12/02/2008 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Slaton was ready for prime time with 130 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, and the Houston Texans opened up the offense in their first-ever Monday Night Football appearance, leading to a 30-17 victory over Jacksonville.
Mario Williams, the defensive end taken ahead of Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL draft, also played up to the spotlight with three sacks and a forced fumble. Sage Rosenfels was an efficient 14-of-24 for 200 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Texans (5-7), who also got 75 yards receiving and a touchdown from top target Andre Johnson.
The Jaguars' rushing duo of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew combined for 116 yards and a Taylor touchdown on 21 carries. David Garrard piled up most of his passing stats late in the contest, completing 25-of-35 attempts for 287 yards with one touchdown and an interception.
Matt Jones caught a game-high eight passes for 104 yards for Jacksonville (4-8), which began the season with high expectations only to drop into the AFC South basement with the loss.
The Texans marched 69 yards on six plays to paydirt on their opening possession. Rosenfels' deep ball followed 15-, 7- and 4-yard bursts by Slaton. Johnson came back to the football on a deep in, turned cornerback Rashean Mathis around and sprinted to the left sideline and into the end zone for a 31-yard score.
Mathis responded with an interception of Rosenfels on Houston's next drive, but Garrard gave the football right back as his pass intended for Jerry Porter was intercepted.
Houston took advantage with a seven-play march that ended with Kris Brown's right foot adding three points to the scoreboard. Rosenfels found Owen Daniels for 14 yards early in the drive, but the Jaguars defense held and Brown was true from 38 yards away.
Josh Scobee misfired wide right from 43 yards away early in the second stanza and the teams exchanged punts for the remainder of the half.
Jacoby Jones' 28-yard punt return set up Houston's first second-half series at the Jaguars 38-yard line. The Texans didn't pick up a first down, but Brown drilled a 50-yard field goal attempt through the uprights for a 13-0 lead.
Jacksonville finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a time-consuming, 12-play march. Garrard's 17-yard strike to Matt Jones highlighted a mostly dink-and- dunk drive that took up 6:43 of game time. The march stalled in the red zone, and Scobee connected from 29 yards out.
Curiously, Jags head coach Jack Del Rio tried to maintain the momentum with an onsides kick, but it failed, setting the Texans up with great field position. Brown's 20-yard field goal and a 16-3 lead were the result of Del Rio's gamble.
Jacksonville typified its season the rest of the way. It marched to the Texans five-yard line early in the fourth, even converting a 4th-and-2 attempt deep in Houston territory. However, on 4th-and-goal, Garrard was tripped by an offensive lineman's leg, got up and heaved a desperation attempt into the end zone that fell to the turf. On the play, the slot receiver fell down and Matt Jones was jammed at the line of scrimmage and stopped running his route.
Garrard was sacked by Williams and fumbled as the game clock ticked under five minutes. Slaton slashed off right guard for a seven-yard score on the first play after the turnover for a 23-3 margin.
Each team reached the end zone in garbage time. Taylor capped a 73-yard march with a four-yard burst with 2:14 left, then Slaton had a shifty 40-yard run that started off guard and ended in a foot race down the right sideline for the score.
Jacksonville scored again, after totaling just three points over the first 57- plus minutes. Reggie Williams cradled in an 18-yard scoring pass from Garrard for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Jaguars star cornerback Mathis left the game at halftime with a sprained right knee and did not return...Reggie Williams caught five passes for 55 yards in defeat...The game marked the first Monday Night game in Houston since the Oilers hosted the Giants on November 21, 1994 -- the debut for Houston's interim head coach Jeff Fisher, who is now the NFL's longest-serving head coach with the 11-1 Tennessee Titans..Slaton's performance pushed him to 904 rushing yards on the season and into 10th place in the league, just behind San Francisco's Frank Gore and ahead of Green Bay's Ryan Grant...Each team ran for 126 yards, and Jacksonville actually outgained Houston, 388-326.
<< Avs use big second period and then hold off Wild
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny had two goals and an assist, and
capped a Colorado scoring binge with the eventual game-winner late in a four-
goal second period as the Avalanche topped the Minnesota Wild, 6-5, at Xcel
Energy
<< A's don't offer arbitration to Thomas
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics declined to offer salary
arbitration to any of their four free agents, including designated hitter
Frank Thomas.
Left-handed pitcher Alan Embree, right-handed pitcher Keith Fou
<< Thabeet dominates as No. 2 UConn rolls past Delaware State
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hasheem Thabeet had 10 points, 17 rebounds and
four blocked shots, as second-ranked Connecticut rolled past Delaware
State,
79-49.
Gavin Edwards scored 17 points in a reserve role, Jerome Dyson netted 15
<< Hossa, Red Wings slip past Anaheim
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marian Hossa's goal early in the third period
sent Detroit over Anaheim, 2-1, at Joe Louis Arena.
Johan Franzen provided the other goal for the Red Wings, who have won two of
three and improved to 16-4-4
Toronto rallies past Kings >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Stajan and Mikhail Grabovski scored
power play goals 81 seconds apart early in the third period, rallying Toronto
to a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
Jeff Finger added an empty-net goal and V
Mariners' Ibanez offered arbitration >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez
was offered salary arbitration by the team prior to Monday night's midnight
(et) deadline.
"With the deadline tonight, offering Raul arbitration keeps all of o
Phillies pass on arbitration for Burrell, Moyer >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pat Burrell era in Philadelphia took
one step toward its possible conclusion after the World Series champion
Phillies balked at offering he and 16-game winner Jamie Moyer arbitration
prior t
Mets' Perez offered arbitration >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets pitcher Oliver Perez was offered
salary arbitration prior to the midnight (et) deadline Monday night.
The 27-year-old left-hander has until the conclusion of Sunday to accept the
arbitration of
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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