Bills collapse in primetime fashion

Football Betting Lines

10/09/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills put together a strong defensive effort against the unbeaten Dallas Cowboys this past Monday night, but still found a way to continue their losing ways.

The Bills blew second-half leads of 17-7 and 24-13 to fall for the fourth time in five games this season. The fourth-quarter meltdown will be remembered most, as Dallas scored the final 12 points and benefited from a successful on- sides kick in the waning moments of the game.

Cowboys kicker Nick Folk then sent the Ralph Wilson Stadium faithful home downtrodden again, as he split the uprights from 53 yards out to win the game. Folk actually had to kick twice after Bills head coach Dick Jauron tried to ice the rookie by calling a late timeout, much like his defense froze in the fourth quarter.

The loss wiped away a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown by Buffalo's George Wilson and an interception in the end zone for a score from defensive end Chris Kelsay. Terrence McGee contributed a 103-yard kickoff return for a TD in a losing cause for the Bills, who intercepted Dallas quarterback Tony Romo five times and also forced and recovered a fumble in the team's first Monday night home game since beating the Denver Broncos on September 26, 1994.

"To still not get the win is painful," Jauron said. "It really hurts. The turnovers were just outstanding. Defensively they just played an outstanding game and special teams, until the onsides kick, played an outstanding game. We just needed to get that onsides kick. They win it on a field goal, but there were opportunities both ways. We needed to make another play."

Even after Romo pulled the Cowboys within 24-22 on a four-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton with 20 seconds left, the Bills still tried to come up with the big play. Dallas went for the two-point conversion, but Jabari Greer stripped Cowboys wideout Terrell Owens of the ball to keep the Bills on top by two points. Greer also had an interception earlier in the game.

However, the Cowboys executed a perfect onsides kick and recovered the ball on the Buffalo 47-yard line with 18 seconds to go. Romo then completed a pair of passes to set the stage for Folk, who drilled the game-winning field goal.

Dallas was favored to beat the Bills by more than 10 points on Monday, only to come away with an ugly, nail-biting win.

"I've never been a part of a game where you force that many turnovers and not come away with a victory," Wilson said after his first career start. "It hurts to lose a game that you fought so hard and played so well."

Buffalo's injury-riddled defense played excellent last night against a Cowboys offense that ranked first in the NFL in scoring and total yards and third in passing. The Bills' offense, though, was an ugly story and managed just 229 yards with no touchdowns.

Rookie quarterback Trent Edwards, thrust into the spotlight for the second straight week, completed 23 of his 31 passes for 176 yards and an interception. Edwards made his first career start in last week's win over the New York Jets after starter J.P. Losman went down with a leg injury in a Week 3 setback to the New England Patriots, and the backup's play will most likely stir up a quarterback controversy when Losman is able to return at full strength.

Edwards was able to drive the Bills deep into Dallas territory during the fourth quarter before being intercepted by Terrence Newman, who returned the pick 70 yards to the Buffalo 17-yard line. The defense then stepped up and middle linebacker John DiGiorgio intercepted a Romo pass at the goal line.

"It's frustrating because I feel like definitely the defense came up with a bunch of big plays all night long," Edwards said. "We needed to capitalize on that, and we weren't able to do it. That's frustrating."

What's also frustrating for the Bills is the play of star wideout Lee Evans this season. Evans has only 113 yards on 12 catches in 2007, just one year after recording 1,292 yards and eight touchdowns on 82 receptions. He had one catch on Monday for the second time this season.

BILLS SPORTS RETRO UNIFORMS

The Buffalo Bills sported their uniforms from the 1960's on Monday night and almost pulled off a big upset in the retro digs.

Buffalo has changed its look many times since the team was founded in 1959, but Monday's uniforms certainly take the cake. Since the wave of retro fashion went mainstream a few years ago, many teams are trying to bring back the glory days with old colors and styles.

Some teams can get away with it, like the Bills, 49ers and Vikings, but other clubs should stick to what the front office already decided on. For example, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are celebrating the 75th anniversary's of their franchises this season, and each busted out horrendous retro uniforms.

How weird was it to see the Steelers with a yellow helmet and the Eagles donning Columbia blue and yellow?

Buffalo may not have made all the right moves on Monday, but the uniform selection was on point.

In other news, former Buffalo running back Thurman Thomas received his Hall of Fame ring during a halftime ceremony on Monday night. Thomas, who was enshrined in Canton as part of the 2007 class, played in 22 Monday night games during his 13 years as a Bill.

UP NEXT: BYE WEEK BEFORE BALTIMORE COMES TO TOWN

The Bills will have some extra time to reflect on their Monday night collapse with an upcoming bye week. Buffalo will play its third straight game in Orchard Park when its returns, as the Baltimore Ravens pay a visit on October 21.

After winning the first-ever meeting against the Ravens in 1999, the Bills have lost the last two encounters. Baltimore notched a 19-7 victory in the last meeting on December 31 of last season. Matt Stover kicked four field goals for the Ravens and Ray Lewis recorded six tackles, one sack and a forced fumble.

Evans hauled in seven passes for 145 yards and a score in that 2006 season finale for the Bills, who finished with their fourth losing season in the past six years. Evans hasn't been able to sniff numbers like that this season.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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