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Despite the early struggles of starting QB Kerry Collins, who threw two interceptions, the Tennessee Titans managed to prevail over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday by a 27-20 score. The victory ran Tennessee’s record to 2-0 in the NFL preseason, while the Bucs dropped their first exhibition contest.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher wasn’t happy with his teams performance, particularly their offensive rhythm, despite winning the game:

“We just really didn’t get in synch like we would’ve like to.”

Conversely, Tampa Bays new head coach Rahim Morris was fairly upbeat after his NFL coaching debut:

“Not a bad start though, not a bad start.

Tennessee QB Collins post game comments didn’t provide much insight into the reason for his poor outing:

“We had too many turnovers, and that can’t happen. We know we have a lot to improve on.”

Young, meanwhile, related how he had taken the advice of the Titans offensive coordinator and used his legs to keep a play alive and avoid a sack.

“And that’s basically what I did. I saw the free safety relax and he was in the Cover Two, and Kenny adjusted his route and did what he was supposed to do. I just got the ball to him.

Luke McCown started for Tampa Bay, though wasnt able to do much on offense either. He was tightlipped about his performance in postgame interviews:

“We have some things to clean up. We will look at the tapes and get better at it on Monday”

The Bucs other QBs, Byron Leftwich and Josh Freeman didnt do much better, though Leftwich did throw a touchdown pass. After the game head coach Morris indicated that Leftwich will start Tampa Bays next NFL preseason game, with McCown coming on in relief.

The Titans will open the NFL regular season against the Superbowl Champion Steelers at Pittsburgh on Thursday, September 10th. Tampa Bay will begin the 2009 campaign at home, welcoming the Dallas Cowboys to Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, September 13.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was played in an unusual venue, but produced the expected result. In the NFL’s third regular season game in London, England the Patriots showed the Wembley Stadium crowd why they’re among the league’s best as they methodically dismantled the Bucs en route to a 35-7 victory. Oddly, it took a trans-Atlantic trip for the Pats to get their first road win of the season-the Bucs were ‘officially’ the home team in the contest. New England QB Tom Brady threw for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns, though was picked off twice in the workmanlike victory. Tampa Bay remained winless, slipping to 0-7 while New England improved to 5-2.

The Patriots easily covered the pointspread as -15′ ‘road’ favorites, and improved their record against the number to 4-3 on the season. The Bucs have struggled almost as badly against the NFL pointspread as they have straight up, and slipped to 1-6 versus the money. The 42 combined points scored went UNDER the posted total of 44′. Tampa Bay has gone OVER in four of their seven games, while New England has gone UNDER in 4 of 7.

Afterwards, Pats’ QB Brady said that he’s enjoying the trip to England-as well as the victory:

“I’m feeling great. I keep rolling. That’s two wins in a row. We went out there and put two touchdowns on the board there in the second half. We had plenty of distractions coming over here, but everybody was really energized. To get the win and fly home and have a bye week off is just great.”

NFL football is still a big deal in soccer mad England, and over 80,000 fans jammed the stadium for the game. League commissioner Roger Goodell has stated that he’d like to see multiple regular season games held in London, with a possibility of the city eventually receiving an NFL franchise. Even a superstar like Tom Brady wasn’t quite used to the rock star like treatment he received in England:

“All the flashbulbs were going off there before the kickoff. They went on for about 10 minutes, which you don’t see in the States too often. I think it’s a privilege to come over here and get to enjoy this type of experience. It will probably never happen again for us, so we’ll retire 1-0 internationally.”

Even the taciturn coach Bill Belichick was pleased with the experience:

“It’s a great way to end this week. It’s been an enjoyable couple days here and glad we could end it on a positive note.”

And even in Europe, Bucs’ first year coach Raheem Morris continued to sound like a man in over his head as he made his weekly excuse filled post game comments:

“Tom, he’s the guy that changed the game. He’s the guy you worry about constantly. When you have a great quarterback like that, that’s what he does and that’s what he will do for you.”

The Bucs have now lost 11 straight games, their longest losing streak since a NFL record 26 game losing run in’76-77. Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe served as honorary captain of Tampa Bay, and they could have done worse than to put a real fighter in the lineup on this day. As Brady noted, New England will have a bye next week as will Tampa Bay.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory 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.

The BC Lions may have turned the corner after a disappointing 1-4 start to the CFL season. This past weekend, a clearly motivated Lions team defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 35-20 to improve to 2-4 in CFL play. The Roughriders dropped to 3-3 in the early going in the CFL season.

Lions defensive end Brent Johnson said that the motivation for this game was simple–his team was just sick of losing:

“We were sick of losing. That was our only option – to win tonight. This was the must wins of must wins.”

Johnson led a tenacious Lions defense with three QB sacks. Overall, the BC stop unit combined for five QB sacks and three interceptions in their best performance of the CFL season.

Lions running back Martell Mallett caught one touchdown pass, ran for another and generally made himself a problem for the Riders defense all night. After the game, he praised the play of his offensive line:

“We just went out there and executed. The offensive line blocked well. I was just hitting the holes. They opened it for me and I got in it.”

BC starting QB Buck Pierce had been hearing some criticism from the Vancouver media suggesting that he lose his starting spot. After the game, he spoke of the team effort in the win:

“I was very proud of our offence tonight. “The way we stayed poised, the way we moved the ball. Running and throwing the ball, we were very good.”

His Saskatchewan counterpart Darian Durrant blamed the loss on his teams lack of execution:

“It was frustrating. B.C. gave us plenty of opportunities to put more points on the board. We just didn’t capitalize.”

Despite the victory, Lions coach Wally Buono realizes that his team still has plenty of work to do:

“We have to play much better football than what we did. I saw the intensity that you need, I see the resilience and I saw some guys make some plays.”

BC now heads to Toronto to play the struggling Argonauts on Thursday. Saskatchewan will host the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

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The Edmonton Eskimos survived a wild back and forth CFL shootout against the Calgary Stampeders before prevailing 38-35 to take over sole possession of first place in the CFL West. Edmonton improved to 4-3 with the win, while Calgary dropped to 3-4.

After the game, winning QB Ricky Ray said that he enjoyed the wild contest:

“That was a ton of fun. In the CFL you get to play in a lot of games like this, especially against a guy like (Calgary quarterback Henry) Burris, who has done this to us. It’s great to come out on the winning end of a shoot-out like that. It’s a great uplift for the team. It’s a huge win for us.”

Eskimos head coach Richie Hall said that the outcome couldnt have been timed any better:

“Regardless of what happens, we are coming back in first place. Now we have one up on Calgary. It’s going to be a dogfight for all the teams in the West and any chance you get to win, especially a win like this, it’s a real bonus. It’s great for our confidence.”

Calgarys Burris remembered a very similar game last year where Edmonton won by the same margin on a last play touchdown:

“They got us last year in this situation and of course you didn’t think it was going to happen again or even could happen again. It felt so great to get that late touchdown and with 38 seconds on the clock nobody was even thinking about last year. We had to stop Jackson and we didn’t. And we had to stop Ray and we didn’t. Kudos to Edmonton.”

Both teams have a bye next week. Calgary returns to action on Aug. 28 in Toronto while the Eskimos will next play on Aug. 29 when they host Hamilton. The two CFL provincial rivals from Alberta will face each other twice more this season.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Duke University is far from being a national college football powerhouse, but they’re no longer a team you can take lightly either. #6 ranked Virginia Tech found that out on Saturday, and what they expected to be an easy afternoon became a tightly contested affair. In the end, Virginia Tech prevailed for a 34-26 road victory but not without some anxious moments. Virginia Tech improved their record to 4-1, while Duke dropped to 2-3 on the 2009 college football season.

Despite the straight up loss, Duke won where it counted as they rewarded sports players who bet on college football with the ATS victory as +17 home underdogs. Duke evened their mark at 2-2 in their lined games, while the Hokies dropped to 2-3 against the spread. The 60 combined points scored went well OVER the posted total of 48. Virginia Tech has gone OVER in 3 of 5 games this year, while Duke has gone OVER in all three of their games with posted totals.

The Hokies were saved by the career day posted by their quarterback, Tyrod Taylor. Taylor threw for 327 yards on 17 of 22 passing and two touchdown passes with no interceptions. After the game, Taylor modestly downplayed his own impact on the outcome of the game:

“I know we have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball. It’s just my job to get the ball to them.”

Venerable Tech coach Frank Beamer saw his team defeat Duke for the ninth straight time, but noted:

“I don’t think that’s the old Duke football team.

Blue Devils coach David Cuttcliffe said his team is reaching the point where moral victories don’t provide enough satisfaction:

“We got close enough in the fourth quarter to go beat a great team. Once you taste that, you like it. I wouldn’t say we spit it out — it wasn’t a choke — but we just didn’t finish.”

Despite getting the win, Hokies coach Beamer was critical of his teams performance:

“Too many penalties and too many long plays. We weren’t as sharp as we would like, but I don’t think it was lack of effort. Part of it was Duke, and part of it was us. … Sometimes I think you’ve just got to win some games that’s not real pretty on the road, and this is probably one of those.”

Still, he praised his team for doing what they needed to do to preserve the victory:

“When we needed to run the football, and we did, and got points, that was critical to this ball game. They were going to take the run away, so you’ve got to be able to throw the ball.”

Virginia Tech will host Boston College next Saturday before traveling to Atlanta the following weekend for a game against Georgia Tech. Duke will play at North Carolina State next Saturday before a bye week. Theyll return to action at home on October 24th against the University of Maryland and play on the road at Virginia the following week.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on World Cup soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The Dallas Cowboys entered Sundays game with the Kansas City Chiefs with a 2-2 record, and may have expected an easy afternoon. The winless Chiefs, however, hung around throughout the contest and forced overtime before a Tony Romo touchdown pass to Miles Austin secured the victory for Dallas by a final score of 26-20. Austin was the Cowboys offensive star, catching two touchdown passes as part of a 250 yard receiving day. Tony Romo played better than he has all year, finishing with two touchdown passes and 351 yards with no interceptions. The Cowboys improved to 3-2 with the victory, while the Chiefs remain winless at 0-5.

NFL betting enthusiasts who took Kansas City as +7 home underdogs enjoyed a profitable day as the Chiefs got the money for the first time in the 2009 season. Kansas City is now 1-4 against the spread, while Dallas dropped to 2-3 against the number. The 46 points went OVER the posted total of 43. The Cowboys have gone OVER in 3 of 5 games this season, while Kansas City now has 3 OVER verdicts in five games with 1 UNDER and a push.

Austin started in place of Dallas superstar receiver Roy Williams, and definitely made the best of the opportunity. His 250 yards on 10 catches broke the franchise record held by Cowboys legend Bob Hayes, who had 246 yards receiving against the Washington Redskins in 1966. Austin could have had an even bigger day, had Tony Romo not overthrown him several times on wide open plays.

Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel had decent numbers in a losing cause, finishing with 253 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Still, the setback just added to the growing sense of futility in the Chiefs camp. Kansas City hasnt won a game in nearly a year (315 days) and is a horrible 2-28 in their past 30 games. There are signs of improvement under first year coach Todd Haley, but theyve yet to translate into victories.

Dallas will be off next weekend and will return to action on October 25th at home against the Atlanta Falcons. Theyll host the Seattle Seahawks at Cowboys Stadium the following weekend. The Chiefs will travel to Washington, DC next Sunday to take on the Redskins before returning home for a game the following week against the San Diego Chargers.

Ross Everett is a respected freelance writer experienced in travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

The Atlanta Falcons didn’t so much win their Sunday Night NFL Football game against the Chicago Bears as much as the Bears lost it. A series of costly mistakes and turnovers in the red zone negated an otherwise solid road effort for the Bears, as Atlanta held on to win 21-14 at the Georgia Dome. Chicago held a decisive edge in most of the statistical categories, but was undone by untimely turnovers.

Chicago also disappointed fans who bet on NFL football by failing to cover the pointspread as +4 road underdogs. Both teams’ ATS records match their straight up records with the Falcons moving to 4-1 against the number while the Bears slumped to 3-2.

Winning Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan chose to credit his defense rather than point to Chicago mistakes as the determining factor in the outcome:

“Our defense, give them some credit. Our guys stepped up and made some plays when we needed them to.”

The Bears did a good job shutting down Falcons’ star running back Michael Turner holding the NFL’s second leading rusher to only 30 yards. He came through with the game on the line, however, rushing for the winning touchdown with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Ryan praised his running back’s effort:

“Our offensive line did a great job just giving me just enough time to get the ball off, and then Michael Turner did what he does. The offensive line provided a great push and just paved his way.”

The Falcons are now 4-1 for only the fifth time in team history, the last coming in 2004. Despite their solid start, they’re still trying to keep pace with the red hot New Orleans Saints who improved to 5-0 with their win over the New York Giants earlier in the day. On this occasion, the Falcons’ Ryan was outplayed by the Bears Jay Cutler between the twenties but the Atlanta signal caller made all of the right moves in scoring range.

Atlanta can improve to 5-1 and break the mark for best start in franchise history with a win on the road at Dallas next Sunday. That’ll be followed by an even bigger road game, on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints-a contest full of all sorts of implications for the eventual divisional championship in the NFC South. The Bears will be back on the road next weekend to take on the Cincinnati Bengals before returning home for games the following two Sundays against the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals.

Ross Everett is a well known freelance writer who covers travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Most NFL head coaches place a priority on naming a starting QB before the regular season begins. The idea is that it helps the chemistry on the team, as well as helping the quarterback define himself as a team leader. Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini hasn’t named his starting QB yet. Nor will he, at least not publicly. Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson will find out if they’re the starting QB in the next couple of days, but the first public confirmation their coach will give is when they trot out on the field after the NFL regular season begins.

Mangini stressed that he’d already made his choice, and that hell meet with both Quinn and Anderson individually to inform them of his decision:

“In terms of announcing it publicly, that’s not something I plan to do. It will be internal. I understand everybody has a different opinion on it. I respect that. I understand the excitement in relationship to that and I respect that as well. But that will be something that will be internal.”

As of Sunday, both quarterbacks had no idea if they’d be the starting QB. Derek Anderson said he didnt have a clue:

“I know as much as you guys know.

While Quinn suggested that it wasnt a big concern for him:

“I’m not worried about it. You guys are more worried about it than I am.”

Mangini may be trying to gain a strategic advantage over the Browns opponents in the opening week of the NFL regular season:

“It is more difficult to plan for two quarterbacks than it is to plan for one. I’m not saying that’s going to be the difference or not the difference, but I know that there is time allotted to that and you can’t put the same amount of time into focusing on one player.”

On the other hand, Vikings coach Brad Childress said that it really didnt make a difference in how hed approach preparing his gameplan:

“Just schematically, you’re going to go back and look at tape and see what you’ve seen. And then I know, as do our guys, that there will be unscouted looks. They certainly haven’t showed their whole hand, offensively and defensively. So you’re just going back and looking at formation-wise where they’re putting people and what kind of players they are. It will be more about us deploying to what they do.”

The Browns coach concluded his comments by emphasizing that hes happy with the play of both quarterbacks:

“I have been happy with the progress that both guys made. I’m happy with the way they’ve worked. I’m happy with the way they approached this competition, and it’s not always easy to approach a competition in a team fashion, and I respect the way they’ve handled it.”

After hosting the Vikings in their opening game of the 2009 NFL regular season, Cleveland will hit the road for their second game as they take on the Broncos at Denver.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer specializing in travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia was released earlier this week by the Philadelphia Eagles, a victim of too many quarterbacks on the roster. Now that hes no longer under contract to a NFL team, hes letting his feelings be known about another one of his recent employers–the Oakland Raiders. In an interview with Fox Sports Radio in which he slammed the teams management and suggested that current quarterback Jamarcus Russell was in over his head.

Garcia started his comments with an observation that the team is putting too much pressure on their young quarterback. He suggested that the team is putting their hopes on Russell’s shoulders, and that hes simply not ready for that pressure mentally or emotionally:

“I have no problem going into a situation and helping a young guy out and really trying to help the team out overall more so than anything. I just feel like it’s an unfortunate situation when the entire work ethic and the entire goal of the team is really put upon one guy’s shoulder.”

Garcia continued to stress that Russell’s talent wasn’t the issue:

“When you put him on the field in a one-on-one workout session he’ll make every throw for you. But when it comes down to making things happen in the heat of the battle and rallying the troops around you and making a case for the team, that’s where maybe things aren’t where they need to be.”

Russell is currently suffering with a 39.8 pass rating–the worst in the NFL–and hasn’t shown much progress from game to game. Garcia went on to assert that the Raiders problems go much deeper than the inexperience of their quarterback:

“It was to a point where I felt like guys who walked through those doors that just were there to collect a check and not really interested in putting everything that they had within themselves on to the football field. And that was the frustrating thing for me to see.

“There were a lot of good young guys in that locker room who really want to do whatever it takes to win, but unfortunately it’s not everybody. In order to compete at this level in this game, everybody needs to be on board.”

“Maybe it’s because how things have been for a number of years now out there and they just don’t see the hope”

After Garcia’s release from the Raiders, coach Tom Cable insinuated that he had an issue with playing backup to Russell:

“There was some talk about how he would fit but the best way for me to approach it is the other two played so well and we are committed to JaMarcus as our starter. Whether or not Garcia was comfortable in a role as a backup, it is what it is.”

Ultimately, Garcia suggested that despite his best effort it got to the point where he simply wanted out:

“To see the reality of the situation and realize what I may be up against staying here for the entire year, it hurt me, it broke my heart to do that to step up. But I just felt like it was something I really didn’t want to put myself through anymore.”

The 39 year old Garcia has started 110 games in the NFL in ten seasons after a standout career in the Canadian Football League. There’s a good chance you’ll see him back in action before the end of the year–though the Raiders are clearly no longer an option.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and noted authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The New York Giants have made a huge financial commitment to quarterback Eli Manning by offering him a six year, $97.5 million contract extension. Manning will earn just over $15 million a year, and $35 million of the contract is guaranteed. Should Manning play through the end of his contract hell be a Giant until 2015, meaning there’s a decent chance hell play his entire career with the team.

Manning will earn roughly $200,000 per season more than Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha who agreed to a 3 year, $45 million contract earlier this summer. Hes also got the upper hand on his older brother, Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning who earns just over $14 million per season.

While Manning has been tight lipped in the media about the deal, Giants GM Jerry Reese spoke in glowing terms of his teams $97.5 million investment:

“He is a franchise quarterback. He has done everything we asked him to do. He has come in, taken a lot of flak from you guys in the media and he just keeps going. He does what we ask him on the field and he does what we ask him to do off the field. He is a good football player.”

Reese also dismissed concern that the huge contract commitment would result in additional pressure on Manning to perform:

“He is used to that. He won’t get more pressure than he already has in this market. He knows how to handle pressure and he has done it before. I don’t expect to see any difference in his attitude and his work ethic. He works hard. He expects a lot from himself. He knows what his role here is with us and we expect him to continue it for a long time.”

Manning definitely has a number of qualities that justify this level of investment. Hes produced on the field, leading the Giants to a Superbowl championship and four straight postseason appearances. He also became the first Giant QB in history to throw for 3,000 yards and 20+ touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Hes got solid leadership skills and is well liked and respect by not only his teammates but also by the notoriously tough New York media.

The new deal will kick in with the 2009-2010 season. Manning will earn just over $9 million this season, the final year of his rookie contract.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.