Flacco and defense help Ravens crush Eagles; McNabb benched
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11/24/2008 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Flacco threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns as the Baltimore Ravens won a lopsided 36-7 contest with the Philadelphia Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium.
Flacco completed 12-of-26 passes in the game for the Ravens (7-4), who have won five of six. Le'Ron McClain ran for 88 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and Mark Clayton had two catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Ed Reed had two interceptions, including a back-breaking 108-yard touchdown return in the fourth quarter.
"Our football team (is) fighting through adversity, finding a way to overcome mistakes and overcome a very difficult opponent," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. "Taking over in the fourth quarter. I think that's something any coach would be proud of."
The 108-yard return set a new NFL record for longest interception return, breaking Reed's old record of 106 yards.
Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia's franchise quarterback of 10 seasons, was benched after a first half in which he threw for just 59 yards on 8- of-18 passing, with two interceptions and a fumble. Kevin Kolb replaced him at halftime and didn't fare much better, completing 10-of-23 passes for 73 yards and two interceptions for Philadelphia (5-5-1), which is winless in its last three contests. DeSean Jackson caught five passes for 47 yards.
"At halftime, I heard about the move from our quarterbacks coach, Pat Shurmur," McNabb said. "My first reaction was 'Wow.' Then, I knew I had to go along with it, and I tried to get our guys to rally behind Kevin Kolb."
Eagles head coach Andy Reid did not give an indication as to whether McNabb or Kolb would start Philadelphia's game Thursday against Arizona.
The biggest difference in the game was turnovers, where the Eagles had five, compared to zero for Baltimore.
"Obviously, the QB is a big part of the football team, but it's important that we feed off of each other, and we all pick our games up," Reid said. "And we've seen that done around here before, and I expect it to happen again."
After a scoreless first quarter, a tripping penalty added 10 yards to a Baltimore punt return, putting the Ravens at the Eagles 28-yard line with 4 1/2 minutes left in the second. After gaining only two yards, Matt Stover hit a 44-yard field goal to put the game's first points on the board.
McNabb's next pass was intercepted -- his third turnover of the game -- by Reed, giving the Ravens the ball at the Eagles' six. On 3rd-and-goal from the one, Daniel Wilcox made a spectacular one-handed catch in the end zone, giving Baltimore a 10-0 with just under two minutes left in the half.
But Philadelphia would get on the board before the half ended, as Quintin Demps returned the ensuing kick 100 yards right up the middle of the field for a touchdown, accounting for the 10-7 halftime margin.
Baltimore took a 12-7 lead with 6:01 left in the third, as Jameel McClain blocked a punt, forcing the ball out of the end zone for a safety.
Stover's 42-yard field goal off an interception with 14:52 left in the game gave Baltimore an eight-point lead.
Just over three minutes later, Clayton beat two Eagles defenders on a slant play, and Flacco found him for a 53-yard touchdown to make it 22-7.
Philadelphia looked to get back into the game, as Kolb drove the Eagles to Baltimore's one-yard line. But Reed intercepted another pass, and this time he brought it back 108 yards for the touchdown down the right sideline, sealing the win for Baltimore halfway through the fourth.
"Haruki (Nakamura) pointed out that (Eagles wide receiver Reggie Brown) was on the end of the line, and it's usually a tight end, so we kinda knew it wasn't going to be a run to that side," Reed said of the play on which he returned the interception. "I was watching (Brown's) feet when he was in the huddle just to find out where he was going. Once he went across the field it was pretty simple from there. Just keep trailing it. The quarterback never even saw me come from behind."
McClain added a one-yard touchdown in the final minutes for the Ravens to cap the scoring.
Game Notes
Demps' touchdown return was the first on a kickoff for the Eagles since 2001...Stover has converted 376 consecutive extra points, an NFL record. He has not missed an extra point since 1996...This is the first time the Ravens have beaten the Eagles since moving from Cleveland...Harbaugh served as Philadelphia's special teams coordinator/defensive backs coach from 1998-2007.
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2007 online football betting Preview
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
2007 College Football Betting Preview
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
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The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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