Warner and Cardinals deal Buffalo first loss of season
Football Betting Lines
10/05/2008 -
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Warner threw a pair of touchdown passes
and Tim Hightower scored twice, as the Arizona Cardinals cruised past the
previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills, 41-17.
Warner hit on 33-of-42 pass attempts for 250 yards and Larry Fitzgerald caught
both touchdown passes among a seven-catch, 52-yard performance. Hightower
gained 37 yards on seven carries while Edgerrin James also scored, rushing for
57 yards on 21 attempts for Arizona (3-2), which committed a whopping seven
turnovers in last weekend's wild 56-35 setback to Brett Favre and the Jets.
Six of those miscues were attributed to Warner, whose prolific 472-yard
passing performance was neutralized by three interceptions and a trio of lost
fumbles. The Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak.
"We're a tough team to beat when we don't turn the ball over," Cardinals coach
Ken Whisenhunt said. We had a number of different players that made big plays
today. I'm really excited about the way we played."
Trent Edwards was forced to leave the game with a concussion on the third play
from scrimmage and J.P. Losman struggled in relief. Losman accounted for three
turnovers in throwing for 220 yards on 15-of-21 passing with a touchdown and
an interception. Lee Evans hauled in an 87-yard TD catch, highlighting a two-
catch, 100-yard effort while Marshawn Lynch was limited to 55 yards on 13
carries for the Bills (4-1), who rallied from a 14-6 halftime deficit last
Sunday to down the St. Louis Rams, 31-14.
The Bills were seeking their first 5-0 start since 1991.
"Our guys played hard, I think as hard in this loss as our first four
victories," Bills coach Dick Jauron said. "I'll always feel good about that.
We don't always play smart and we made some errors we need to correct. It was
one of those days when we couldn't get anything generated almost anywhere."
Things got off to a bad start for Buffalo as Edwards was leveled by Arizona's
Adrian Wilson on the third play of the game. With Edwards relegated to the
sideline, Losman came on and lost a fumble on his second play, giving Arizona
the ball at the Buffalo 38. A Warner to Fitzgerald hookup put Arizona on the
two-yard-line and the Cardinals took a 7-0 lead after Warner found Fitzgerald
wide open in the right corner of the end zone on the next play.
The Cardinals' next possession saw them take the ball 80 yards on 14 plays and
Hightower capped it with a 17-yard TD run for a 14-0 advantage 45 seconds into
the second quarter.
Buffalo answered, though, and in a big way as Losman escaped a collapsing
pocket to find Evans for an 87-yard touchdown just over two minutes later.
Arizona was undeterred and drove 78 yards in 12 plays on its next turn with
the ball and James made it count with a one-yard TD.
The Bills responded quickly with Losman settled in. The QB breached the goal
line himself on 3rd-and-goal from the two-yard-line, cutting the lead to a
21-14 deficit with just 1:46 to go in the half. Warner worked quickly after
getting the ball back, going 5-for-5 passing on a 44-yard drive to put Neil
Rackers in position to nail a 47-yard field goal as the half expired.
Rian Lindell opened the second-half scoring with a 48-yard field goal for a
24-17 game, but the Cardinals continued to move the ball against Buffalo's
defense. After driving to the Bills' 11, J.J. Arrington was stuffed on 3rd-
and-2, bringing Rackers on for a 28-yard kick. The boot was true but a Bills'
offsides call on the kick handed a new set of downs to Arizona. Two plays
later, Warner hit Fitzgerald for a two-yard score and a 31-17 advantage.
A 38-yard field goal from Rackers to open the final quarter made it 34-17 and
Losman lost a second fumble, this time on a sack from Gerald Hayes, who
recovered at the Buffalo 19. The Cardinals got 11 on 3rd-and-12 after taking
over but decided to go for the first down and Hightower moved the chains, then
found the end zone for a two-yard score and a 41-17 game.
Buffalo's last three drives went for naught as Losman sandwiched a pick
between a punt and a turnover on downs.
Game Notes
Buffalo has a 5-4 lead in the all-time series with Arizona and had won four
consecutive games against the Cardinals dating back to 1986...Buffalo last
visited Arizona in 1999, claiming a 31-21 decision in Sun Devil Stadium...The
last win over Buffalo for the Cardinals franchise came in 1984, when the team
resided in St. Louis...Arizona has won its last five home tests and is 8-3
as the host since the start of the 2007 season...Among the Bills' inactives
were CB Terrence McGee, WR Roscoe Parrish, RB Xavier Omon, FB Corey McIntyre,
OT Demetrius Bell, TE Derek Fine and DE Chris Ellis...Arizona was without FB
Tim Castille, T Elliot Vallejo, T Brandon Keith, DT Alan Branch, TE
Jerame Tuman, DE Bertrand Berry and WR Anquan Boldin, who is out
indefinitely after having surgery on a fractured facial bone he suffered in a
helmet-to-helmet hit last Sunday against the New York Jets...Fitzgerald passed
the 5,000-yard receiving mark in the game and became the seventh quickest
player in NFL history to reach that plateau...Hightower now has five
touchdowns in five games this season.
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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
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