As sports bettors, we're entitled to get upset at individual coaches, certain players, ridiculous play calls, or entire organizations for costing us wins against the NFL point spreads that we so desperately deserved. Here's what I'm ranting on after watching the football betting affairs from Week 10.
SS Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens have always been built as a defense that takes a lot of chances. HC John Harbaugh probably didn't have a lateral on a punt return built into the game plan, though. Reed was put back to field the game's final punt for Baltimore against the undefeated Colts in hopes of giving new K Billy Cundiff a chance to be a hero and win the game. However, Reed exploded for a few yards before trying to lateral the ball to a nearby Raven. He never got the ball far enough, which resulted in a fumble the Colts recovered to seal the game. Of course, with the short -1 spread on Indianapolis, Baltimore failed to cover the spread and the Colts escaped with their 10th win of the season.
QB Mark Sanchez, New York Jets: It's never a good sign when you complete half as many passes to the opposing team as you do your own team. That's where Sanchez found himself on Sunday when he got yet another painful rookie lesson in his first season in the NFL. The Patriots held him to 8/21 passing for 136 yards with one TD against four picks. New York had a chance to cover the number thanks to a pair of unanswered touchdowns in a six minute span from the end of the 2nd quarter through the beginning of the third, but Sanchez seemingly threw pick after pick, killing any shot of a Jets rally to get within that 10.5-point spread.
QB Chris Simms, Denver Broncos: It's hard to rant on a guy who was making his first start in seemingly about a million years, but Simms was so bad in his brief appearance against the Chargers, that HC Josh McDaniels decided that an injured Kyle Orton was worth more than a healthy Simms. The University of Texas product went just 2/4 for ten yards with a fumble before being yanked. It was a bad omen for the Broncos in what might've been a must-win game, as they ultimately were defeated 32-3 and gave up the lead in the AFC West for the first time all season.
RBs Carnell Williams and Derrick Ward, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: When you've got a rookie quarterback playing against a team that is still undefeated this late in the season, your running game had better not let you down. Williams and Ward may be one of the most explosive running back duos in the game, but they sure didn't look the part against New Orleans on Sunday afternoon! Williams only rushed the ball for 32 yards on 11 carries, while Ward toted the rock seven times for 26 yards. The two were averaging 106.5 yards per game from scrimmage before Sunday's 38-7 loss at home, which can largely be attributed to the fact that Tampa Bay's two backs were anything but effective, coming in 30+ yards below their season average