Ray carries Eskimos over Bombers; Lumsden hurts shoulder
Football Betting Lines
07/03/2009 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Ray went 29-for-41 passing for 318 yards and a touchdown, as the Edmonton Eskimos edged the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 19-17, in the teams' season-opener.
Edmonton took the win after Winnipeg kicker Alexis Serna missed a potential game-tying field goal of 56 yards in the final seconds, giving new Esks head coach Richie Hall his first victory.
Andrew Nowacki caught seven passes for 79 yards and a score for Edmonton (1-0), which finished last season with a 10-8 record and defeated Winnipeg in the division semifinals before falling to Montreal in the division final.
Calvin McCarty ran for 27 yards on 12 carries in the win, but the Esks' running back corps took a hit when Jesse Lumsden left with an apparent shoulder separation. Maurice Mann had five catches for 87 yards for Edmonton.
Fred Reid rushed 13 times for 92 yards and a score for the Bombers (0-1), who played their first game under new head coach Mike Kelly.
Stefan LeFors threw for 174 yards on 14-of-31 passing in the loss, while Adarius Bowman caught five passes for 56 yards for Winnipeg, which went 8-10 and finished second in the East Division last season.
The Eskimos went ahead, 19-9, on Noel Prefontaine's 19-yard field goal with a little under eight minutes to play in the game. Mann helped Edmonton get into scoring territory after catching a 44-yard bomb from Ray while falling down.
But the Bombers came back, and scored just past the midway point of the quarter. Reid took a handoff and dashed around the right end, shedding a tackler before going into the end zone for the 16-yard TD. Serna's extra point brought Winnipeg within 19-16.
The teams traded punts, and Edmonton got the ball back with 2:40 to go just into Winnipeg territory. But an unsuccessful series led to a punt, as the Bombers took over with two minutes left on their own 20.
LeFors led Winnipeg downfield, and completed a 13-yard pass to Bowman with under half a minute to play, getting the Bombers to the Edmonton 42. Another short pass to Bowman got the Bombers to the 35 before a penalty moved them back five yards.
An Edmonton timeout set up the final kick, but Serna's boot sailed wide left and went for a single, leaving Winnipeg short at the clock ran out.
After neither team scored in the first quarter, each got a safety in the second. The Esks went up 9-2 at intermission after Ray's 19-yard TD pass to Nowacki in the final minute of the half.
The Bombers, though, pulled even after Tristan Jackson fumbled on a punt return. Shawn Gallant picked up the loose ball and ran it back for the score a little more than halfway through the third quarter.
But the Esks re-took the lead after Ray's one-yard TD run later in the quarter, making it a 16-9 game.
Game Notes
Kai Ellis had two sacks for Edmonton, while Don Oramasionwu had one for Winnipeg...Ray had one interception for the Esks...The Bombers had 162 rushing yards, compared to only 33 for the Eskimos.
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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES
NFL Football Sports BettingTwo playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
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