Pats, Giants have bad Super Bowl karma

I’m all for superstition when it comes to sports. Anything you think will help win the game probably can - and will.

And with that comes good karma. I’m not a tree hugger, but I do enjoy the occasional cup of herbal tea and I do believe in keeping a positive energy heading into big events like the Super Bowl.

And neither the Patriots nor the Giants have done that in the hours leading up to Super Bowl XLVI.

It started last night, when the Giants’ website accidentally posted a celebratory page, congratulating themselves on a win over the Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl – 24 hours before the game even started.

Oops!

Then in the early hours of Super Sunday, news spread that New England had cut receiver Tiquan Underwood the night before the Big Game to make room for defensive lineman Alex Silvestro from the practice squad.

Harsh.

You may or may not buy into the case for bad karma, but which team has angered the football gods more with their moves – the Giants' premature celebration or the Pats' cutthroat cut?

Peyton Manning: The Real NFL MVP

Most Valuable Player awards have always been skewed a bit when it comes to the true meaning behind the honor.

A lot of the time, the best player on the best team wins the MVP – not necessarily the player who means the most to their franchise.

In the NFL, Aaron Rodgers looks like the runaway winner for 2011, even though the Green Bay Packers gunslinger may not be the most valuable player to his team when you take a good look at the league.

In fact, the 2011 NFL MVP hasn’t even stepped on the field this season – and probably won’t – for a squad that is 0-7 heading into Week 8 of the schedule.

To see how far the Indianapolis Colts have fallen without quarterback Peyton Manning is astonishing. While, in essence, he only throws the football, Manning’s absence has seemed to impact every aspect of the Colts.

You want to know Manning's impact, just look at this week's spread against Tennessee. Cantor Gaming made the Colts as 3-point favorites back in June when they posted lines on every NFL game of the season. The line has swung 12 points now with the Colts getting 9 points against an average Titans team.

"I am not sure how Peyton Manning doesn't win the MVP this year," Andrew Patterson, an oddsmaker with Las Vegas Sports Consultants, told Covers.com. "It is clear he means more to the Colts than any player on any other team."

The offense, obviously, has taken giant leaps backwards with backup Curtis Painter under center. But the de... [More]

Biggest disappointment: Eagles, Heat, or Phillies?

After falling to 1-4 with a 31-24 loss to the Buffalo Bills Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles are grasping for straws when it comes to a quick fix for their already-broken season.

The Eagles reportedly offered a defensive consultant gig to former Jets and Browns coach Eric Mangini, hoping the defensive mastermind could tinker with their lackluster stop unit. Mangini allegedly turned Philadelphia down.

The Eagles were supposed to be the NFL’s “Dream Team”, after signing a slew of free agents and trading for some big-name talents. But, after just five weeks, it’s safe to say Philly has been a disappointment.

However, as bad as the Eagles have been, they might not even be the biggest disappointment in the City of Brotherly Love.

Baseball’s Phillies were supposed to ride their stellar pitching staff all the way to the World Series this year. But instead, their bats went ice cold versus St. Louis and provided nothing in the way of support for Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and the rest of the gang.

Philadelphia’s loaded rosters, on paper at least, seemed to be in the same vein as the Miami Heat’s moves to ink three of the best players in the NBA two summers ago.

We all know how that came out. LeBron, Wade and Bosh lost to the Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

So, with the Eagles dogged on the road in Washington this week, the Phillies licking their wounds (and surgically-repaired Achilles) this winter, and the Heat perhaps having to wait until N... [More]

Get your NFL Overs while you can

High scores and over bets have been the talk of the town when it comes to NFL betting.

Through the first two weeks of the season, the Over has gone an amazing 23-8 (74 percent).

Many thought the shortened offseason, due to the lockout, would take its toll on conditioning and timing and keep scores low until teams got back into shape. But it appears that the offensive players are less impacted by lack of practice than those on the defensive side of the ball.

A lot of coaches have been quick to pick up on this and have switched their offense into high gear to exploit the rusty defenders. Teams like the Patriots have gone with no-huddle attacks in order to keep defensive players on the field, sucking wind while Tom Brady picks apart the secondary like it’s stuck in cement.

Jay Rood, sportsbook manager for the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas, believes Week 3 might be the last time bettors can really ride this total trend. He expects defenses to round into game shape at some point during this Sunday’s action.

“There’s been a lot of rust falling off those guys,” Rood says about NFL defenses. “The smart coaches, like Belichick, noticed this. But I think you’ll see less and less no-huddle in the next two or three weeks.”

Rood also blames the rash of injuries plaguing the NFL through the first two weeks on the lockout-shortened offseason. Plenty of marquee talents, on both sides of the ball, have suffered season-ending injuries.

“That’s what ... [More]

Snowball in the forecast for Dallas?

For the all guff Plaxico Burress get for shooting himself in the leg, the Dallas Cowboys should get twice the trouble after once again shooting themselves in the foot.

Dallas handed its fans, me included, another horrific and painful loss in Week 1. By now, you already know the gory details, but just to review: Goal-line fumble, blocked punt, interception, botched snap, stupid Romo smile = blown 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. Even a cover as 3.5-point underdogs couldn't get the taste out of my mouth.

Tony Romo took the blame for the 27-24 loss, and so he should. Despite a terrific stat line (342 yards and two touchdowns against the top pass defense in the NFL), Romo’s goal-line fumble snowballed into the mess mentioned above.



While the loss was a tough pill to swallow, like sucking back a pine cone dipped in hot sauce and rolled in fiberglass, I can’t help but be optimistic about the Cowboys’ efforts.

They managed to push around one of the league’s best stop units and, until the secondary started dropping like flies, did a great job on defense. Dez Bryant looked like a killer (before he got tired) and Miles Austin threw Antonio Cromartie around like a rag doll all night. And the pass rush was able to get to Sanchez, most notably DeMarcus Ware, which is key if the secondary continues to suck.

Dallas finds itself in a similar spot to last year’s Week 2 matchup. It’s coming off a crushing opening-game blunder and takes on a respe... [More]

Football-starved public loves NFL preseason, just not betting on it

Football fans, who normally push the NFL preseason away like a clingy leper, are welcoming the warmup games with open arms after the lockout threatened the entire 2011 season this summer.

Football fever is spreading across North America ever since the players and owners kissed and made up. It seems everyone is thinking about the NFL, be it casual fans, fantasy heads, or the sports betting community, which breathed a huge sigh of relief when the lockout ended last month.

“Human mentality is that once you realize you could lose something, you appreciate it more and you notice it more,” says Tony Williams, sportsbook manager for 5Dimes.com. “The same can be said for relationships and football.

“A lot of guys have a better relationship with the NFL than they do with any girlfriend. The NFL has always been there. For most guys, women come and go throughout their life. But the NFL has always been there.”

Williams admits he’s feeling giddy about the new NFL schedule, but that frenzied interest hasn’t translated into a bigger handle for sportsbooks over the first two days of preseason action.

Some blame the lack of television coverage for the tuneup games while others, like MGM Mirage sportsbook manager Jeff Stoneback, believe the short offseason and abbreviated training camps are keeping bettors from wagering on the unknown.

Stoneback says the ignited interest in the NFL is bringing in record crowds to watch the preseason tilts, but few of ... [More]

Philly franchises are ninjas when it comes to big-name free agents

Remember that time you were going to get an awesome deal on that autographed Wayne Gretzky jersey on eBay, and someone swooped in with a last-second bid and stole your prized item?

Chances are that person was from Philadelphia.

And that sweet parking spot you noticed right next to the gate of you local arena, and just as you were pulling in, some jackass swerved in and took it?

More than likely, that car had Pennsylvania plates and 76ers sticker in the back window.

Philadelphia may be known as the City of Brotherly Love, but in the world of big-name free agent shopping, Philly is getting a reputation as a stealth-bombing, wildcard city that creeps in through the window in the middle of the night and carries free agents off to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex – home to the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and Sixers.

The Philadelphia Eagles made waves Friday, scooping shutdown corner Nnamdi Asomugha from right under the New York Jets’ nose. Reports around the NFL were that Asomugha was destined to go to either the Jets or Dallas Cowboys. But instead, the Eagles landed the most sought after free agent on the market, and shocked the league and its fans.

But this isn’t the first time a Philadelphia franchise has pulled off a surprise move. Earlier this month, the Flyers acquired returning NHL veteran Jaromir Jagr, who appeared to be headed back to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he won two Stanley Cups. But instead of a happy reunion, Jagr j... [More]