11/30/2008 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Ryan tossed a pair of touchdown passes and Michael Turner ran for 120 yards against his old team as the surprise Atlanta Falcons gutted out a 22-16 victory over the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium.
Ryan was an efficient 17-of-23 passing for 207 yards and Turner was the workhorse with 31 carries as Atlanta (8-4) won for the fourth time in five games to keep pace in a stacked NFC South. Carolina and Tampa Bay both logged victories earlier Sunday to move to 9-3.
Turner spent his first four NFL seasons in the enormous shadow of LaDainian Tomlinson before leaving San Diego via free agency after the 2007 campaign. The powerful 26-year-old signed with the Falcons in March for a long-awaited opportunity to be a feature back, and has proven he can handle the important role.
Philip Rivers was a pedestrian 17-of-30 passing for 149 yards while Tomlinson continued his season-long struggles, but achieved some long-term success. He gained just 24 yards on 14 carries with a TD -- the 136th of his career -- tying him with Marshall Faulk for fifth on the all-time scoring list. Tomlinson also had five receptions for 42 yards, including the 500th of his career.
San Diego (4-8) enters the season's stretch run with its string of two consecutive AFC West championships in serious jeopardy after suffering its fifth loss in the last six games.
<< Villarreal, Valencia earn La Liga wins
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villarreal and Valencia earned wins on
Sunday in the Spanish La Liga to keep pace with table leaders Barcelona, who
have 32 points after 13 weeks.
Villarreal climbed to second place with 28 poi
<< No. 3 Louisville upended by Western Kentucky
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Slaughter scored a game-high 25 points
and had nine rebounds as Western Kentucky surprised third-ranked Louisville,
68-54, at the Sommet Center.
Slaughter finished 8-of-15 from the floor, whi
<< Denver WR Royal active vs. Jets
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Broncos wide receiver Eddie
Royal was active for the team's game against the Jets after being limited in
the week's practice with a toe injury.
He was listed as questionable on the injur
<< Line of Scrimmage: Burress' Night Out Plan Backfires
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Remember when the New York Giants had
little problems?
You know, like Michael Strahan not showing up to training camp, or Tiki Barber
talking about how Tom Coughlin got outcoached?
Those now seem like e
Kiffin to be introduced as coach of Vols >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Tennessee has called a
press conference for 2 p.m. (et) Monday during which former Oakland Raiders
bench boss Lane Kiffin will be introduced as the 21st head football coach in
school
Costly turnovers doom Pats as Steelers triumph >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Roethlisberger threw for 179 yards and two
touchdowns on 17-of-33 completions as Pittsburgh capitalized on key second-
half turnovers to crush New England, 33-10, at a rain-soaked Gillette Stadium.
Jeff
Chiefs snap skid by downing Raiders >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Larry Johnson rushed for 92 yards and a
touchdown, and Maurice Leggett returned a fumble 67-yards for another score as
the Kansas City Chiefs got by the Oakland Raiders, 20-13.
Tyler Thigpen completed
Cutler leads Broncos over Favre, Jets >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Cutler threw for 357 yards and a
touchdown, leading the Denver Broncos to an important 34-17 road victory over
the New York Jets.
Cutler completed 27-of-43 passes and threw an interception f
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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