Sports Articles

2009-09-30 | Jim Murphy

The best thing that the Baltimore Ravens did on Sunday afternoon was to maintain focus. They made it a priority to not overlook the winless Cleveland Browns and both sides of the ball responded. Joe Flacco passed for a career high 342 yards, while the Baltimore defense forced four turnovers as the Ravens easily beat the Browns 34-3. The Browns dropped to 0-3 on the 2009 NFL regular season, while the Ravens improved to 3-0.

2009-09-30 | Jim Murphy

The Pittsburgh Steelers know full well that being Superbowl champion means that they have a target on their back for opposing NFL teams every week. That was definitely the case this past weekend, when the Cincinnati Bengals completed a second half rally culminating with a touchdown pass with 14 second remaining to defeat the Steelers 23-20. It was the Bengals’ first win against the Steelers at home in their past eight tries. The Steelers dropped to 1-2 with the setback, while the Bengals improved to 2-1.

2009-09-30 | Jim Murphy

The Dallas Cowboys finally got the first win in their new stadium on Sunday night. After spotting Carolina a 7-0 halftime lead, the Cowboys’ defense took over and shut down the Panthers attack en route to a 21-7 victory. The Dallas defense forced three Panthers’ turnovers and sacked quarterback Jake Delhomme three times to cement the victory. The Cowboys improved to 2-1 on the NFL season with the win while Carolina dropped to 0-3.

2009-09-29 | Jim Murphy

After an erratic start to the 2009 NFL regular season, the New England Patriots have finally found some balance to their offense. Tom Brady had carried all of the weight in the Pats’ first two regular season games due to their one dimensional offense, but on Sunday he received some long overdue help from running back Fred Taylor who ran for 105 yards. As a result, the Patriots dominated the time of possession battle holding onto the ball for nearly 40 minutes en route to a 26-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams are now 2-1 on the season.

2009-09-29 | Jim Murphy

New York Jets’ rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has been playing like a seasoned veteran, and as a result the team has started the 2009 NFL regular season 3-0. On Sunday, Sanchez again looked sharp and the Jets’ defense overcame a slow start to finish strong and defeat the Tennessee Titans 24-17. The Jets are 3-0 on the season, while the Titans have stumbled to a 0-3 mark in the early going.

2009-09-29 | Jim Murphy

The New York Giants used a potent ground attack and a suffocating defense to shut out the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-0 on Sunday. The Giants amassed 397 total yards including 226 on the ground, while the defense held Tampa to 86 yards of total offense and five first downs. The statistical disparity was staggering—the Giants ran 76 total plays to 36 for Tampa Bay, and held the ball for a mind boggling 43:38 to 16:22 for the Bucs. The Giants improved to 3-0 on the season, while Tampa dropped to 0-3 and lost for the seventh straight time dating back to last season.

2009-09-28 | Jim Murphy

The circumstances didn’t bode very well for South Florida as they headed into their game against mighty Florida State University this weekend. Their starting QB, Matt Grothe—the Big East Conference’s career total offense leader—suffered a season ending injury last weekend. In his place, the team was starting a redshirt freshman, BJ Daniels. No problem—Daniels threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns, overcoming two interceptions as South Florida beat Florida State for the first time in school history by a final score of 17-7.

2009-09-28 | Jim Murphy

Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had been chosen as the scapegoat for the team’s struggles this season by Duck fans who have questioned his ability to be a ‘big play’ quarterback and suggested that he be benched in favor of backup Nate Costa. Not even a win over nationally ranked Utah last week was able to quiet his critics, and there was a very prevalent opinion among Oregon fans that the team was shooting themselves in the foot by starting Masoli against #6 California. It didn’t work out that way—Masoli completed 21 of 25 passes including three touchdowns as the Ducks routed by Golden Bears 42-3.

2009-09-28 | Jim Murphy

Bowling Green played Boise State tough on their home field this weekend—at least for one quarter. Things looked good for the host Falcons at the end of the first quarter, as they’d held the #6 ranked Broncos scoreless and were right in the thick of things in a scoreless game. It was all downhill from that point for Bowling Green, as Boise State exploded for 29 unanswered second quarter points. The Broncos would eventually win 49-14, improving to 4-0 on the season. Bowling Green dropped to 1-3 as Boise improved their record against the MAC to 6-2 all time.

2009-09-28 | Jim Murphy

The Detroit Lions nineteen game losing streak is over. On Sunday afternoon at Ford Field in Detroit the Lions held on for a 19-14 win over the Washington Redskins. The Lions hadn’t won a game since December 23, 2007 and had already tied the second longest losing streak in NFL history. Their run of futility included a 0-16 mark in 2008, the first winless season since the NFL expanded its schedule to sixteen games. It may not have been pretty, but the streak is now over and the Lions won’t have to worry about comparisons to the 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost a record 26 games in their first two seasons as an NFL expansion team.

2009-09-28 | Jim Murphy

Now that the Detroit Lions have ended their losing streak, the St. Louis Rams are officially the worst team in the NFL. The Rams extended their losing streak—now the NFL’s longest—to 13 games on Sunday with a 36-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers on their home field at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers threw for 269 and two touchdowns and rushed for a third as Green Bay pulled away in the second half. The victory snapped a five game road losing streak for Green Bay and improved their 2009 NFL regular season record to 2-1.

2009-09-28 | Jim Murphy

In a victory for the highlight reels, Brett Favre completed a 32 yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis with 2 seconds remaining in the game to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a dramatic 27-24 come from behind victory over the San Francisco 49ers. It was the 43rd time in his career that ‘The Gunslinger’ had pulled out a victory when his team is tied or trailing in the fourth quarter. The rapidly improving 49ers dropped their first game of the year in heartbreaking fashion, while the Vikings remained undefeated at 3-0.

2009-09-26 | Jim Murphy

The University of Florida campus has been hit hard this fall by the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as ‘swine flu’. Now it may have stricken the most high profile student on campus. The Gators’ football team has been struggling with the flu for several weeks, and sources report that quarterback Tim Tebow and two other players have been suffering from an unspecified ‘respiratory illness’ and traveled separate from their teammate for precautionary reasons.

2009-09-26 | Jim Murphy

Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is expected to miss Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears due to a cracked rib. Earlier in the week there was hope that Hasselbeck would be able to play despite having spent last Sunday night in the hospital. After missing three days of practice, however, Seahawks’ coach Jim Mora said that it was unlikely he’d start though he stopped short of officially ruling him out of Sunday’s game.

2009-09-26 | Jim Murphy

LaDanian Tomlinson is still not fully recovered from a sprained right ankle, and as a result he’ll miss his second consecutive NFL regular season game this Sunday. Tomlinson was hurt in the San Diego Chargers’ season opening victory over the Oakland Raiders and didn’t play last week. The Chargers are slated to host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon.

2009-09-25 | Jim Murphy

The South Carolina Gamecocks used a nasty defensive effort, combined with an efficient and mistake free performance from quarterback Steven Garcia to upset #4 Mississippi 16-10 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC. The Gamecocks ended a 22 game losing streak against top 5 ranked teams, while Ole Miss saw their eight game winning streak come to an end. The Rebels dropped their sixth straight SEC opener.

2009-09-25 | Jim Murphy

New York Jets’ rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has been a crucial factor in the team’s 2-0 start, showing a poise and head for the game very rare for NFL newcomers. Still, there wasn’t much worry at the revelation that he’s suffering from tendinitis in his right knee. The Jets announced Sanchez’s injury on Thursday, and he’s listed as ‘probable’ on the official NFL injury report.

2009-09-25 | Jim Murphy

Brett Favre may get all of the headlines for the Minnesota Vikings, but NFL insiders are well aware that running back Adrian Peterson is the key to the team’s offensive success. Peterson’s threat alone is enough to open up options for the passing game. He’s definitely more than a decoy, however—after winning the NFL rushing title last year he’s already off to a great start with 272 yards and four touchdowns in only two games.

2009-09-23 | Jim Murphy

It wasn’t a game for the ages by the Buffalo Bills, as they blew much of a 17 point lead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still, they did what they had to do and put some offense on the board en route to a 33-20 National Football League victory. The Bills shot out to a 17-0 first quarter lead before Tampa Bay answered with 14 of their own in the second quarter. After a scoreless third quarter they outscored Tampa 13-6 in the final stanza to seal the win.

2009-09-23 | Jim Murphy

After a horrible NFL preseason, the Denver Broncos have actually looked pretty good since starting the 2009 regular season campaign. On Sunday, the Broncos used a tough defense and QB Kyle Orton’s efficient and mistake free play to top the Cleveland Browns 27-6. The Broncos also had a productive running game, and outgained the Browns by a margin of 449 yards to 200.

2009-09-23 | Jim Murphy

The Cincinnati Bengals were able to withstand a last minute Green Bay Packers comeback bid, and held on to win their first game of the NFL regular season 31-24. The Packers’ last drive stalled on the Bengals ten yard line, the victim of a false start penalty in the waning seconds. Both Cincinnati and Denver evened their 2009 record at 1-1. Wide receiver Chad Ochocinco scored the eventual game winning points on a 13 yard pass from Carson Palmer, after which he did his own version of the fabled ‘Lambeau Leap’ into a sea of less than hospitable fans.

2009-09-22 | Jim Murphy

The Atlanta Falcons are off to a fast start this season, and on Sunday used a potent offensive attack to top the Carolina Panthers 28-20 at the Georgia Dome. QB Matt Ryan threw a career high three touchdown passes, including one to his new favorite receiver Tony Gonzalez. The attack was well balanced, thanks in large part to running back Michael Turner who ran for 105 yards and a touchdown. Beleaguered Carolina QB Jake Delhomme threw another interception for ten in his previous three games (including last year’s playoff loss to Arizona) but was otherwise much more effective passing for 308 yards and a touchdown.

2009-09-22 | Jim Murphy

The Detroit Lions gave their fans a bit of false hope, opening up a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter before the Minnesota Vikings came back to win 27-13. Brett Favre was a winner in his 271st consecutive start at quarterback, and the Detroit Lions set their own dubious record becoming only the fourth team in NFL history to lose 19 consecutive regular season games. Lions’ rookie QB Matthew Stafford did show some flashes of excellence in this game before finishing with 152 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Favre had a solid game, throwing for 155 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

2009-09-22 | Jim Murphy

The Washington Redskins offense has sputtered early in the NFL season, but they found a way to win on Sunday despite not scoring a touchdown. The Redskins used three field goals by Shaun Suisham to get past the St. Louis Rams by a final score more appropriate for a baseball game, 9-7. Washington trailed 9-7 at half time, and despite dominating the offensive yardage and time of possessions needed a third quarter field goal to provide the final margin of victory.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

Vitor Belfort made his first appearance in the UFC’s iconic octagon in five years, headlining the main event of UFC 103 in Dallas, Texas. Just over three minutes later, he had already become a top contender in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. Belfort dominated veteran Rich Franklin en route to a devastating knockout victory, and following the bout talk quickly shifted to ‘The Phenom’ as a potential future opponent for both Anderson Silva at 185 and Lyoto Machida at 205.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

If there was any ring rust on Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as he returned to action after a 21 month layoff it sure wasn’t evident. Mayweather floored a game Juan Manuel Marquez in the second round and dominated his opponent wire to wire to earn a unanimous decision victory at the MGM Grand Gardens Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. There was some controversy in the victory, as Mayweather had come in two pounds overweight and was forced to pay a $600,000 penalty to Marquez as a result. Still, the story of the bout was Mayweather’s once-in-a-lifetime combination of physical gifts and technical mastery of ‘the sweet science’.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

USC has won their big game against Ohio State twice in back to back years. It’s the next game they have problems with. Last year, USC went on the road and lost to Oregon State immediately after defeating the Buckeyes. This year, it was the Washington Huskies who pulled the upset. The Huskies defense shut down the powerful Trojans’ offense, and Erik Folk kicked a 22 yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining to give Washington a 16-13 victory in Seattle. USC has now lost to an unranked team in each of the past four seasons.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

BYU’s BCS hopes went down hard on Saturday, as the Cougars were no match for the superior team speed of Florida State. Looking nothing like the team that had struggled against FCS Jacksonville State the week before, the Seminoles used 23 second quarter points to blow open the game and went on to defeat BYU 54-28. The opportunistic Florida State defense forced BYU into committing 5 turnovers, and Seminoles’ QB Christian Ponder threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the blowout victory on the Cougars’ home field.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

Tennessee put up a gutty effort against #1 ranked Florida in ‘The Swamp’, but ultimately the Gators’ defense were too much for the Vols. Florida held Tennessee to 210 yards of total offense en route to a 23-13 SEC victory on Saturday and in the process won their school record 13th consecutive game. The Vols fell to 2-7 all time when playing a #1 ranked team. Florida has now beaten Tennessee in five straight, and has won 10 of the last 12 meetings at home.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

Texas Tech spoiled Texas’ National Championship hopes last season and the Longhorns were primed for revenge. What they got instead was a surprisingly tough game, though they ultimately prevailed by a final score of 34-24. The game was in doubt until early in the 4th quarter when Longhorns’ QB Colt McCoy hit Dan Buckner with a three yard touchdown pass. McCoy threw for 205 yards and a touchdown, though he did give up two interceptions. The Longhorns were able to beat the Red Raiders at home for the fifth consecutive time.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

The New York Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez outplayed Tom Brady, and the team followed the tempo set by their raucous home fans en route to a 16-9 victory over the New England Patriots at the Meadowlands. Sanchez not only beat the Patriots in his 2nd regular season start, he enabled the Jets to beat New England at home for the first time since 2000. The victory also ended Brady’s streak of 21 consecutive games won by a starting QB, one short of legendary Chicago Bears’ signal caller Jim McMahon. Brady actually threw for more yards than Sanchez, but gave up an interception while the Jets’ rookie protected the football and threw the only touchdown pass of the game. Plus, his team won the game which is the ultimate measure of a NFL quarterback’s productivity.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

Kansas City QB Matt Cassel returned to the lineup for the Kansas City Chiefs and played reasonably well, but didn’t get much help from the rest of his offense. His Raiders’ counterpart JaMarcus Russell looked downright inept for three quarters before engineering an impressive 69 yard drive late in the game that sealed the victory. When everything was said and done, the Raiders had managed to outlast the Kansas City Chiefs 13-10 at Mile High Stadium. Despite the Chiefs dominating every phase of the offensive stat sheet—except the final score—the Raiders somehow managed to take the victory and even their record on the season at 1-1. The Chiefs, meanwhile, dropped to 0-2 straight up and looked no better with their starting QB back under center than they did with backup Brody Croyle a week earlier.

2009-09-21 | Jim Murphy

If the NFL hadn’t noticed yet, the San Francisco 49ers are simply a different team under head coach Mike Singletary. Since the legendary Chicago Bears linebacker took the reins of a floundering team, the Niners are 8-2 dating back to last year. They ran their 2009 record to 2-0 on Sunday as they used a productive rushing game to pull away from the Seattle Seahawks in the second half, eventually winning by a 23-10 final score. Frank Gore did the most significant damage for the Niners, running for two long touchdowns of 79 and 80 yards. Seattle evened their 2009 NFL mark at 1-1.

2009-09-18 | Jim Murphy

While the St. Louis Rams aren’t the toughest opponents the NFL can offer, the Seattle Seahawks played well on both offense and defense en route to a 28-0 opening game victory. Jim Mora made a successful debut as Seahawks coach and Matt Hasselbeck played his first regular season game since last Thanksgiving. Hasselbeck was 25 of 36 for 279 yards with three touchdown passes, though he also threw two interceptions.

2009-09-18 | Jim Murphy

The New York Giants jumped out to a 17-0 lead against their NFC East rivals from Washington, and were never threatened as they went on to beat the Redskins by a final score of 23-17. Defensive stalwart Osi Umenyiora returned from a serious knee injury and scored a touchdown on a fumble return, while the Giants’ offense controlled the ball well and completely dominated the time of possession. The Giants held a lopsided edge of 36:08 to 23:52 in that department, which helped them overcome a couple of turnovers. Eli Manning played well, throwing for 259 yards and a touchdown to counteract one interception.

2009-09-18 | Jim Murphy

Kansas City Chiefs’ QB Matt Cassel missed the first game of the NFL regular season, and his status remains questionable for the team’s second game of the year against the Oakland Raiders. Although he appeared to be running more briskly and favoring his knee less in practice this week, Chiefs’ coach Todd Haley maintains that he’s still a ‘game time decision’. The Chiefs’ offense has looked pitiful ever since preseason and their ineptitude cost coordinator Chan Gailey his job. In addition to playing without their starting quarterback, Kansas City is woefully lacking in playmaking wide receivers.

2009-09-16 | Jim Murphy

The Indianapolis Colts, finding their offense shut down by a relentless Jacksonville Jaguars attack, fought back in kind. The often maligned Indy stop unit matched the ferocity of their Jaguars’ counterparts play for play, and one touchdown pass from Peyton Manning proved to be enough to earn victory by a 14-12 margin in the NFL season opener for both teams. The victory was Manning’s 118th in a Colts uniform, tying the legendary Johnny Unitas for the franchise lead.

2009-09-16 | Jim Murphy

Tony Romo passed for a NFL career best 353 yards and threw three touchdown passes as the Dallas Cowboys got their 2009 season off to a good start with a 34-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Raheem Morris went down in defeat in his debut as Bucs’ head coach, while the Cowboys answered a lot of questions about how their receiving corps would respond to the absence of Terrell Owens, now with the Buffalo Bills.

2009-09-16 | Jim Murphy

The bad news for the Baltimore Ravens in their 2009 NFL regular season opener was that their vaunted defense gave up 24 points despite holding a decided advantage in every other statistical category. The good news was that their offense was more than up to the task, answering with 38 points and a franchise record 501 yards. All told, the Ravens opened their season on a winning note beating the Kansas City Chiefs 38-24. Quarterback Joe Flacco threw for a career high 307 yards and three touchdown passes in the victory.

2009-09-16 | Jim Murphy

New York Jets’ rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez tracked down NFL legend Joe Namath before the game looking for a pep talk and some pointers. He didn’t exactly get what he’d bargained for from ‘Broadway Joe’, but what the NFL Hall of Famer told him may have had a more beneficial effect. Sanchez looked very decidedly not like a rookie as he threw for 272 yards and a touchdown against one interception. More importantly, the Jets easily beat the host Houston Texans 24-7.

2009-09-16 | Jim Murphy

San Francisco quarterback Shaun Hill steadied the erratic Niners’ offense, leading a late game touchdown drive that gave his team a 20-16 upset victory over the host Arizona Cardinals in the NFL opener for both teams. Hill finished with 209 yards and a touchdown pass with no interceptions. His Cards’ counterpart Kurt Warner put up 288 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice.

2009-09-16 | Jim Murphy

Jay Cutler looked great in the preseason, giving Chicago Bears’ fans premature hopes for another Superbowl run. They quickly found out that the regular season is a different animal, as Cutler looked awful in his regular season debut with his new team. His yardage output wasn’t bad, as he threw for 277 yards with a touchdown but that was more than offset by a career high four interceptions. His Packers’ counterpart Aaron Rodgers was steady, throwing for 184 yards with a touchdown—and no interceptions. The sum total of the game saw the Packers defeating their arch rivals from Chicago 21-15.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

Less than a month after announcing his return to the NFL and joining the Minnesota Vikings, quarterback Brett Favre has been named one of five team captains. This is quite a turnaround from his first weeks with the team, when there were a number of questions about his commitment to the team and the motivation behind ending his retirement for the second straight year. Favre joins guard Steve Hutchinson, defensive tackle Kevin Williams, linebacker E.J. Henderson and kicker Ryan Longwell as the Vikings’ permanent captains. The Vikings will also pick a sixth captain on a game-by-game basis.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

Richard Seymour will finally join the Oakland Raiders, five days after he was originally slated to report to his new team following a trade by the New England Patriots. Seymour had not publicly spoken to the media following his ‘no show’ earlier in the week, though Raiders’ officials maintained that they had spoken to the pro bowl cornerback and that he insisted he wanted to play for Oakland. There was further speculation that Seymour was looking for a new contract, but at no point did it appear that the trade would fall apart.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

Oklahoma State had been riding high in the college football polls, fresh off a decisive victory over Georgia last Saturday. Houston, meanwhile, started its season with a lopsided beatdown of overmatched FCS foe Northwestern State. Perhaps for that reason, Oklahoma State didn’t come out with a whole lot of intensity and by halftime found themselves in a 24-7 hole to their opponents. State would rally in the second half, but Houston would eventually prevail for a 35-25 victory. The win was Houston’s first triumph over a top five opponent since defeating then #3 ranked Texas back in 1984.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

While not a vintage performance by their lofty standards, the University of Southern California Trojans overcame a number of mistakes to make big plays when they counted to prevail in a come from behind victory over Ohio State. Stafon Johnson capped a late game drive by scoring the game winning touchdown with just over a minute remaining as the Trojans won by a final score of 18-15. It was the first time the Trojans held the lead since early in the first quarter. The USC victory moved their record on the college football season to 2-0, while the Buckeyes dropped to 1-1. The Trojans have now won ten straight games against Big 10 opponents.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

The 2009 college football season is already two weeks old and so far it’s looked almost too easy for defending national champions Florida. That was expected last week, as they destroyed overmatched FCS opponent Charleston Southern 62-3, but it wasn’t much harder today against a better class of opposition. QB Tim Tebow threw for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth as the Gators demolished Troy State 56-6. The Gators led only 7-3 at the end of the first quarter before scoring seven unanswered touchdowns. Florida is now 2-0 on the season, while Troy dropped to 0-2. The Gators have outscored their first two opponents by an outlandish aggregate score of 118-9.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

The Atlanta Falcons haven’t historically been known for their defense. That may be about to change, at least based on their performance in their NFL season opener against the Miami Dolphins. An opportunistic Falcons stop unit took the ball away from the Dolphins four times leading to ten points, while Matt Ryan threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns as Atlanta thumped the visiting Dolphins 19-7 at The Georgia Dome.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

So far, so good. The Brett Favre era in Minnesota got off to a strong start in the team’s opening game of the NFL season, as ‘The Gunslinger’ was solid and running back Adrian Peterson rushed for three touchdowns as the Vikings easily beat the host Cleveland Browns 34-20. The Browns held a 13-10 halftime lead, but the Vikings turned it on after the break scoring 24 second half points to pull away for the victory. Favre finished with 110 yards on 14 of 21 passing and a touchdown—and most importantly didn’t throw an interception.

2009-09-14 | Jim Murphy

Drew Brees tied a franchise record with six touchdown passes, and the New Orleans Saints offense picked up where they left off last year as they routed the Detroit Lions 45-27 in the opening game of the NFL season for both teams. Brees threw for 358 yards on 26 of 34 passing with one interception as the Saints built up a 28-10 halftime lead before coasting to victory. The hapless Lions lost their 18th straight regular season game, which is the fourth longest run of futility in NFL history. Overall they’re 1-24 in their last 25 games.

2009-09-13 | Jim Murphy

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened defense of their Superbowl championship by beating the Tennessee Titans 13-10 in overtime. Both offenses moved the ball well, but both defenses came up big in the red zone resulting in a low scoring affair. Neither team could get their usually solid running game established, so QBs Ben Roethlisberger and Kerry Collins took to the air, combining for over 550 yards passing. The rushing attack, meanwhile, was rendered irrelevant in the NFL season opener with neither team able to surpass 100 yards on the ground. The Steelers, in particular, saw their ground attack sputter as a stout Titans’ defense held them to 36 yards of rushing.

2009-09-12 | Jim Murphy

The Kansas City Chiefs had hoped that the status of Matt Cassel’s injury would make their starting QB decision clearer as the week progressed. Unfortunately, if anything it has become murkier as game day draws near. Though Cassel has returned to practice and become more involved in drills during the week, neither he nor the team has been any more committal on his status for the Chiefs’ NFL opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

2009-09-12 | Jim Murphy

In the era of 24 hour television and Internet sports media, it’s very hard for a NFL coach to keep a secret. Despite Cleveland Browns’ coach Eric Mangini’s insistence that he wasn’t going to reveal the identity of his starting quarterback in advance of the team’s NFL season opening game against the Minnesota Vikings, hard working ‘beat’ writers for the team now think they know the identity of his top signal caller. Unnamed sources within the organization and the observations of the media suggest that Brady Quinn will get the nod as the Browns’ starting quarterback.

2009-09-12 | Jim Murphy

For the NFL handicapper, understanding the methodology behind NFL totals (also called ‘over/under’ numbers) is also a crucial component of his wagering arsenal. For those not familiar with NFL totals, it’s the large number you’ll see accompanying most point spread betting propositions. For example, the 2009 Superbowl line opened with Pittsburgh a 6’ point favorite over Arizona. The total was set at 47’. Simply stated, the total allows the better to decide whether the combined score between the two teams will go ‘OVER’ or ‘UNDER’.

2009-09-09 | Jim Murphy

In order to successfully bet on NFL football it’s important to start with the fundamentals. And we’re not talking about the ‘X’s and O’s’ of professional football game planning—we’re talking about the fundamentals of understanding the wagering side of the equation. There’s a lot of misunderstanding about what NFL pointspreads mean and how they are setting. A firm grasp of the essential bookmaking concept of setting NFL lines is a prerequisite for any hopes of sports betting success.

2009-09-09 | Jim Murphy

Trades and similar player movements are a fact of life for NFL players. While players may not always be happy with a trade to a new team, more often than not they willingly accept their new assignment and try to make the best of it. That’s apparently not the case with the Oakland Raiders’ newly acquired defensive end Richard Seymour. Seymour was acquired by the Raiders on Sunday and as of yet has not reported to his new team.

2009-09-09 | Jim Murphy

The Tennessee Titans are preparing to open the NFL regular season on Thursday night in Pittsburgh against the Superbowl champion Steelers and already they have to struggle with the impact of injuries to key personnel. Of all their injuries none are potentially more specific than the hamstring injury suffered by wide receiver Nate Washington in practice on August 24th. The most recent development, however, is a positive one for the Titans as Washington has indicated that he’s feeling better and there’s a good chance he’ll play in Tennessee’s opening game.

2009-09-08 | Jim Murphy

Matthew Stafford has yet to play a regular season NFL game and he’s already the Detroit Lions’ starting quarterback. First year coach Jim Schwartz named Stafford as his starter for the team’s opening game of the NFL regular season against the New Orleans Saints. Stafford beat out veteran Daunte Culpepper for the spot, though Schwartz went out of his way to stress that the rookie ‘won the job’ as opposed to Culpepper losing it.

2009-09-08 | Jim Murphy

Most NFL head coaches place a priority on naming a starting QB before the regular season begins. The idea is that it helps the chemistry on the team, as well as helping the quarterback define himself as a ‘team leader’. Cleveland Browns’ head coach Eric Mangini hasn’t named his starting QB yet. Nor will he, at least not publicly. Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson will find out if they’re the starting QB in the next couple of days, but the first public confirmation their coach will give is when they trot out on the field after the NFL regular season begins.

2009-09-08 | Jim Murphy

The good news for the Kansas City Chiefs as they prepare for the start of the NFL regular season is that their starting quarterback is back at practice. The bad news is that they still don’t know when he’ll be able to play. Matt Cassel returned to the Chiefs’ practice field on Monday for the first time since he injured his left knee in a NFL preseason game on August 29th. Still, there’s been no confirmation from either he or the team as to when he’ll return to action.

2009-09-07 | Jim Murphy

Undrafted Brian Hover played the entire game for the Patriots and may have earned himself a position as Tom Brady’s backup with a solid all around performance as New England topped the New York Giants 38-27 in the NFL preseason finale for both clubs. Hover passed for 242 yards and no interceptions on 18 of 25 passing. Most impressively, he didn’t get rattled as the Giants broke from the gate quickly to post a 21-0 first quarter lead. The Patriots finished their NFL preseason slate at 3-1, while the Giants slumped to a 1-3 mark in exhibition play.

2009-09-07 | Jim Murphy

Despite the fact that neither their starting QB Carson Palmer nor his Indy counterpart Peyton Manning saw action, the Cincinnati Bengals will take their wins however and whenever they can get them. For that reason, they had to be heartened by their NFL preseason ending 38-7 home rout of the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals’ rushing game put 296 yards on the board and Cincinnati trounced Indianapolis in every significant offense statistical category. The Bengals evened their NFL preseason record at 2-2, while the Colts dropped to 1-3.

2009-09-07 | Jim Murphy

The Houston Texans produced a 17 point outburst in the second quarter and went on to beat the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-20 in the NFL preseason finale for both teams. Rex Grossman carried the bulk of the workload for Houston, finishing with 197 yards and two touchdowns in an effort that likely secured him the #3 quarterback position on the Texans’ roster behind Matt Schaub and Dan Orlovsky. While Grossman didn’t throw any interceptions, it was a sloppy game overall with the two teams combining for seven turnovers. The Texans evened their NFL preseason record at 2-2, while the Bucs dropped to 1-3.

2009-09-07 | Jim Murphy

With three NFL preseason wins under their belt there was every reason to think that the San Francisco 49ers would ‘phone in’ their final exhibition game against the San Diego Chargers. And that’s exactly what they did—the Chargers scored at least six points in every quarter against the Niners reserves en route to a 26-7 home victory. San Francisco would settle for a 3-1 mark in NFL preseason play, while the Chargers wrapped up their exhibition slate with a 2-2 record.

2009-09-07 | Jim Murphy

For the first half of their NFL preseason contest against the Dallas Cowboys it looked like the Minnesota Vikings would wrap up exhibition play with a perfect record. After spotting Dallas the first 7 points of the game, the Vikings scored three unanswered touchdowns to head to the locker room at halftime with a 21-7 advantage. After the break, however, Dallas’ reserves took over the game and rallied with 28 second half points. When the smoke cleared, Dallas had beaten Minnesota 35-31 to spoil their undefeated preseason record. The Vikings would slip to 3-1 in preseason play while Dallas evened their exhibition mark at 2-2.

2009-09-07 | Jim Murphy

The Arizona Cardinals haven’t looked anything like a Superbowl team in the NFL preseason. They entered their final exhibition contest against the Denver Broncos looking for their first win. Denver, likewise, has struggled in their exhibition games and the result was a contest between two teams with identical 0-3 records. The Broncos controlled the contest on both sides of the ball en route to a 19-0 shutout victory over the struggling Cards. Denver managed to improve their preseason record to 1-3, while Arizona ended the exhibition campaign winless at 0-4.

2009-09-05 | Jim Murphy

The South Carolina Gamecocks’ offense didn’t look particularly sharp in their season opening contest at North Carolina State. Of course with the way their defense was playing, they didn’t have to be. Brian Maddox scored on a one yard run in the first quarter for the only touchdown of the game as the Gamecock defense completely shut down the Wolfpack offense en route to a 7-3 South Carolina victory. The win gave the Gamecocks their second straight season opening victory over North Carolina State—South Carolina won 34-0 in Columbia to start the 2008 football season.

2009-09-05 | Jim Murphy

The Kansas City Chiefs have had an awful preseason, primarily due to their inability to put points on the board. This liability cost offensive coordinator Chan Gailey his job earlier in the week, but in the first game with head coach Todd Haley calling the plays it was more of the same as the Chiefs’ couldn’t find the end zone. St. Louis scored an offensive touchdown late in the first half and used a third quarter interception return for a score to beat Kansas City 17-9. The Chiefs finished the NFL preseason with a winless 0-4 record, while St. Louis posted a 3-1 mark.

2009-09-05 | Jim Murphy

Even when the games don’t count and the starters play little, if at all, the Baltimore Ravens hate to lose. Despite the Atlanta Falcons’ starting QB Matt Ryan playing only one series and with the Ravens’ third string signal caller John Beck playing the entire game it was apparent that Baltimore wanted the victory more. The former BYU standout threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdown passes as the Ravens easily beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-3 at the Georgia Dome. The victory gave the Ravens an undefeated NFL preseason mark at 4-0, while the Falcons finished the exhibition campaign with a 2-2 record.

2009-09-05 | Jim Murphy

The resurgent Miami Dolphins are preparing to repeat as AFC East champs, and their spirits were no doubt given a boost as they finished off a perfect NFL preseason schedule with a victory over the New Orleans Saints in a low scoring game. Patrick Cobbs’ six yard run in the second quarter provided the margin of victory for the Dolphins in the 10-7 win, though the Saints made things interesting late as Rod Harper returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown midway through the final period. The Dolphins wrapped up the NFL exhibition slate at 4-0, while the Saints fell to 3-1.

2009-09-05 | Jim Murphy

While some NFL teams are trying to put a winning preseason behind them and get down to business in the regular season, the Carolina Panthers are doing the opposite—they’re trying to forget a dismal exhibition campaign. The Pittsburgh Steelers trailed the Panthers in every major offensive category but leveraged their superior defensive and special teams play to beat Carolina 21-10. The defense forced a three-and-out on the Panthers’ first offensive series before Stefan Logan ran back the ensuing punt 80 yards for a touchdown. Steelers’ starting QB Ben Roethlisberger played one series and then turned the game over to the reserves who took care of business the rest of the way. The Steelers finished the NFL preseason with a 3-1 record; Carolina slumped to a winless 0-4 mark.

2009-09-05 | Jim Murphy

Though nominally an in-state rivalry game, the season opening contest between Utah and Utah State was a typically one sided affair. Utah entered the contest on a fourteen game straight up winning streak, while Utah State stumbled to a 3-9 season in 2008. After a closely contested first quarter, Utah pulled away behind JuCo transfer QB Terrance Cain before winning 35-17 in Salt Lake City.

2009-09-03 | Jim Murphy

The Dallas Cowboys used their running game to take a 10-3 halftime lead, but the San Francisco 49ers’ reserves made the most of their opportunity in the second half. San Francisco outscored Dallas 17-3 after the break to win the NFL preseason contest by a 20-13 final score. The victory improved the Niners’ NFL preseason mark to a perfect 3-0, while Dallas dropped to 1-2 in their exhibition games.

2009-09-03 | Jim Murphy

Ben Roethlisberger looked sharp in his return to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ lineup from injury, while the Buffalo Bills offense continued to sputter as the Steelers topped the visiting Bills 17-0 in NFL preseason action. Roethlisberger finished with 168 yards on 15 for 19 passing as Pittsburgh put 17 points on the board for the shutout. The victory improved Pittsburgh’s NFL preseason record to 2-1, while Buffalo dropped to 1-3 and hardly looked like a team that has had the benefit of an extra preseason contest.

2009-09-03 | Jim Murphy

Brady Quinn outplayed Derek Anderson, giving himself an edge in the Cleveland Browns QB battle, and his team outplayed the Tennessee Titans earning a victory in NFL preseason action. Quinn threw a touchdown pass as Cleveland used a 17 point third quarter to beat Tennessee 23-17. The Browns improved their NFL preseason record to 2-1 with the victory, while Tennessee dropped to 2-2.

2009-09-03 | Jim Murphy

The Baltimore defense shut down the Carolina attack, and QB Joe Flacco played a virtually mistake free game as the Ravens built a 14-3 halftime lead before going on to beat the Panthers 17-13. The banged up Panthers scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable, but were never really in the game. The Ravens remained perfect on the NFL preseason at 3-0, while the Panthers remained winless at 0-3.

2009-09-03 | Jim Murphy

Muhammad ‘King Mo’ Lawal is already a superstar in Japan, and his main event matchup on the M-1 Global ‘Breakthrough’ card was supposed to be his US ‘coming out party’. It didn’t quite work out that way, although it was entirely due to circumstances beyond his control. ‘King Mo’ took care of his business, utterly obliterating former UFC and PRIDE standout Mark ‘The Smashing Machine’ Kerr by TKO only 25 seconds into the fight.

2009-09-03 | Jim Murphy

A week after being named the New York Jets’ starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez rewarded his first year NFL coach with a victory. Rex Ryan got his first win at the helm of the Jets as his team held off a 4th quarter comeback to nip the crosstown rival New York Giants 27-25. Both teams are now 1-2 in NFL preseason play.