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09/02/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Thaddeus Lewis' 26-yard TD pass to Brandon McRae in the fourth quarter helped the St. Louis Rams beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-21, in the preseason finale for both clubs.
Lewis completed 6-of-8 passes for 89 yards for the Rams, who went 3-1 in the preseason and open the season against the Cardinals on September 12. Fellow rookie Sam Bradford connected on 6-of-6 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Keith Null completed 7-of-10 passes for 90 yards, a touchdown and a pick.
Brandon Gibson caught four passes for 40 yards and score. Billy Bajema also had a receiving TD.
Troy Smith played the entire game, completing 18-of-38 passes for 237 yards and two interceptions for the Ravens, who also went 3-1 in the preseason and open the season versus the Jets on September 13. Smith also carried the ball seven times for 56 yards and two scores.
David Reed caught three passes for 65 yards, while Dannell Ellerbe returned an interception 57 yards for a touchdown in defeat.
<< Jets down Eagles in preseason finale
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Brunell's 51-yard touchdown throw to
Santonio Holmes shortly into the fourth quarter put the Jets in front, and New
York held on for a 21-17 victory over the Eagles in the team's final preseason
game.
<< Steelers top Panthers in preseason finale, QB questions unresolved
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dennis Dixon completed his only pass of the
night for a 23-yard touchdown to Emmanuel Sanders in the second quarter
the Steelers beat Carolina, 19-3, in the preseason finale for both teams.
Dixon, w
<< College Football Game Capsules
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Terrelle Pryor threw for 247 yards and three
touchdowns, as second-ranked Ohio State blew out Marshall, 45-7, in the season
opener for both teams. Pryor, coming off a sophomore season in which he led
the Buckeyes
<< Blue Hens expect to be more than Devlin
Newark, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - OK, now, the Delaware offense consists of
quarterback Pat Devlin and, well, uh, um ...
Yes, the answers don't necessarily role off the tongue.
Don't be mistaken, however, UD will be much more than PD th
Utley GS caps nine-run seventh as Phils outslug Rockies >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Utley's grand slam to cap a nine-run
seventh inning proved to be just enough to hold off the pesky Rockies, as
Philadelphia hung on for a wild 12-11 win versus Colorado in a makeup game at
Coors F
Bucs finish preseason with win over Texans >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Carpenter threw a pair of touchdowns as
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took down the Houston Texans, 24-17, in the preseason
finale for both squads.
Carpenter was 15-for-22 for 203 yards for the Buccaneers,
Titans down Saints in exhibition finale >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pearman spearheaded a huge rushing
attack with 36 yards and a touchdown and Kerry Collins completed 8-of-17
passes for 89 yards as Tennessee held off New Orleans, 27-24, in the preseason
finale
Cowboys end preseason with win over Miami >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Buehler's 31-yard field goal with time
expiring lifted the Dallas Cowboys to a 27-25 victory over the Miami Dolphins
in the teams' preseason finale.
Buehler kicked four field goals in the victory, a
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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