Clrvelandbrowns Football Betting News

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San Juan, PR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - B.J. Raymond scored 11 points and Terrell Holloway made all 10 of his free throws en route to a game-high 13 points as the Xavier Musketeers knocked off the 13th-ranked Memphis Tigers in the champio

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Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Madison earned the No. 1 seed for the first time as the 16-team field for the NCAA Division I Football Championships was announced on Sunday evening. The Dukes (10-1) were joined by three-time nation

<< Thabeet, Huskies advance past Hurricanes
St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hasheem Thabeet finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks to lead second-ranked Connecticut to a 76-63 victory over No. 17 Miami-Florida in a semifinal of the Paradise Jam tournament. A.J. Pric

<< Turner scores four times to lead Falcons over Panthers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Turner rushed for 117 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter, as the Atlanta Falcons upended the NFC South-leading Carolina Panthers, 45-28. Matt Ryan

Hughes leads Wisconsin past San Diego, into Paradise Jam final >>
St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevon Hughes dropped a game-high 22 points as the 25th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers cruised to a 64-49 victory over the San Diego Toreros in the semifinal round of the Paradise Jam at the UVI Sports and Fitness

Missouri knocks off disappointing USC >>
San Juan, PR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Demarre Carroll scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading Missouri to an 83-72 victory over 19th-ranked Southern California in the consolation bracket of the Puerto Rico Tip-off. J.T. Tiller adde

Balanced Lakers fend off Kings >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant finished with 24 points and six assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 118-108 win over the Sacramento Kings at the Staples Center. Eight Lakers players finished in double-figures, inc

Martin, Nuggets pull away in fourth to beat Bulls >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenyon Martin led a balanced Nuggets attack with 26 points and eight rebounds as Denver used a big fourth quarter to upend Chicago, 114-101. Carmelo Anthony nearly posted a triple-double with 21 points, 13

Football Betting

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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