11/16/2008 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Cutler's nine-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Graham in the latter half of the fourth quarter lifted the Denver Broncos to a 24-20 come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Cutler completed 19-of-27 passes for 216 yards for the Broncos (6-4), who have won two straight after dropping three games in a row. Brandon Marshall made six grabs for 89 yards, while rookie Peyton Hillis added two rushing scores.
Matt Ryan connected on 20-of-33 pass attempts for 250 yards with one interception for Atlanta (6-4), which had a two-game winning streak snapped and trails the front-running Panthers by two games in the NFC South. The Falcons host Carolina next Sunday.
Michael Turner rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries for the Falcons, who suffered their first blemish at home in five games.
Roddy White led all receivers with 102 yards on five receptions, but couldn't haul in a potential game-winning touchdown in the late stages of the contest.
A 28-yard sprint by Turner capped an eight-play, 77-yard drive and put Atlanta up 20-17 with 10:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Denver, though, quickly recaptured the lead on its next possession. On 3rd- and-7 at his own 20, Cutler hit Marshall for a 47-yard gain. The Broncos marched to the Falcons' nine, where, on 3rd-and-goal, Cutler threw a strike to Graham in the back of the end zone, giving Denver a 24-20 lead with 5:35 to play.
The Falcons nearly made a dramatic comeback of their own. On 3rd-and-18 at the Denver 45, Ryan aired it out to White, but the receiver bobbled the ball in the end zone. Ryan then threw incomplete to Michael Jenkins on fourth down and Denver escaped with the win.
Following a three-and-out by Atlanta, the Broncos began their first drive of the contest at their own 45. Faced with a 3rd-and-9, Cutler delivered a 12- yard strike to Brandon Stokley. The third-year pro continued to carve Atlanta's defense, completing three more passes to place the ball at the Falcons 21. After a false start penalty and incompletion forced a 3rd-and-6, Cutler hit Stokley for 10 yards, setting up Hillis, who pounded it up the gut from seven yards away two plays later for his first career rushing touchdown.
A former third-round pick (70th overall) by Denver in the 1993 draft, Jason Elam booted a 46-yard field with 2:26 remaining in the opening quarter. The veteran kicker and three-time Pro Bowler spent 15 seasons with the Broncos before signing with Atlanta last March.
Elam's 36-yarder pulled the Falcons within one early in the second quarter.
Denver then failed to cash in on a terrific return by Eddie Royal on the ensuing kickoff. The rookie out of Virginia Tech amassed 58 yards before he was tackled at the Atlanta 38. However, the Broncos couldn't get a first down and Matt Prater's 49-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
The Falcons got the ball back at their own 39 and needed just seven plays to grab the lead. Turner was stopped for no gain on 3rd-and-1 and Ryan applied a hard count to draw the defense offsides on fourth down. Atlanta mustered only one yard over the next two plays, but the rookie signal-caller hooked up with White for a big third-down conversion.
While under duress, Ryan rolled to his right and lofted a wobbly pass to White for 37 yards. Turner ran through a gaping hole on the left side for a nine- yard score on the subsequent play, and the Falcons went into halftime up 13-7.
Denver orchestrated an 11-play, 77-yard drive to open the second half, and Hillis' two-yard TD run gave the Broncos a one-point lead five minutes into the third quarter.
Ryan, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 draft, was intercepted by Dre Bly on the next series. Denver eventually settled for three points off the leg of Prater -- a 20-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter -- after failing three times to punch it in from inside the five-yard line.
Game Notes
Denver is 3-2 on the road...The Broncos return home next Sunday to face Oakland...Denver has won six of the last seven meetings against Atlanta...Hillis rushed for 44 yards and caught three passes for 26 yards...Denver rookie Spencer Larsen became the first player in club history to start on offense and defense. He lined up at fullback, linebacker and also contributed on special teams.
<< Jacobs, Bradshaw help Giants run over Ravens
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw
powered a Giants rushing attack that piled up 207 yards on the vaunted Ravens
run defense, as New York kept rolling with a 30-10 pounding of Baltimore.
Jacobs g
<< Kaka helps AC Milan keep pace with Inter
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaka converted a penalty kick in the 15th
minute to give AC Milan a 1-0 win over Chievo at the San Siro on Sunday,
keeping the Rossoneri within one point of league-leaders Inter Milan.
The penalt
<< Bucs edge Vikings to keep pace in NFC South
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Bryant kicked four field goals and B.J.
Askew rushed for his first-career touchdown as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers edged
the Minnesota Vikings, 19-13, at Raymond James Stadium.
Jeff Garcia completed 23-
<< Panthers run at will, keep Lions winless
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeAngelo Williams had two rushing touchdowns
while Jonathan Stewart had one on the ground as the Carolina Panthers downed
the winless Detroit Lions, 31-22, at Bank of America Stadium.
Williams finished th
Bears' Orton starts vs. Packers >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bears quarterback Kyle Orton started
Sunday's 37-3 loss against Green Bay, despite an ankle injury that caused him
to miss last week's loss to Tennessee.
Orton, though, went a measly 13-for-26 with
Barca tops Recreativo to extend unbeaten run to 16 >>
Andalusia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi and Seydou Keita scored in the
second half as Barcelona topped Recreativo 2-0 on Sunday in Spain's La Liga to
open a three-point gap atop the standings and extend its unbeaten streak to 16.
B
Lyon edges Bordeaux to open seven-point lead >>
Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Karim Benzema and Kim Kallstrom scored in the
first half and Lyon held on for a 2-1 victory over Bordeaux on Sunday, a result
that may catapult the seven-time defending Ligue 1 champions to another title.
Ly
Gators sink Braves with three-point show >>
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Werner scored 17 points on 6-of-11
shooting to lead the Florida Gators to a convincing 81-58 victory over the
Bradley Braves in the 2008 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
Nick Calathes added 13
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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