Lions host Alouettes in week three action
Football Betting Lines
07/13/2010 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an effort to finally put to rest their weakest defensive effort of the 2009 season, the British Columbia Lions entertain the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night at Empire Field in Vancouver.
British Columbia had a number of lopsided outcomes a season ago, but none was more distressing than the club's dismal 56-18 loss to the Als in the playoffs. The setback was the second in three attempts for the Lions against Montreal that year, the lone victory being a 19-12 final the first week of September.
Fast forward to this year and both of these teams have gotten off to a 1-1 start. In the case of the Lions, they went from dumping Edmonton in the opener (25-10), to being thumped by Saskatchewan last weekend (37-18). Adding insult to injury, the Roughriders also knocked starting quarterback Casey Printers out of the game with a thigh bruise, forcing the home team to turn to Travis Lulay for guidance.
Lulay finished the outing 9-of-15 passing for 197 yards and a score, while Printers hit on 10-of-14 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. Printers commented after the game that he could have returned to action but didn't want to risk making the injury worse. Receiver Geroy Simon had a huge outing with six catches for 169 yards and both TDs, one of which registered a whopping 92 yards late in the meeting. However, as well as Simon played, he and the Lions could not change the fact that they were penalized 16 times for a loss of 116 yards.
As for the Alouettes, the defending Grey Cup Champions needed a bit of a wake- up call in their meeting with Edmonton on Sunday after they scored a mere four points in the first quarter. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo was held in check by the Eskimos for most of the game before tossing touchdown passes to Brian Bratton late in the third quarter and Kerry Watkins midway through the fourth to bring his team back for the victory.
Calvillo finished 19-of-30 passing for 237 yards and an interception, not to mention having to pull himself up off the turf after three sacks. Even though recently-signed Ricky Santos managed to make his way into the end zone on a two-yard run in the second frame, the Montreal rushing game was far from dominant with a mere 72 yards on 17 attempts. Avon Cobourne tallied 55 yards on 13 carries to lead the way.
Last season, Cobourne was a dynamo for Montreal coming out of the backfield, placing sixth in the league in rushing with 1,214 yards and coming up with a league-high 13 TDs, but thus far he's gotten off to a slow start with just 94 yards and one touchdown on 23 attempts. Cobourne has also been a huge piece of the passing attack the last couple of years for the Als as well, capturing 120 passes for more than 1,000 yards, but after two games this year he has but six grabs for 66 yards.
Calvillo has been on pace with last year's numbers for the most part, except for the fact that the reigning two-time CFL Offensive Player of the Year already has two interceptions after throwing a total of just six all of last season.
Tied with both Toronto and Winnipeg for first place in the Eastern Division in the early going, the Als have had their defensive stats skewed due to the ugly 54-51 overtime loss to Saskatchewan in the opener. Last year, Montreal ranked first in the league in points allowed with a mere 18.0 ppg, almost a full six ppg less than the next best squad.
As for the Lions, a team that ranked second-to-last in points allowed in 2009 with an average of just under 28 per game, in giving up only 10 points in the opener to Edmonton they sported their best defensive performance since September of 2008. With just 47 points allowed in the first two games of 2010, BC is second in the category in the Western Division behind Calgary. However, the Lions have also scored the second-fewest points in the division with just 43.
British Columbia is in the middle of the pack when it comes to rushing (141.5) and passing (267.5) yards per game thus far. What the Lions do have is two of the top performers in both individual rushing and receiving in Jamal Robertson and Simon, respectively. Robertson, thanks to a long run of 61 yards, has a total of 222 yards on 20 carries thus far, while Simon's 10 receptions have been turned into 228 yards and a pair of scores. The 98-yard reception for Simon last week is the longest of the season for any receiver thus far.
Not taking into account Montreal's convincing triumph in the most recent meeting between these two clubs, BC actually maintains a 31-28-1 advantage in regular-season meetings.
Of all the teams that Calvillo faced during the regular season last year, the Lions seemed to be field the toughest defense, holding him to just a single touchdown on 47 completions. However, when the pressure was on Calvillo was more than ready, as evidenced by his five-TD performance in the playoffs against BC. Assuming Calvillo is on top of his game and the BC defense is again vulnerable, expect to see the visitors come out on top in this meeting.
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Getting an early jump on the
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl
The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.
Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.
The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
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