Montreal pulls away from Winnipeg; Calvillo leaves early
Football Betting Lines
08/19/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - S.J. Green scored touchdowns on two of his three receptions to lead the Montreal Alouettes to a 39-17 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at McGill Stadium.
Running back Brandon Whitaker, filling in for the injured Avon Cobourne, scored his first two career touchdowns for the Alouettes (6-2).
Fred Reid ran for 103 yards in defeat for Winnipeg (2-6), which has suffered four consecutive defeats.
After a couple of singles early in the game, Montreal pushed its lead to 9-0 on an outstanding defensive play. Ramon Guzman caused a Steven Jyles fumble, and Chip Cox picked up the loose ball and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown.
Montreal owned a total net yardage advantage of 128-45 after one quarter of action.
The Alouettes extended their lead 16-0 on the first play of the second quarter, as Green hauled in a 10-yard touchdown reception from Anthony Calvillo.
Just two minutes later, Calvillo and Green hooked up again, this time from 35 yards out, making the score 23-0. That touchdown was the sixth of the season for Montreal's standout receiver.
Montreal led 24-0 with just under five minutes remaining in the first half when Calvillo was slammed hard to the turf. After staying on the field for nearly five minutes, the veteran signal caller attempted to walk off on his own power. After a few steps, however, Calvillo went back down on the turf and was carted off with what appeared to be a rib injury.
Chris Leak, who had attempted only two passes this season for Montreal prior to Thursday's game, took over under center in Calvillo's absence.
Winnipeg finally got on the board with 50 seconds remaining in the first half, as Jyles threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Brock Ralph, making the score 24-7.
The first points of the second half were scored by the Blue Bombers, as Justin Palardy nailed a 45-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24-10.
Then, with just under two minutes left in the third quarter, things got especially interesting when Jovon Johnson returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown. The Blue Bombers trailed just 24-17 after that explosive special teams play.
Fortunately for the Alouettes, they were able to break the Winnipeg momentum early in the fourth quarter. Whitaker raced 19 yards for his first career touchdown, pushing Montreal's lead to 31-17. After a single, Whitaker added another rushing score, this time from 10 yards out, to bring the score to its final of 39-17.
Game Notes
Cobourne is suffering from a minor ankle injury...Alouettes' receiver Ben Cahoon extended his streak to 135 games with at least one reception, the third longest streak in CFL history...Calvillo was playing in his 218th game for the Alouettes, tied for the most in franchise history...These teams are scheduled to collide two more times during the regular season, including the next meeting on September 24 in Winnipeg.
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Lee's round-tripper made a loser of Pat Misch (0-2),
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rushed for 54 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries, as the Buffalo Bills beat
the Indianapolis Colts, 34-21, in a preseason game from the Rogers Centre in
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Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hideki Matsui slugged a three-run homer and
drove in four as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim snapped a nine-game losing
streak to Boston with a 7-2 victory in the finale of a three-game set at
Fenway P
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Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Sanchez dazzled on the mound with
eight-plus stellar innings to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 5-2 win over
the Philadelphia Phillies in the finale of a three-game series.
Sanchez (9-8) allo
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Brady completed 10-of-12 passes for 85 yards with a touchdown and the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 28-10, in an exhibition game at Georgia Dome. Fred Taylor rushed 11 time
Spiller, Evans help Bills outlast Colts >>
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rushed for 54 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries, as the Buffalo Bills beat
the Indianapolis Colts, 34-21, in a preseason game from the Rogers Centre in
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Raiders QB Frye headed to IR >>
Napa Valley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders are expected to place
quarterback Charlie Frye on injured reserve, forcing him to miss the entire
2010 season.
Frye underwent surgery on his right wrist on Wednesday and is expected
Indians overcome five errors to defeat Royals in KC >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Hafner's infield single drove home
the final run in a five-run eighth inning, as the Cleveland Indians overcame
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The
Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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