Action Jackson: Rams top Redskins in OT
Football Betting Lines
12/24/2006 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Jackson ran 21 yards to the end zone with 8:27 left in overtime, as the St. Louis Rams kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 37-31 victory over the Washington Redskins.
After both teams had punted, Marc Bulger hooked up with Torry Holt for five yards, Jackson carried twice for five yards, and Stephen Davis had an eight- yard run. Jackson then broke free down the middle for the 21-yard game-winning touchdown.
Bulger completed 25-of-38 passes for 388 yards and four touchdowns for the Rams (7-8), who won their second straight. Isaac Bruce had a season-high 148 receiving yards and now has 13,310 receiving yards to pass Andre Reed (13,198) for seventh all-time. Jackson rushed for 150 yards on 33 carries, and also had six receptions for 102 yards, passing Marshall Faulk (87) for the franchise record for receptions by a running back in a single season with 88.
Jason Campbell completed 13-of-26 passes for 160 yards and a score for the Redskins (5-10), who are one of the few NFL teams that have been officially eliminated from postseason contention. Ladell Betts rushed for 129 yards on 29 carries with two scores, and tied Rob Goode (1951) for most consecutive games with at least 100 yards rushing in franchise history. This was his fifth straight game at the century mark, and first 1,000-yard rushing season. Chris Cooley caught seven passes for 77 yards and a score.
After a pair of false starts, the Rams had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins to take a three-point lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
After Washington punted, Jackson fumbled and Lemar Marshall recovered for the Redskins, who tied the score at 31 with a 52-yard Shaun Suisham field goal.
After St. Louis had punted, Betts broke free downfield but Oshiomogho Atogwe punched the ball loose and the Rams recovered it at the two-minute mark. Out of the shotgun, Bulger then found Kevin Curtis for 18 yards, Holt for 14 yards, and Jackson for 24 yards to set up a 41-yard field-goal Wilkins attempt that hooked left, as the game went into overtime.
Washington got on the board on its first drive courtesy of T.J. Duckett, who rushed for 11 yards and then scored from five yards out for an early 7-0 lead with 6:41 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Rams responded right away in the second quarter. Bruce got his 80th career reception on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Bulger to cap an eight-play, 85-yard drive. Dominique Byrd then notched his first NFL reception on a 27- yard touchdown pass from Bulger with 9:49 remaining.
Washington capitalized on a blocked punt by Vernon Fox, as Betts needed just two plays to score from eight yards out for a 14-14 tie with 6:14 left. Cooley then caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Campbell with 21 seconds left for a 21-14 Skins lead at halftime.
Betts kept it going in the second half, scoring on a seven-yard run with 8:49 remaining to cap an 11-play, 72-yard drive.
St. Louis answered when Jackson broke free for a 64-yard touchdown pass to cap a five-play, 82-yard drive with 6:30 remaining. Davis then caught his first touchdown pass as a Ram on a 10-yard shuffle pass to tie the score, 28-28, with 1:49 left in the third.
Game Notes
Washington cornerback Shawn Springs broke a shoulder blade in the first quarter...Bulger, Jackson and wide receiver Torry Holt were selected to the 2006 NFC Pro Bowl roster earlier this week...The Redskins hold a 20-7-1 lead in their all-time series with the Rams, but had a three-game winning streak snapped...Washington was a 24-9 road winner when the teams last matched up, in Week 13 of last season. The Rams' previous win in the series was a 23-20 road victory in 1997, and their most recent home victory against Washington came by a 10-6 count for the then-Los Angeles Rams in 1993...The Rams are 1-4 against the Redskins in St. Louis all-time. Washington had a seven-game winning streak in the city of St. Louis snapped since last losing there, to the Cardinals, in 1984.
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robbie Gould kicked four field goals, including three in the final quarter, as the Chicago Bears rallied for a 26-21 win over the Detroit Lions. Rex Grossman completed 20-of-36 passes for 197 yards and was in
<< Saints move closer to bye with win over Giants
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reggie Bush rushed for a career-high
126 yards with a score, as New Orleans moved one step closer to a first-round
bye after a 30-7 win over the fading New York Giants.
Bush recorded the first 100-y
<< Ravens stop Steelers, vault into No. 2 seed in AFC
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve McNair threw three touchdowns as
Baltimore moved in to the second seed in the AFC with a 31-7 shellacking
of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.
McNair went 21-of-31 with 256 yards a
<< Young leads streaking Titans past Bills
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Vince Young threw for 183 yards and
two touchdowns, and also ran for 61 yards and a score, as Tennessee edged
Buffalo, 30-29, to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.
Young, who completed 13-of-20
<< New England clinches AFC East with win over Jacksonville
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Brady threw for 249 yards and a
touchdown as New England edged Jacksonville, 24-21, to win its fourth
consecutive AFC East title at Alltel Stadium.
Brady completed 28-of-39 passes for t
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Vikings informed veteran wide receiver Marcus Robinson that he will be released. According to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Robinson received a call from Vikings VP of p
Leinart sprains shoulder >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt
Leinart sprained his left shoulder in the first half against the San Francisco
49ers on Sunday.
Leinart got sacked by Roderick Green just under the two-minute mark of th
Bengals botch PAT as Broncos slip away victorious >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Broncos improved their playoff chances with
a lot of luck Sunday, as the Bengals botched an extra point attempt with 41
seconds remaining, giving Denver a 24-23 win at a snowy Invesco Field.
Carson Palm
Cards KO 49ers; Leinart injures shoulder >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Leinart completed 9-of-13 passes for
162 yards and a score before spraining his left shoulder just before halftime,
as the Arizona Cardinals went on to top San Francisco, 26-20, and knock the
49ers o
Chargers rally for win, but Seahawks clinch division >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philip Rivers did it again, rebounding from a
horrid start to lead the Chargers to a comeback victory, 20-17, over Seattle.
Despite the defeat, the Seahawks clinched their third straight NFC West title
by vi
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.