In a battle for first place in the Big East, the 7-2 Pitt Panthers travel to Cincinnati to take on the 8-2 Bearcats. Pittsburgh will rely on its strong ground game, led by RB LeSean McCoy who has over 1000 yards rushing while averaging 5 yards per carry. When the Panthers need to throw it QB Bill Stull and WRs Derek Kinder and Jonathon Baldwin. Kinder works underneath while Baldwin is the deep threat.
On offense the Bearcats are led by QB Tony Pike who has 12 TDs passing and the running back combination of Jacob Ramsey and John Goebel who have 568 and 436 yards rushing respectively. If there is one area where Cincinnati has a decided edge in this game it is defense. The Bearcat defense has held it’s opponents to 20 points or less 7 times, while Pitt has accomplished it only 3 times.
Pitt leads the series 7 -0. While the Bearcats may have an edge on defense I believe overall the Panthers are the better team. The Panthers have also shown the ability to win on the road with victories at Notre Dame and South Florida. Take Pittsburgh +5 over Cincinnati.
By Platinum Plays
This Sunday we have a “matchup” of divisional leaders in the NFC of which I propose is really a mismatch. The (7-3) NFC West leading Arizona Cardinals will be hosting the current Super Bowl Champions and leader of the NFC East, the (9-1) New York Giants. We’ll give the Cardinals credit, they have finally achieved some of the results on the field which people have been predicting and expecting from them for the last couple of years. They have done so with Kurt Warner, the former NFL MVP and Super Bowl winning quarterback, who turned into a journeyman backup and now once again has been thrust into the starting position due to the failure of former 1st round draft choice and USC product, Matt Leinart. If nothing else, Warner has had one of the most interesting and controversial football careers in the history of the National Football league which at times has even been controversial due to his intense religious convictions and his wife’s big mouth. A roller coaster would be considered a ride in the tea cups when compared to the Warner’s job history and performance. Meanwhile, the Giants have fervently set about defending their Super Bowl Championship much like the team they defeated last February 3rd to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy, the New England Patriots, who won consectutive Super Bowls for the 2003 & 04 seasons. Considering the Giants meteroric ride late last season to win the NFL Championship, a letdown may have been expected but, let’s give coach Tom Coughlin credit for keeping the Giants level of play as high if not higher than last season’s finish despite the retirement of DE Michael Strahan in the offseason and the loss of DE Osi Umenyiora for year in the seasons first game. Umenyiora led the NFC in sacks last season with 13 sacks in the regular season.
By #1 Sports
Philadelphia (5-4-1) Eagle fans – a warm and cuddly bunch by nature – have been screaming for heads since their crew finished with a 13-13 tie on Sunday at Cincinnati in which Coach Andy Reid continued to ignore the running game (23 passes vs. 5 rushes first half) and QB Donovan McNabb (227 of 382 for 2711 yards, 14 TD, 8 INT) threw 30 incomplete passes (28 of 58 for 339 yards, TD, 3 INT) including 3 caught by Bengals plus added a lost fumble. Further fueling the fire was the fact that many Philadelphia players – not just 10-year veteran McNabb – had no idea that no second overtime was waiting after the first extra frame expired in a deadlock! OK, with many connections to pro and college players over the years we can attest that these guys know more about coverages, systems, and schemes than what 98% of the viewers think they are seeing during a play but when it comes to the more geekafied points like statistics, records, and the more esoteric rules they are clueless compared to the average Arm-Chair Charlie. Counting ourselves in the Charlie group, combined with time spent around these guys, this seemingly odd hole in their knowledge came as absolutely no surprise to us. The comparisons of football to the military have been done (ground attack, aerial assault, gridiron, scrimmage, the bomb, flanker, field general, and many more) and these players see their job as playing the game, with the best teams those that most consistently and without question execute the strategy of the coaching staff whom holds the responsibility for these finer points. Anyway, every Charlie knows you have to run the ball in this league to win championships and Philadelphia just doesn’t consistently. 95.3 yards per game on the ground ranks 25th in the NFL and with an offensive line led by 6’7” 335 LT Tra Thomas (160 career starts) and 6’7” 330 LT Jon Runyan there’s just no lack of talent or beef to pound out the yards. Sure, 3rd-year 6’3” 338 RG Max Jean-Gilles is playing for Shane Andrews (out recovering from back surgery) but with a solid 4-0 yards per rush through 11 games, play calling is the only thing stooping RB Brian Westbrook (123 for 508 and 6 TD) and RB Correll Buckhalter (57 for 233 and 2 TD). At least Reid gets this pair of superb all-around athletes the ball in the passing game (combined 53 catches for 465 yards and 3 TD) but there just is no substitute for lining up and pounding the ball for what it can yield later in the game. As one would expect, the stat sheets for most of Philly’s receivers are filled but we are impressed by the job done by backup 6’4” 255 2nd-year TE Brent Celek (17 for 239 yards) and 5’10” 175 rookie WR DeSean Jackson (42 for 652 and TD receiving, 12 for 80 and TD rushing, 10.3 per punt return and TD) who has seized a starting job over Reggie Brown (13 for 192 and TD) and others.
By Dr. Vegas
What is historically a huge Big 10 matchup this year is only a trivial affair. In what can easily be called the worst season in Michigan history, the Wolverines are merely hoping to save face with any rays of light they can find. At 3-8 SU and 2-9 ATS, the Wolverines have consistently underperformed all season long.
By Razor Sharp Sports
What a great time of year if you love college football! Last week, the schedule lacked the “Big Game or Games”. This week they make up for it with a couple of key conference match-ups. The Big East lead is up for grabs with Pittsburgh going to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats! The ACC has a couple of match-up that could decide each divisional winner as Miami-FL takes on Georgia Tech on Thursday for the lead in the ACC - Coastal Division, while Maryland hosts Florida St for the lead in the ACC Atlantic Division. Wednesday night, it is a battle in the MAC -West Division as Ball St takes on Central Michigan. Both teams are undefeated in conference play. The Mountain West title will be on the line when BYU takes on Utah. The Sun Belt crown is on the line when UL-Lafayette takes on Troy. Then their is a little game in the Big-12, where #2 Texas Tech goes to #5 Oklahoma. The winner there would have the upper hand to play in the Big-12 Championship and possibly the BCS Championship game. Finally the game we are going to take a closer look at this week here as the Big-10 crown, a Rose Bowl bid and even possibly a BCS Championship game invite could all be on the line at Michigan St takes on Penn St.
By The Vegas Steamline
So are you a fan of instant replay or not? I guess after this weekend I could figure out, by asking you if you had the Chargers or the Steelers. In case you missed it, let me explain. The Steelers had just taken the lead 11-10 on a field goal with 11 seconds to play. After the ensuing kickoff, the Chargers tried doing the old Cal throw the ball all over the place play. They fumbled one of the laterals and Troy Palamalu picked it up and ran it for a TD. That made the score 17-10, a supposed unlikely cover for the Steelers. The referees then replayed the play and said the first pass by the Chargers was an illegal forward pass and the ball should be dead on the spot. This took the points off the board and gave the Chargers the cover. Because the play was inside of 2:00 minutes it was automatically reviewed by the booth and didn’t need a team review as the Chargers would have probably just let it go. To them a loss is a loss, for Vegas it turned out to be a big win for the Sports books. It turned out that Vegas had taken much more action on Pittsburgh than San Diego on the game.
By Totals 4U
Baltimore (6-3) The Ravens continued their 4-game stretch of racking up big points against poor defenses (36.0 points per versus Dolphins, Raiders, Browns, and Texans) last week, crushing Houston 41-13 and now face their toughest test of the season for 6’6” 230 rookie QB Joe Flacco (151 of 243 for 1449 yards, 7 TD, 7 INT). Little could be more important to this kid’s success than his offensive line and it will be a man down this trip. Coach John Harbaugh most often uses a 6-man unbalanced line to protect Flacco (17 sacks) and bash the ball on the ground but RT Willie Anderson left in the 3rd quarter against the Texans with a ankle injury which slides 6th lineman 6’8” 330 RT Adam Terry into his slot. There’s nothing wrong with Terry – he was the protected starter before Baltimore picked up Anderson – but that likely eliminates the 6-man line or puts either 6’4” 310 UTEP rookie T/G Oniel Cousins or 6’6” 315 Weber State rookie David Hale in the game against a level of competition they have never faced. Either way, rushing the ball will primarily be the focus and Running Backs Coach Wilbert Montgomery has a dynamite trio that can all produce on the ground and sneaking out for short passed. Willis McGahee (125 for 463 yards and 5 TD rush, 14 for 113 receive), 5’8” 205 rookie Ray Rice (77 for 356 rush, 20 for 190 receive), and 6’1”250 rookie Le’Ron McClain (96 for 366 and 5 TD rush, 15 for 88 receive) rotate for an offense that grinds out the league’s 3rd-best 150.2 rush yards per game at 3.9 yards per carry. Quaterbacks Coach Hue Jackson has done a phenomenal job with not just Flacco but also Troy Smith and Todd Bouman but stretching the field just hasn’t been part of the plan. WR Mark Clayton (20 for 225 yards and TD) and WR Derrick Mason (46 for 598 and 2 TD) – who returned to the game to catch 3 balls after suffering a 1st quarter separated shoulder against the Texans – have had to share the balls with the backs while TE Todd Heap (18 for 195 and 2 TD) has been used primarily in the blocking game as a 7th lineman. It seems a waste for a talent like Heap but he did finally have his first big game of the season last week, grabbing 5 balls for 58 yards and his first 2 scores of 2008.
By Big Time Sports
College
Minnesota @ Wisconsin- Gophers without WR Decker (74 receptions)…next 3 receivers have 78 catches combined!…Minny has scored 17 points or less in 4 of 6 Big Ten games…Wiscy has scored 106 points over last 3 games…’07 Badgers had 325 rushing…might be encore this year
Vanderbilt @ Kentucky- Wildcats operating without studs Locke & Lyons on offense, but still pushed Ga. to limit last week…Vandy offense in hibernation…’Dores have scored exactly 14 pts in 4 of last 5…7 in the other…last time Vandy scored 20 pts was Sept 20th
By Mike Wynn Sports
Can’t help but be impressed with the rookie QB Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons this season. Atlanta 6-3 this season and they’re taking care of business at home with a 4-0 straight and ATS record this season. Atlanta just one game back of Carolina in the very competitive NFC South and a win here Sunday would be another big step toward a possible playoff spot. Denver Broncos on the other hand lead the weak AFC West with a 5-4 record but they’ve had to ride the arm of Jay Cutler and his 2616 yards of passing offense this season. So let’s take a look at both teams and we’ll start with the visiting Broncos.
By Platinum Plays
This Saturday we have a PAC 10 matchup that will help sort out the “Best of the Rest” in the conference when the Arizona Wildcats (6-3/4-2) make the trip to Eugene to take on the Ducks (7-3/5-2). Autzen Stadium is one of the toughest venues for opposing teams to visit with any kind of success and their will be 54,000 strong rooting for the Ducks. The Ducks have been known for a couple of things under head coach, Mike Belotti; good football teams averaging 8 wins a season and some of the craziest uniforms in college football with a host of combinations.
By Nevada Sharpshooter
The Bears travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers. The 5-4 Bears may are currently tied with the Vikings atop the NFC North with the Pack one game back at 4-5. Both teams have some injury issues. At the time I am writing this it is unclear if QB Kyle Orton will be able to play for the Bears and the Packers LB Nick Barnett is out for the season do to injury. Statiscally both of these teams appear to be average. The Bears can stop the run but struggle against the pass. Two weeks ago Chicago barely got by a horrible Lions team by a score of 27-23, before losing to a strong Tennessee team at home 21-14 last week. The Packers have lost their last two games both on the road, to Tennessee, 16-19 in OT and the Vikings last week 27-28 when they missed a 52 yard fg in the final minute. The Pack lost both games in the same fashion, they were unable to stop the running game in the 4th quarter.
By Dr. Vegas
It’s hard to ignore the Titans’ 9-0 record. And what’s even more impressive is that that isn’t their best stat. Their 8-1 ATS mark is a huge indicator of the lack of respect Vegas has shown this team. With the exception of their 9-point line going into KC, the Titans have entered the rest of their games as small favorites (or even a dog or pk) of less than 5 points. This is despite the fact that they are winning their games outright by over 11 points per game. Moreover, they are covering the point spread but over 8 points per game.
By Razor Sharp Sports
At the beginning of the season, you wouldn’t have had a very tough time convincing me that this could be very well be a preview of the AFC Championship game. The season hasn’t quite played out that way and now you would have a incredibly tough time sell me that same statement. The Steelers side of things would be the easier of the two halfs to convince me on, but the San Diego Chargers may be the biggest disappointment in the NFL so far this year. Still as disappointing as they have been, they are still just a game out of their division lead and the wildcard. So this week, this game may have lost a little of its luster, but it is still very important for both teams. Lets take a look at each of them.
By The Vegas Steamline
Right now the BCS is spending their Saturday’s watching college football and their Sunday’s in their house of worship, whichever they choose. With just 3 weeks remaining in the regular season, Alabama and Texas Tech are the only 2 remaining undefeated teams in the BCS conferences. They are praying that both will remain perfect and set up the perfect scenario for their BCS Championship game. That will be easier said than done. Alabama still has to face Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and the #4 Florida Gators. Texas Tech still has to face #5 Oklahoma on the road and then take on the Big-12 North Champs (more than likely #12 Missouri) in the Big-12 Championship Game. All it is going to take is one loss by either team to throw things into a real quagmire.
By Big Time Sports
College
Alabama @ LSU- Tide has allowed just 1 rushing touchdown thru 9 games…SEC opponents have scored just 87 points in 5 games…14 players have scored TD’s for ‘Bama…LSU has scored at least 3 TD’s in every game this season…Tigers allowed 51 pts to Florida, 52 to Georgia…LSU QB’s have accounted for 14 TD’s, 11 INT’s, 56% completions