Who Dat? Super Bowl champs! Saints rally to beat Colts
Football Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Who Dat? Those are the Super Bowl champions - the New Orleans Saints - for the first time in the history of a franchise and city that has witnessed its share of tough times.
Drew Brees connected with Jeremy Shockey for the go-ahead two-yard touchdown pass with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter, lifting the Saints to a 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
Tracy Porter then sealed the fate of the Colts, picking off four-time MVP Peyton Manning and returning the ball 74 yards for a touchdown with 3:12 left, thwarting Indianapolis' chance for a second title in four years.
A team that went through several years of seeing fans hold paper bags over their heads due to losing seasons, the Saints finally rewarded the Crescent City with a championship. It was more than a healing process, it was the feel-good story building over a period of several years since the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The Saints rallied from a 10-0 deficit behind a sparkling performance from Brees, who tied a Super Bowl record with 32 completions, going 32-of-39 for 288 yards and a pair of scores. The Saints outscored the Colts, 15-0, in the last quarter.
Manning finished 31-of-45 for 333 yards with a TD and the costly interception.
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joseph Addai's four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter has helped the Colts grab a tenuous 17-16 lead over New Orleans heading into the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV. Drew Brees has lit a fire for the Sa
<< Colts use goal-line stand, lead Saints at halftime
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Super Bowl XLIV has been a tale of two very
different quarters, but Indianapolis, vying for a second title in four years,
has managed to hold a 10-6 lead at halftime on the New Orleans Saints.
The Colts used a Pe
<< Stanford thumps USC
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kayla Pedersen had 18 points and 14 rebounds
as second-ranked Stanford crushed USC, 77-39.
Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Jayne Appel added 15 points
and 13 rebounds while Rosalyn Gold-Onwude
<< Colts take early lead in Super Bowl
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning capped a 96-yard drive with a 19-
yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon, giving the Indianapolis Colts a 10-0
lead over New Orleans after one quarter of Super Bowl XLIV.
The Colts are off to a great
<< Stricker hangs on to win at Riviera
Pacific Palisades, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After entering the final round with a
six-stroke lead, Steve Stricker managed a one-under 70 Sunday to win the
Northern Trust Open by two strokes.
Stricker, who had led by seven late in the t
Santiago, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci defeated Argentina's Juan Monaco to win the $450,000 Movistar Open tennis event on Sunday. The third-seeded Bellucci downed the second-seeded Monaco 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 in just over two
Line of Scrimmage: Saints' Night, Manning's Nightmare >>
Miami Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raise your umbrella and your Hurricane
glass to the New Orleans Saints, who are Super Bowl XLIV champions because
they were flat-out better than the Colts in an incredible, exhilarating upset
victory that ca
Brees brings home MVP to the Big Easy >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a city that has struggled in both the world of
sports and in day-to-day life, Drew Brees has brought a smile to the faces of
the New Orleans residents.
The party will be rocking for the next few days in the B
Missed opportunities cost Colts >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning was one quarter away from
capturing his second Super Bowl title in four years, but the four-time league
MVP didn't get enough support from his teammates, and in the end a costly
interce
Magic, Hornets collide in Orlando >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic hope to carry the momentum from their big
win at Boston into tonight's home tilt versus the New Orleans Hornets at Amway
Arena.
Orlando posted a 96-89 triumph over the Celtics on Sunday at TD Garden, as
Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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