Battered Steelers Refuse to Give an Inch

Football Betting Lines

10/09/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No Hines Ward or Santonio Homes, the starting wideouts? No Casey Hampton or Troy Polamalu, two Pro Bowl defenders? No problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who again stated their case for elite status with a formulaic 21-0 suffocation of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

With the above players working the sideline in street clothes due to injury, you might have expected head coach Mike Tomlin to resort to gimmicks to get his team its fourth win of the season. But you would have been incorrect in that prediction, because the Steelers looked every bit like the Steelers in the victory.

They ran the football a total of 41 times, with Willie Parker (28 carries, 102 yards) bringing the lightning and Najeh Davenport (7 carries, 58 yards) the thunder. It was Davenport who elicited the day's biggest cheers from the Heinz Field crowd, scoring on second-half runs of one and five yards and capping off two seemingly endless drives.

That march was emblematic of an afternoon when the Seahawks defense simply couldn't get off the field. Four different Pittsburgh drives took up 4:49 or more of clock time, including a 17-play march to begin the third quarter that used up 10:17 and actually included 110 Steeler yards. Thirty yards worth of penalties forced Tomlin's team to have to tread the same territory more that once, but also kept the ball out of the hands of Matt Hasselbeck and the Seattle offense for that much longer.

The Steelers ended the day with a whopping 40:45-to-19:15 edge in time of possession, a figure that the vaunted Pittsburgh defense had a little something to do with as well.

Seattle had 10 drives on the day, and Dick LeBeau's defensive group forced punts on nine of them. The one that didn't result in a Ryan Plackemeier punt was ended by Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, who denied the Seahawks their best chance at points all day by intercepting Matt Hasselbeck in the end zone as the first half neared its end.

That drive, at seven plays and 54 yards, was Seattle's best of the day. No other Seahawks march yielded more than six snaps or 18 yards. One of the most consistently strong offenses of the past few years was left with eight first downs and 144 total yards as they departed the Steel City. Amazing.

Even the usually even-keel Tomlin sounded impressed.

"They showed their character today," said Tomlin. "It is something that I knew we had. It was a total team effort...They remained unwavered in the face of adversity. They stuck together. They delivered. The things that we talked about since day one, they displayed today. As a coach, you feel good when you see that."

The shutout was the first for the team since they blanked Cleveland on the road, 41-0, in Week 16 of the Super Bowl season of 2005. To find the most recent previous Heinz Field blanking, you have to go all the way back to Week 8 of the 2000 season, also a whitewashing of the Browns.

But neither of those Bill Cowher-era games came against opponents as generally well-respected as the NFC West-leading Seahawks, and neither came when the Steelers were fighting through a rash of significant injuries.

That Pittsburgh could move to 4-1, in decisive fashion, without a quartet of its heaviest hitters, speaks to this team's staying power on the AFC scene. The Patriots and Colts look like the teams to beat in the NFL at this stage, but neither of those clubs, nor any of the other 29 units from coast to coast, would be wise to want a piece of the Steelers right now.

This team is clearly playing as well as anyone in the league right now, and is intent on bringing it every week, no matter the circumstances.

"They don't put asterisks beside wins and losses," said Tomlin. "Regardless of who's playing, we are the Pittsburgh Steelers."

PASSING FANCY

He didn't string together a number of highlight-reel throws, but Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger might have had one of his best days as a pro on Sunday, given the absence of his top two receivers.

With Ward (knee) out for a second straight game and Holmes (hamstring) rendered unavailable just before kickoff, Roethlisberger still managed to complete an impressive 18-of-22 passes for 206 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown to tight end Heath Miller to open the scoring in the second quarter.

The fourth-year pro also managed to put some distance between himself and his last performance against the Seahawks, in Super Bowl XL, when he posted the lowest passer rating by a winning quarterback in Super Bowl history.

"I hope I'm always a leader out there," said Big Ben of Sunday's effort." When you lose guys, you have to count on guys to step up. Today was one of those things where I took it upon my shoulders to say 'I've got to be able to count on those guys.'...That's the biggest thing -- they have confidence in me, and I have confidence in them, and we found a way to get it done."

Roethlisberger's favorite target on the day was Cedrick Wilson, who caught five balls for 69 yards in arguably his most productive regular season outing since coming to the Steelers from the 49ers via free agency in 2005.

SIMPLY THE BEST?

Following their performance against the Seahawks, the Steelers ascended to the top of several NFL defensive categories.

Pittsburgh jumped ahead of New England into the top spot on the NFL total defense chart, as it is now surrendering just 235.6 yards per game, and is also first in scoring defense with only 9.4 points per game allowed.

Tomlin's crew is second in the league in passing defense (145.6 yards per game), with Week 7 opponent Denver the only team better, and is in a three-way tie with the Giants and Bears for the NFL lead in sacks (17).

The Steelers are also first in yards allowed per play (4.2), and are second in first downs allowed per game (13.4) behind only division rival Baltimore.

On the offensive end, the Steelers rank behind only Oakland, which has played one fewer game, in rushing offense (167 yards per game), and Willie Parker re- assumed the individual lead in rushing yards (507) following his fourth 100- yard game of the campaign.

NEXT UP: BYE WEEK

The Steelers will have the opportunity to nurse their injuries during their designated bye week, following which Pittsburgh will travel to Denver to face the Broncos in a Sunday night contest.

Tomlin said Monday that he expects to have Ward, Holmes, Hampton (hamstring) and Polamalu (torn rib cartilage) back in Week 7, though reserve cornerback Bryant McFadden (high ankle sprain) might be unable to return.

The Steelers are 10-8 all-time following the bye week.

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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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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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