Rams winners for second time in 10 weeks

Football Betting Lines

12/20/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though it came against the AFC doormat -- the NFL's? -- a shutout is still a shutout.

And so the St. Louis Rams' 20-0 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday allows those who write about the team to try something novel this week: accentuate the positives.

Head coach Scott Linehan may have said it best after the game.

"It's hard to go on the road and win," he declared, "and it's hard to do it when you're somewhat struggling, so I'm very proud of the team in that regard."

The Rams (6-8) traveled to Oakland having lost two straight home games and seven of their last eight overall. For those of you keeping score, that was one win since Oct. 8.

Neck and neck with the Democrats.

But on Sunday, a disappointedly middling Rams team shook the dust from their win column and gave their fans a reason to watch Inside the NFL this week. They did what they should have done while losing to lesser competition this season.

They controlled the game.

Looking to Steven Jackson early and often, the Rams attacked one of the only NFL run defenses as bad as their own. Jackson touched the ball nine times on St. Louis' first two possessions, including seven times during a 7 1/2-minute drive that ended with a Jeff Wilkins field goal.

The Rams came right back and handed Jackson the ball six more times on their next drive, leading to another Wilkins field goal and a 6-0 halftime lead.

Jackson ended with a career-best 31 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns, one each in the third and fourth quarter. If nothing else, it was proof that he deserved his first-ever Pro Bowl citation, which came Tuesday.

On the other side of the ball, the bedraggled Rams defense held Oakland to just 57 yards rushing. The Raiders, of course, were without LaMont Jordan again, but we're talking about a St. Louis run defense that has allowed nearly 150 yards per game -- second-worst in the NFL.

Raiders quarterback Aaron Brooks was pulled in the fourth quarter after going 11-of-19 for just 98 yards and an interception. Replacement Andrew Walter threw for 131 yards in the fourth, but the Rams picked him off twice.

The Rams caused five turnovers without committing any themselves. Marc Bulger was just 11-of-22 for 137 yards, but that's all he needed to be. His team was that much in control.

"It's great to finally have something good happen for us on both sides of the ball in the same game," said defensive end Leonard Little.

With the way the Rams' season has gone -- "We've lost some close games and not so close games," Linehan pointed out -- pitching a shutout against the Raiders must've felt pretty good.

ADAM'S RIBS

Unable to play with three broken ribs, Rams guard Adam Timmerman missed Sunday's game to end his streak of 204 consecutive games played, including the playoffs.

His career built on durability, Timmerman had strung together the second- longest regular-season consecutive games streak (184) among active NFL offensive lineman, behind only Will Shields of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Timmerman, 35, hadn't missed a game since he was a rookie with the Green Bay Packers in 1995. He had been playing with the injury since it occurred in a Nov. 19 loss to Carolina.

LEONARD GOIN'

Leonard Little had two sacks on Sunday to become the Rams' official all-time leader. Little has 12 sacks this season and 73 for the Rams since 1998, surpassing Kevin Greene's 72 1/2.

Hall of Famer Deacon Jones, one of the greatest ends of all-time and the so- called "Secretary of Defense," was credited for more than 150 sacks before it became an official NFL statistic in 1982.

ACTION JACKSON

Jackson's performance gave him 1,236 yards rushing and a career-high nine touchdowns on the ground this season. He has also caught 82 passes -- fourth in the NFL -- for 680 yards and another score this year.

Since last season the 23-year-old Jackson has proven to be a weekly threat, no matter how his teammates perform around him. Sunday, he was rewarded with the driver's seat.

"It really felt like they finally put the game in my hands, and I enjoyed it," Jackson said.

UP NEXT: ANOTHER WINNABLE GAME

The Rams won three straight games early in the season, when things still looked promising. And with a home game against Washington looming, they could be looking at another streak.

They lost to the Redskins, 24-9, in St. Louis last season and have dropped five of the last seven meetings overall. But Washington (5-9) is in classic let-down position after winning at New Orleans on Sunday.

If you believe in that sort of thing.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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