11/15/2008 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's a big reason for the Montreal Alouettes' turnaround this season.
The Alouettes posted an 11-7 record this year to finish atop the East Division standings and earn the right to host the conference final. Last season, Montreal finished third with an 8-10 record and appeared to many to be headed in a downward spiral.
But the club, under the veteran leadership of quarterback Anthony Calvillo, returned among the league's contenders. Calvillo certainly played a part in that, finishing second in the CFL in passing with 5,633 yards and a league- leading 43 touchdowns.
However, the other consideration is this. After giving up a CFL-high 68 sacks last year, the Alouettes' offensive line surrendered a league-low 22 this season.
As a result, four Alouettes offensive linemen were named to the East Division All-Star team, with center Bryan Chiu and guard Scott Flory also being voted to the CFL All-Star squad this week. They were two of five Alouettes selected, joining Calvillo and receivers Ben Cahoon and Jamel Richardson.
Flory is also a finalist for the CFL's outstanding lineman award, the fourth time he has been nominated. Flory, though, is looking for his first victory.
INTERESTING PICKUP: The Montreal Alouettes made an interesting pick up heading into their East Division final showdown with the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday at Olympic Stadium.
Montreal added Keith Williams, a defensive back from Florida A&M to its roster. What makes this noteworthy is that Williams was released by Edmonton earlier this season.
Williams was with Montreal in 2007, attending the club's training camp. He began the '08 campaign with the Eskimos before returning to the Alouettes once again.
ODDS AGAINST ALS: The odds aren't on the Montreal Alouettes side in their quest to reach the Grey Cup.
Montreal will host this year's CFL final, with the hometown Alouettes needing a win Saturday over Edmonton to be the East Division representative in the contest. But only eight times in the last 55 years has the host team qualified to play in the Grey Cup.
And the last team to win the Grey Cup as the host city was the B.C. Lions in '94 when they edged the Baltimore Stallions, 26-23, on Lui Passaglia's late field goal at B.C. Place.
WINDS OF CHANGE: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers fired heard coach Doug Berry this week after posting an 8-10 record and losing in the East Division semifinal to Edmonton.
But more changes are in store.
Not only will Winnipeg be looking for a new head coach, but to secure the right candidate the CFL club is prepared to dangle the dual post of coach and GM to that person. That's bad news for Brendan Taman, who is currently the Bombers GM and vice-president of football operations.
After Berry was fired, Taman admitted to reporters that he's well aware his job title will likely change heading into the 2009 season. Instead of being in charge of all football matters, he's going to be more of a director of player personnel for the Bombers.
The leading candidate for the Bombers' coach/GM post is Edmonton receivers coach Mike Kelly.
Kelly is a former Bombers offensive coordinator who held the same position with the XFL's Orlando Rage and has previous head coaching experience at Valdosta State. He also has spent time in the personnel departments of the NFL's Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.
Bombers president Lyle Bauer, a good friend of Kelly's, will spearhead the coaching search, with input from Taman.
PLAYOFF WOES: He led the Calgary Stampeders to first place in the West Division and the CFL's best regular season record at 13-5. He also set career highs for passing yards (5,094) and touchdowns (39) and is the Western nominee for the CFL's outstanding player award.
And yet it's easy to understand how there's a little apprehension surrounding Henry Burris heading into Calgary's West Division final game Saturday against B.C.
That's because given all of Burris' regular-season success, he hasn't won a playoff game for the Stampeders in three years.
Three years ago, Burris had two interceptions as Calgary lost a home playoff game to Edmonton. In 2006, he had four interceptions as the Stampeders dropped another home playoff contest to Saskatchewan.
Then last year in Regina, Burris fumbled twice and had an interception in a loss to the eventual Grey Cup-champion Roughriders.
But Burris arguably has his strongest supporting cast heading into Saturday's game. Calgary has the CFL's leading receiver in Ken-Yon Rambo, the league's top rusher in Joffrey Reynolds and its leading scorer in kicker Sandro DeAngelis.
<< Sens, Isles complete home-and-home on Long Island
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will try to break out of their scoring
slump tonight, as they visit the New York Islanders and Nassau Coliseum to
complete a home-and-home set with the club.
Ottawa has lost its last three games includi
<< Kings host Preds, shoot for fifth straight win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly hot Los Angeles Kings will shoot for their
fifth straight victory tonight, when they welcome the Nashville Predators to
Staples Center.
The Kings have notched four wins in a row for the first time since Octobe
<< Avs, Oilers clash in Edmonton
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will take aim at their third
straight victory when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for a Northwest Division
clash at Rexall Place.
The Avalanche snapped a five-game losing streak with last Saturday's
<< Slumping Stars visit Coyotes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars will try to snap a three-game losing
streak and win for just the second time in seven games when they visit the
Phoenix Coyotes for tonight's Pacific Division matchup at Jobing.com Arena.
The Stars made it
Nirat's eagle enough for Singapore Open lead >>
Singapore (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chapchai Nirat eagled the 11th hole Saturday and
moved atop the leaderboard during the suspended third round of the Singapore
Open.
Nirat is five-under on his round through 12 holes. He sits at nine-under pa
Dundee United's unbeaten run ends at hands of Killie >>
Kilmarnock, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dundee United's 10-game unbeaten
streak came to an end on Saturday at Rugby Park as Kilmarnock handed the
visitors a 2-0 defeat.
Jamie Hamill converted from the penalty spot in first-half
Logano grabs pole for Nationwide race at Homestead >>
Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joey Logano won the pole for Saturday's
Nationwide Series season-ending Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The
No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver rounded the 1.5-mile oval in 31.962
seconds
Arsenal suffers another setback >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal fell nine points off the league
lead on Saturday as the Gunners suffered a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at the
Emirates Stadium.
Ashley Young missed a penalty kick in the 20th minute as V
Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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