the money for the first time in the 2009 season. Kansas City is now 1-4 against the spread, while Dallas dropped to 2-3 against the number. The 46 points went OVER the posted total of 43.

Austin started in place of Dallas superstar receiver Roy Williams, and definitely made the best of the opportunity. His 250 yards on 10 catches broke the franchise record held by Cowboys legend Bob Hayes, who had 246 yards receiving against the Washington Redskins in 1966. Austin could have had an even bigger day, had Tony Romo not overthrown him several times on wide open plays. Romo hasn’t looked sharp all season, but at least he didn’t serve up any interceptions in this game.

Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel had decent numbers in a losing cause, finishing with 253 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Still, the setback just added to the growing sense of futility in the Chiefs camp. Kansas City hasnt won a game in nearly a year (315 days) and is a horrible 2-28 in their past 30 games. There are signs of improvement under first year coach Todd Haley, but theyve yet to translate into victories.

Dallas will be off next weekend and will return to action on October 25th at home against the Atlanta Falcons. Theyll host the Seattle Seahawks at Cowboys Stadium the following weekend. The Chiefs will travel to Washington, DC next Sunday to take on the Redskins before returning home for a game the following week against the San Diego Chargers.

Ross Everett is a respected freelance writer specializing in travel, poker and sports 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 Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

New Orleans Pounds Oakland In NFL Preseason Play

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While its unwise to put too much importance on NFL preseason performances, its hard not to be impressed with the New Orleans Saints offense. In particular, its impossible to not be impressed with the play of starting QB Drew Brees. Brees played only three series against the Oakland Raiders on Saturday night, but that was enough–by the time he left the Saints led 21-0 en route to a 45-7 thrashing on their hosts. New Orleans improved to 3-0 on the NFL preseason, while the Raiders dropped to 1-2.

All Brees did in only three series was roll up 179 yards on 14 of 17 passing and three touchdowns. After the game, he was pleased with the performance of his offense:

“I just felt like we accomplished what we wanted to there with regards to playing with our tempo and our intensity. We were able to get into a rhythm. When you walk away with three touchdowns on three possessions, that’s what you want to do.”

Brees was aided by the return of last years leading receiver, Lance Moore. Moore had shoulder surgery in the offseason and was excited to be back on the field:

“I felt great. I felt like I hadn’t missed a lot. It was great being out there, getting hit and having fun in the game.”

Tight end Jeremy Shockey was pleased with the effort, and said that the team was in Northern California to play football and not due to oenophilia:

“It looked good on the scoreboard but let’s look at it in the film room. We came all the way to California not for the wine but to get some good work in.

In the Oakland locker room, the mood was somber. Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell was particularly shaken by the setback:

“Everything that could have possibly went wrong, went wrong today. It was very embarrassing today. It was disrespectful to our fans, ourselves and our family to go out and perform that way.”

The Saints scored almost at will against the Raiders porous defense, but tight end Zach Miller was more concerned with the lack of productivity from the offense:

“I’ve never felt so lousy after a game, period. The way our offense played was embarrassing so we’re going to fix it.”

The Raiders will look to conclude the NFL preseason with a better effort as they travel to the Pacific Northwest to play the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday. New Orleans will host the Miami Dolphins on the same night. Oakland will get the regular season underway on Monday night, September 14th against their hated rivals the San Diego Chargers. New Orleans will host the Detroit Lions the following day in their regular season opener.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer who covers travel, poker 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, fencing and deep sea diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Broncos Avoid Winless Preseason With Win Over Cards

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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. Denver, likewise, has struggled in their exhibition games and the result was a contest between two teams with identical 0-3 records. The Broncos controlled the contest on both sides of the ball en route to a 19-0 shutout victory over the struggling Cards.

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. The 19 points also went UNDER the posted total of 36.

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:

“For a rookie quarterback, and I’ve had a chance to coach a number of them, he’s really done a nice job. It’s not too big for him, the game’s not too big for him, the huddle’s not too big for him. He operated with that first unit pretty good.”

Despite the talk that he may be the Broncos starting QB”at least in the short term”Brandstater is keeping it all in perspective:

“Things happen — just last week alone with the Kyle injury. That’s a pretty freak accident that no one can predict at all. I’m glad I got my shot and hopefully I did some good with it. I’m trying to make this team. I still haven’t guaranteed myself a spot in this team and I’m trying to do everything I can to make it just like every guy on the team is.”

Arizona played starting Kurt Warner and their first string offense for several series, but they were again ineffective. Cards head coach Ken Whisenhunt tried to put a positive spin on a dismal preseason:

“We’ll clean it up. I still feel good about our football team and the way we’ve been working.

Kurt Warner, meanwhile, was just looking forward to starting the regular season:

“I never really felt like I got into a rhythm today for whatever reason. I’m looking forward to game-planning a team, putting in some plays and some things we’ve done in the past that we really haven’t done in preseason. I’m looking forward to all of that. But you still don’t leave preseason extremely excited about what we’ve accomplished.”

Arizona will try to put their dismal preseason behind them when they kick off the 2009 NFL campaign at home against the San Francisco 49ers as a -6′ point home favorite. Denver will play on the road against the Bengals at Cincinnati in their regular season opener, priced as a +4 road underdog.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer experienced in travel, casino gambling 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 Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Eli Manning Gets Longterm Deal From Giants

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The New York Giants have made quarterback Eli Manning the NFLs highest paid player by offering him a six year, $97.5 million contract extension. Manning will earn just over $15 million a year, and $35 million of the contract is guaranteed. Should Manning play through the end of his contract hell be a Giant until 2015, meaning there’s a decent chance hell play his entire career with the team.

Manning will earn roughly $200,000 per season more than Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha who agreed to a 3 year, $45 million contract earlier this summer. Hes also got the upper hand on his older brother, Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning who earns just over $14 million per season. Though the full term of his deal makes him the leagues highest paid player hell earn less this year than the Carolina Panthers Julius Peppers and the Cincinnati Bengals QB Carson Palmer, each of whom will pull down slightly more than $16 million.

While Manning and his agent have been tight lipped in the media about the deal, Giants GM Jerry Reese spoke in glowing terms of his teams $97.5 million investment:

“He is a franchise quarterback. He has done everything we asked him to do. He has come in, taken a lot of flak from you guys in the media and he just keeps going. He does what we ask him on the field and he does what we ask him to do off the field. He is a good football player.”

Reese also dismissed concern that the huge contract commitment would result in additional pressure on Manning:

“He is used to that. He won’t get more pressure than he already has in this market. He knows how to handle pressure and he has done it before. I don’t expect to see any difference in his attitude and his work ethic. He works hard. He expects a lot from himself. He knows what his role here is with us and we expect him to continue it for a long time.”

Manning definitely has a number of qualities that justify this level of investment. Hes produced on the field, leading the Giants to a Superbowl championship and four straight postseason appearances. He also became the first Giant QB in history to throw for 3,000 yards and 20+ touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Hes got solid leadership skills and is well liked and respect by not only his teammates but also by the notoriously tough New York media.

Manning will earn just over $9 million this season with the new deal beginning with the 2009-2010 season.

Ross Everett is a 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 energy secretary Donald Hodell.