NFL football
Falcons Throttle 49ers
It’s obvious that the San Francisco 49ers are heading in the right direction under Mike Singletary, but you couldn’t tell by watching their game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The Falcons scored six touchdowns against the Niners, with running back Michael Turner accounting for three of the scores as Atlanta routed San Francisco by a lopsided 45-10 final score. It was the Niners’ worst defeat since a 41-0 loss back in 2006 under former coach Mike Nolan. San Francisco fell to 3-2 with the defeat while the Falcons improved to 3-1.
The NFL betting lines had the game listed as a ‘PICK’, giving the Falcons the ATS win with their easy straight up victory. It was the 49ers first loss against the spread this season, while Atlanta upped their record to 3-1 to the money. The combined 55 points went OVER the posted total of 39′.
After the game, the fiery Singletary apologized for cussing out former 49er and current Falcons’ lineman Harvey Dahl:
Colts Look Sharp In NFL Preseason Win Over Eagles
The Indianapolis Colts offense was in high gear on Thursday night as Peyton Manning threw two TD passes in three series of action, leaving backup Curtis Painter with a 14-0 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles before exiting the game. The Colts went on to win 23-15 in NFL preseason action.
Manning was in good spirits as he discussed the Colts’ offense after this game:
“I think everybody wanted to be in there. The entire offense felt hungry after last week. Sure, there were some mistakes we can learn from, but there were some good things we can learn from.”
“I don’t think anybody offensively was really happy with what happened last week. It started with me and the entire offensive starting unit. Overall I thought everybody came back and did a better job tonight.”
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell was also happy with the performance:
“They [the starters] had a couple of real good solid drives in there, performing pretty well. We were pleased with what we saw.”
Eagles coach Andy Reid, meanwhile, had little good to say about his team’s effort which wasn’t surprising after a performance with little intensity or focus:
Houston Beats Kansas City In Rainy NFL Preseason Contest
It was the sort of sloppy NFL preseason game that made the coaches more interested in escaping with as few injuries as possible than with winning or evaluating talent. In a driving rainstorm at Arrowhead Stadium the Houston Texans outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs to take a 16-10 NFL exhibition victory. It was the first game of the NFL preseason for both teams, and they were more or less happy to emerge unscathed from the deluge though Houston did suffer a potentially significant injury to their backup QB.
Texans coach Gary Kubiak summed up the teams attitude toward playing in such awful weather conditions:
“It was a very sloppy night weather-wise and whoever plays the best defense and whoever doesn’t put it on the ground usually finds a way to win in this league. I was glad we did, but we paid a price. We have some guys banged up and that usually happens when you get out there in a mess like that.”
The biggest name to suffer an injury was Houston backup QB Rex Grossman. Kubiak gave an early assessment of his condition:
Chiefs End NFL Preseason Winless After Loss To Rams
The Kansas City Chiefs have had an awful preseason, primarily due to their inability to put points on the board. This liability cost offensive coordinator Chan Gailey his job earlier in the week, but in the first game with head coach Todd Haley calling the plays it was more of the same as the Chiefs couldn’t find the end zone. St. Louis scored an offensive touchdown late in the first half and used a third quarter interception return for a score to beat Kansas City 17-9. The Chiefs finished the NFL preseason with a winless 0-4 record, while St. Louis posted a 3-1 mark.
NFL preseason betting aficionados who took a flier on the Rams were rewarded by their outright victory in the pickem game. Kansas City also finished 0-4 against the spread, while St. Louis finished 3-1 to the number.
The only offense that the Chiefs were able to generate came off the foot of placekicker Ryan Succop who converted three field goals. Despite his teams continued offensive struggles, Haley tried to put a positive spin on the situation:
Saints Top Vikings To Advance To Superbowl
Until Sunday, it looked as if the return of Brett Favre to the NFL would have a storybook ending and propel the Minnesota Vikings to the Superbowl. Instead, the New Orleans Saints will be heading to the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history. Garrett Hartley nailed a 40 yard field goal in overtime to give the Saints a 31-28 victory in the NFC Championship game after Brett Favre was intercepted deep in Saints territory during the final seconds of regulation.
The Vikings did reward NFL betting fans who took them as +4 underdogs with a pointspread cover. Minnesota finished the season a solid 11-6-1 against the NFL pointspread while the Saints head into the Superbowl with a 9-9 ATS mark. The 59 combined points scored went OVER the posted total of 53′. The Saints went OVER for the second consecutive game after playing four straight UNDER verdicts to close out the regular season.
After the game, head coach Sean Payton drew an analogy to the city of New Orleans’ recovery after Hurricane Katrina:
“This is for everybody in this city. This stadium used to have holes in it and used to be wet. It’s not wet anymore. This is for the city of New Orleans.”