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	<title>The Candle Information Blog &#187; NFL football</title>
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		<title>Atlanta Tops St. Louis In NFL Preseason Action</title>
		<link>http://www.candleblogger.com/atlanta-tops-st-louis-in-nfl-preseason-action/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Oct 2010 07:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ross Everett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sports & Recreation]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The Atlanta Falcons are making a statement that they'll be a factor in the NFC. The Falcons starters behind QB Matt Ryan were almost flawless, and left the reserves with a 14-0 lead before eventually beating the St. Louis Rams 20-13 at the Edward Jones Dome on Friday night.


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.candleblogger.com/kellen-moore-establishes-himself-as-the-heisman-frontrunner-in-week-1-of-college-football/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Kellen Moore Establishes Himself As The Heisman Frontrunner in Week 1 Of College Football'>Kellen Moore Establishes Himself As The Heisman Frontrunner in Week 1 Of College Football</a> <small>After the first week of the college football season Kellen...</small></li>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Atlanta Falcons are making a statement that they&#8217;ll be a factor in the NFC. The Falcons starters behind QB Matt Ryan were almost flawless, and left the reserves with a 14-0 lead before eventually beating the St. Louis Rams 20-13 at the Edward Jones Dome on Friday night.</p>
<p>Running back Michael Turner was unstoppable in his limited playing time, churning out 65 yards in the Falcons opening drive. After the game,he spoke of his team&#8217;s impressive offensive showing:</p>
<p>&#8220;We wanted to come out and execute. They were preaching that all week and we wanted to show that on game day. We&#8217;re way better than we were last year at this time.&#8221;</p>
<p>Quarterback Matt Ryan was 7 of 8 for 81 yards and a touchdown pass before he called it a night. Tony Gonzalez praised his signal caller in his postgame comments:</p>
<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a great quarterback. It&#8217;s obvious he&#8217;s figuring things out. He has a great arm, talent, and knows how to play with poise.&#8221;</p>
<p>It was a disappointing home debut for new Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo, who tried to frame the loss as a learning experience:</p>
<p>&#8220;Just like I said to the team, we&#8217;d have liked to have started out a little better. You&#8217;ve got to come out and take it to them.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rams safety O.J. Atogwe sounded a similar tone:</p>
<p>&#8220;This was a fabulous game for us. That&#8217;s the reason you play the preseason. Going against a team like Atlanta, a top-caliber team, it allows us to reassess what we&#8217;ve been doing.&#8221;</p>
<p>Falcons coach Mike Smith was most excited about the improved play of his rushing defense:</p>
<p>&#8220;We were much improved against the run. It&#8217;s something we have to continue to get better at. We still had some missteps.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Falcons will continue NFL preseason play next Friday night as they host the San Diego Chargers at the Georgia Dome. The Rams will play the Bengals at Cincinnati next Thursday night. Atlanta will get the NFL regular season underway on Sunday, September 13th as they host the Miami Dolphins while the Rams will head to the Pacific Northwest for a game against the Seahawks in Seattle.</p>
<p>Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on <a rel="nofollow" target='_blank' href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/football_betting/872/1">football betting</a>. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and <a rel="nofollow" target='_blank' href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/sportsbook_directory/872/2">sportsbook directory</a> sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.candleblogger.com/kellen-moore-establishes-himself-as-the-heisman-frontrunner-in-week-1-of-college-football/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Kellen Moore Establishes Himself As The Heisman Frontrunner in Week 1 Of College Football'>Kellen Moore Establishes Himself As The Heisman Frontrunner in Week 1 Of College Football</a> <small>After the first week of the college football season Kellen...</small></li>
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		<title>Atlanta Manhandles San Francisco In NFL Play</title>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Sep 2010 07:07:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ross Everett</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[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.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s obvious that the San Francisco 49ers are heading in the right direction under Mike Singletary, but you couldn&#8217;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&#8217; 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.</p>
<p>The NFL betting lines had the game listed as a &#8216;PICK&#8217;, 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.</p>
<p>After the game, the fiery Singletary apologized for cussing out former 49er and current Falcons&#8217; lineman Harvey Dahl:</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll put it this way: I wish I had more coaching etiquette. I don&#8217;t. I love my players and when someone responds about my players in a particular way, I may do some things I shouldn&#8217;t do. I have to get better at those things as time goes on. Even though the player was talking to me, I should not have said what I said. It wasn&#8217;t anything bad, it was just something that shouldn&#8217;t have happened.&#8221;</p>
<p>Roddy White set a Falcons&#8217; record with 210 receiving yards, and was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on his second touchdown of the day. With his team in full control, Atlanta coach Mike Smith had to be amused:</p>
<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t hit the landing because if he hits the landing it&#8217;s not a 15-yard penalty. I told him if he&#8217;s going to do it, it needs to be Olga Korbut. And he looked at me like he doesn&#8217;t know who Olga Korbut is. Then I told him, &#8216;Well, maybe Mary Lou Retton.&#8217; And then I figure that&#8217;s &#8217;86, he doesn&#8217;t know who Mary Lou Retton is. It went right over his head and my head.&#8221;</p>
<p>Smith admitted that he hadn&#8217;t been in top form so far this season:</p>
<p>&#8220;I felt like I haven&#8217;t been playing well up to this point in the season. Me and coach Smith had a talk. He was like, &#8216;You gotta get back to being yourself again. You gotta go out there and be the old Roddy. No pressure. Just go out there and play.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
<p>The Falcons will return home on Sunday to host the Chicago Bears, with Atlanta a -3 home favorite and the total set at 45&#8242;. They&#8217;ll play their next two on the road, traveling to Texas for a game against the Dallas Cowboys the following week and to New Orleans to face the Saints on Monday, November 2. The 49ers will have a bye this week before traveling to Houston to play the Texans on October 25.</p>
<p>Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on <a rel="nofollow" target='_blank' href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/baseball_betting/812/1">baseball betting</a>. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and <a rel="nofollow" target='_blank' href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/sportsbook_directory/812/2">sportsbook directory</a> sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.</p>


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		<title>NY Jets Rip Hapless Raiders</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:07:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ross Everett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sports & Recreation]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The New York Jets and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez found a sure fire cure to their recent struggles-a game against the lowly Oakland Raiders. Sanchez passed for--3 yards and a touchdown, plus added a rushing touchdown as New York thumped Oakland 38-0 in the largest regular season shutout win in franchise history. Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell continued to struggle, and he passed for just 61 yards with three interceptions before he was benched in favor of Bruce Gradowski.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The New York Jets and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez found a sure fire cure to their recent struggles-a game against the lowly Oakland Raiders. Sanchez passed for&#8211;3 yards and a touchdown, plus added a rushing touchdown as New York thumped Oakland 38-0 in the largest regular season shutout win in franchise history. Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell continued to struggle, and he passed for just 61 yards with three interceptions before he was benched in favor of Bruce Gradowski.</p>
<p>NFL football betting enthusiasts who took the Jets as -6 road favorites had smooth sailing throughout the game for an easy pointspread cover. The Jets improved to 4-3 against the spread while the Raiders fell to 3-5 against the number.</p>
<p>It was such an effortless game that the only thing that Sanchez had to apologize for was surreptitiously eating a hot dog near the end of the contest:</p>
<p>&#8220;I want to apologize for that. I wasn&#8217;t feeling very good and didn&#8217;t eat much before the game, so I was feeling a little queasy. Toward the end of the game, I probably should have eaten one of those bars or something, but someone offered a hot dog, so I grabbed it and tried to be discreet about it, but obviously not discreet enough. So I shouldn&#8217;t have done that, and it won&#8217;t happen again.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Jets capitalized on three early Raiders&#8217; turnovers and started two of their first three drives inside the five yardline. Sanchez praised the defense for making his job easy:</p>
<p>&#8220;It makes it so easy on the offense when your defense is playing like that. Hats off to them, they had a heck of a game to shut that team out. I don&#8217;t care who we&#8217;re playing, that&#8217;s a big-time accomplishment for our team.&#8221;</p>
<p>Jets&#8217; coach Rex Ryan was very pleased with Sanchez&#8217;s performance:</p>
<p>&#8220;Sanchez was great. He was just smart with the football. I think sometimes he could have put the ball on a receiver, but he was making sure the ball wasn&#8217;t intercepted. It was great to see him respond.&#8221;</p>
<p>Raiders&#8217; defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who boldly predicted the team would make the playoffs despite their slow start, was singing a different tune after the rout:</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we could have beaten an Oakland high school team today.&#8221;</p>
<p>Despite Russell&#8217;s struggles, Oakland coach Tom Cable remains committed to him as the team&#8217;s starter:</p>
<p>&#8220;I thought he was really out of sorts early in the game. I just did not feel like at that point he gave us the best chance to have the success we needed to have offensively and made the move. JaMarcus will continue to be our starter. There is no issue there.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Raiders will try to bounce back this weekend in a big rivalry game on the road against the San Diego Chargers. Oakland is +16&#8242; road underdogs with the total set at 42&#8242;. They&#8217;ll then enjoy a bye week before back to back home games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets host Miami this Sunday, with New York a -3&#8242; home favorite and the total set at 40&#8242;.</p>
<p>Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/odds_comparison/748/1">odds comparison</a>. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/sportsbook_directory/748/2">sportsbook directory</a> sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.</p>


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		<title>Rivers Shines As Chargers Beat Chiefs</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:57:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ross Everett</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[The San Diego Chargers bounced back nicely from their Monday Night Football loss to Denver last week, opening a 20-0 halftime lead before coasting to a 37-7 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Chargers' quarterback Phillip Rivers passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. Running back Ladanian Tomlinson ran for a season high 71 yards as San Diego evened their record at 3-3. The hapless Chiefs dropped to 1-6.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The San Diego Chargers bounced back nicely from their Monday Night Football loss to Denver last week, opening a 20-0 halftime lead before coasting to a 37-7 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Chargers&#8217; quarterback Phillip Rivers passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. Running back Ladanian Tomlinson ran for a season high 71 yards as San Diego evened their record at 3-3. The hapless Chiefs dropped to 1-6.</p>
<p>The Chargers easily covered the NFL pointspread as -6 road favorites. It was only the second pointspread cover of the year for San Diego, who moved their ATS record to 2-4. Kansas City dropped to 2-5 against the spread.</p>
<p>After the game, QB Rivers suggested that the loss to Denver was a turning point for his team:</p>
<p>&#8220;Last week, we felt like we made progress. We had the attitude we were looking for, focus, but we didn&#8217;t win. But we knew we got better.&#8221;</p>
<p>Tomlinson broke off one of his most impressive runs of the year on the Chargers first touchdown drive, a 31 yard pickup that he said lifted the team&#8217;s spirits and led to the easy victory:</p>
<p>&#8220;It kind of got us going. It was something we needed and it was a big play for us. It was a staple of our offense. It&#8217;s been around for years, old power. It was perfectly blocked and was just a great job of execution.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Chiefs continued to struggle on their home field, which at one point was considered one of the toughest venues in the league for visiting teams. Kansas City has now lost ten straight at Arrowhead Stadium, and 29 of their last 32 games. Chiefs&#8217; nose tackle Ron Edwards lamented this home field struggle:</p>
<p>&#8220;We want to win for the home fans, for us, for everyone out there watching,&#8221; nose tackle Ron Edwards said. &#8220;It&#8217;s real painful.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rivers pointed to the Chiefs&#8217; legacy of home field dominance in celebrating the win:</p>
<p>&#8220;Any time you come to Kansas City and win, it&#8217;s good. We talked about getting on a roll and you&#8217;ve got to win one first before you can. Hopefully, this is something we can build on.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Chargers return home to take on their hated rivals, the Oakland Raiders. Next Sunday&#8217;s game has San Diego listed as a -16&#8242; home favorite with the total set at 42&#8242;. They&#8217;ll travel to play the New York Giants the following week before returning home to face the Philadelphia Eagles on November 15. Kansas City will enjoy a bye week before returning to action on November 8 on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their next opportunity for a home victory will come on November 15 against the Oakland Raiders.</p>
<p>Ross Everett is a freelance writer and noted authority on sports betting <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/odds_comparison/619/1">odds comparison</a>. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/sportsbook_directory/619/2">sportsbook directory</a> sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.</p>


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		<title>NFL Preseason Handicapping: Pros And Cons</title>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:51:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ross Everett</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Among the sports betting public there's a lot of conflicting opinions about betting NFL preseason games. That's not really surprising, since there doesn't seem to be much middle ground on the subject. Overly cautious handicappers would argue that preseason football is a poor wagering opportunity. Some of the more obnoxious tout services would have you believe that short of a fixed game there is no greater "lock" that preseason football. Like most things that produce such polarized opinions, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Preseason NFL football is a unique proposition for the sports gambler, but when approached with caution, discipline and knowledge it can yield some profit.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Among the sports betting public there&#8217;s a lot of conflicting opinions about betting NFL preseason games. That&#8217;s not really surprising, since there doesn&#8217;t seem to be much middle ground on the subject. Overly cautious handicappers would argue that preseason football is a poor wagering opportunity. Some of the more obnoxious tout services would have you believe that short of a fixed game there is no greater &#8220;lock&#8221; that preseason football. Like most things that produce such polarized opinions, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Preseason NFL football is a unique proposition for the sports gambler, but when approached with caution, discipline and knowledge it can yield some profit.</p>
<p>First, let&#8217;s examine the case against preseason NFL wagering. Clearly the biggest argument against it is the simple fact that the games don&#8217;t count. Though spots will exist during regular season games when the motivation and preparation of individual teams may vary, in theory both teams want to win. That&#8217;s not always the case in preseason football, since different coaches have different goals. Some might want to just evaluate their personnel, others might want to establish a winning attitude, and all coaches want to keep their stars from getting injured. Factor in all of the variables and conflicting agendas, the preseason naysayer would argue, and there are just too many unknowns to consider taking a financial position on.</p>
<p>The proponent of preseason wagering would argue that this is the very reason that good opportunities frequently arise during preseason. First, additional value is frequently found with the underdog in preseason games by their very nature. To explain, in a hypothetical matchup between a Superbowl champion and an also-ran the &#8220;better&#8221; team by regular season standards would invariably be favored. However, by virtue of their success the &#8220;better&#8221; teams have not only more &#8216;marquee names&#8217; to protect, but also valued guys in the trenches who could cause big problems if injured. Frequently, they&#8217;ll have more depth and thus fewer personnel evaluation decisions to deal with. They&#8217;ll have no need to &#8220;create a winning attitude&#8221;, nor will they usually have wholesale changes in team composition, offensive or defensive strategy, or coaching philosophies to deal with. In short, the &#8220;better&#8221; teams often go into preseason situations with little to accomplish other than to get the games over with and stay healthy.</p>
<p>NFL &#8216;doormats&#8217;, meanwhile, have a markedly different agenda to their more successful counterparts. They&#8217;ve often got heated competition for starting positions or key back up roles. They&#8217;ve often got new coaching staffs that players want to impress. Most significantly, they&#8217;re in great need of establishing a winning attitude. A win against an elite team in a &#8216;meaningless&#8217; preseason game often has a much greater value to this type of team than to a playoff contender.</p>
<p>While some teams could care less about the result of preseason games, few want to enter the regular season having lost them all. In light of this fact, a successful preseason situation that has stood the test of time is to bet on teams that lost their first two exhibition games outright. This situation has produced a winning percentage right around 60%.</p>
<p>The philosophy of a NFL head coach is arguably the single most important factor contributing to preseason success. Some coaches always want to win, even if the games don&#8217;t count in the standings. Other coaches place a much greater importance on evaluating personnel and giving backups playing time they won&#8217;t have the opportunity to get during the regular season. The coaches that have a strong desire to win in the preseason often result in their team&#8217;s pointspreads being inflated somewhat, but a motivated team is always worth consideration for a wager.</p>
<p>One of the best tools that a handicapper has at his disposal during the preseason is the Internet. Actually, it&#8217;s a great tool year round but during the preseason it is invaluable. The best source of information on coaching philosophies, game plans, injuries, lineup changes, etc, are the local sports pages of NFL teams. Basically, the situation during preseason is that there is a lot of interest in the team and a lot of anxious beat writers looking to write stories. The problem is that there is little in the way of real news, and for that reason you&#8217;ll find the sort of minutiae on teams and players from which you can often extract relevant handicapping information. Even if there aren&#8217;t any nuggets of handicapping gold, you can at least get a feel for the coach&#8217;s goals for the game and the amount of playing time that key players will see. Sometimes coaches will come right out and say who will play at what juncture of the game, and will occasionally go on record that personnel decisions like evaluating all of the guys they&#8217;re considering for the backup defensive secondary jobs are more important than winning. Clearly, operating with this knowledge is a distinct advantage and operating without it can be fatal. There&#8217;s nothing more frustrating than betting on a team only to have them look like they could care less whether or not they win the game. During the preseason, however, it can frequently be prevented with some simple research and analysis.</p>
<p>In conclusion, there are certainly strong opportunities for profit in NFL preseason wagering but its essential to understand that it cannot be approached in the same manner as the regular season. And, as always, its important to remember that there will be more strong opportunities down the road and that discipline and rigor in handicapping is just as crucial in the preseason NFL as it is at any other time of the year.</p>
<p>Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer experienced in travel, casino gambling and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/sports_handicapping/597/1">sports handicapping</a>. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/free_sports_picks/597/2">free sports picks</a>. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.</p>


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		<title>Bengals Outlast Patriots In Defensive Struggle</title>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 19 May 2010 07:04:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ross Everett</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[When the biggest play of a NFL football game is an extra point, there's a good chance it was a dull contest. Such was the case in rainy Foxboro, Massachusetts as the Cincinnati Bengals edged the New England Patriots by a 7-6 score. The big play of the game? A point after touchdown by the Bengals backup kicker, none other than wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When the biggest play of a NFL football game is an extra point, there&#8217;s a good chance it was a dull contest. Such was the case in rainy Foxboro, Massachusetts as the Cincinnati Bengals edged the New England Patriots by a 7-6 score. The big play of the game? A point after touchdown by the Bengals backup kicker, none other than wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.</p>
<p>After the game, the always entertaining Chad Ochocinco was in rare form talking about his love for European soccer:</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8216;Esteban&#8217; Ochocinco is back, the most interesting footballer in the world. Everyone has to remember, I&#8217;ve always said that soccer is my No. 1 sport. I think Ronaldinho would be proud of me right now.&#8221;</p>
<p>To punctuate his fondness for the sport known as football in the rest of the world, Ochocinco whipped out his iPhone to display a picture of him with former England captain David Beckham. He then continued:</p>
<p>&#8220;Soccer&#8217;s my first love, Kicking&#8217;s easy &#8230; like riding a bike. I can kick them from 50, 60 yards, left or right hash mark. &#8230; I kicked all through high school.&#8221;</p>
<p>Ochocinco was pressed into service as a placekicker when Shane Graham complained of a sore groin in pregame warm-ups. Rather than take any chances, head coach Marvin Lewis let Ochocinco take his place. Ochocinco also played a few series at his usual position, catching three passes for 69 yards.</p>
<p>Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, who was pressed into emergency service as a placekicker while with the Miami Dolphins, wasnt buying Ochocincos talk about kicking being easy:</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not easy. To kick that is something, and he got real good height on it.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Patriots could only manage two FGs, while Cincinnati scored their only touchdown on JT OSullivans 24 yard pass to Chris Henry. That set up Ochocincos picture perfect extra point. OSullivan was also amused, but emphasized that his receivers athletic versatility is no joke:</p>
<p>&#8220;Nothing surprises me. All joking aside, he still kicked the ball through the uprights and it ended up winning the game. Some people might think its funny, but it&#8217;s important.&#8221;</p>
<p>Cincinnati will kick off their NFL regular season schedule on Sunday, September 13th as they host the Denver Broncos. The Patriots will get their campaign underway on Monday, September 14th as they play the Buffalo Bills at home.</p>
<p>Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, poker and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/sports_handicapping/534/1">sports handicapping</a>. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/free_sports_picks/534/2">free sports picks</a>. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, flower arranging and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.</p>


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		<title>Cleveland Manages To Beat Buffalo Despite Offensive Struggles</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:14:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ross Everett</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[In a matchup between two of the worst offenses in the NFL, someone had to win. Despite producing only 9 first downs and'3 yards of total offense, the Cleveland Browns got a late game field goal from Billy Cundiff to defeat the Buffalo Bills 6-3 and win their first game of the season. The Bills had the more productive afternoon statistically, with- first downs and 288 yards of offense but were undone by three costly turnovers. Both teams are now 1-4 on the 2009 NFL season.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In a matchup between two of the worst offenses in the NFL, someone had to win. Despite producing only 9 first downs and&#8217;3 yards of total offense, the Cleveland Browns got a late game field goal from Billy Cundiff to defeat the Buffalo Bills 6-3 and win their first game of the season. The Bills had the more productive afternoon statistically, with- first downs and 288 yards of offense but were undone by three costly turnovers. Both teams are now 1-4 on the 2009 NFL season.</p>
<p>To successfully bet on the NFL, one needs to find opportunities to play underdogs&#8221;this is particularly true in games where neither team is expected to put many points on the board. Such was the case here, as Cleveland easily covered the pointspread as +6 road underdogs. Both teams are now 2-3 against the number on the season. The Browns have now won and covered the last three head to head matchups between the teams. The 9 points scored came nowhere near the total of 41 for an easy UNDER. The Browns have now gone UNDER in 3 of their 5 games this season, while Buffalo has OVER on three of their five posted NFL totals.</p>
<p>It was a game without many highlights. The Browns got on the board first with a 24 yard Cundiff field goal in the second quarter, and took that 3-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Buffalo would tie the score in third on a Rian Lindell 36 yard field goal. That would set the stage for Cundiff to nail the game winner from&#8217; yards out with: 23 left to play. Despite todays victory, Cleveland is averaging a woeful 11 points per game this season. Buffalo&#8217;s PPG numbers are slightly better thanks to decent scoring output in their first two games of the season&#8211;theyre averaging just over 15 points per contest. In the Bills last three games, however, theyre averaging a meager 6.6 points per game.</p>
<p>The real loser in Sundays contest may have been Buffalo head coach Dick Jauron. Many were surprised that he was retained after the Bills third straight 7-9 season last year and things have gone from bad to worse so far in the 2009 NFL season. Buffalo has lost to winless teams in back to back weeks, part of a three game losing streak. Overall, the Bills have wound up losers in 12 of their last 15 games. Not that Cleveland has done much better&#8211;the win today ended a 10 game losing streak, one short of the all time franchise record.</p>
<p>Cleveland will have a tough road assignment next Sunday, heading to Pittsburgh to face the World Champion Steelers. Theyll return home for a game against the Green Bay Packers on October 25th before playing the Chicago Bears in The Windy City the following week. Buffalo will play the next two on the road, heading to the Meadowlands next Sunday for a game against the New York Jets followed by a trip to Charlotte, NC to take on the Carolina Panthers.</p>
<p>Ross Everett is a freelance writer and a noted authority on sports betting and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/NFL_point_spreads/160/1">NFL point spreads</a>. He is a frequent sports radio guest where he gives advice on how to successfully <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.candleblogger.com/set/bet_on_NFL/160/2">bet on NFL</a>. He lives in Las Vegas with three dogs and a dingo.</p>


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