CFL East: Blue Bombers dominant with Jyles at the helm

Football Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The East division took full advantage of home cooking last week, as Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg all won within their friendly confines. Hamilton was the lone East team to fall, as touchdowns in their matchup against Montreal were few and far between. Steven Jyles showed the league that Winnipeg would not roll over without Buck Pierce as their starting quarterback, while the Argonauts still refuse to give up in a stunning come-from-behind finish over the BC Lions.

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS

In the CFL, you can be sure of three things: lots of passing, exciting kick returns, and most of all, a Buck Pierce injury.

Winnipeg knew it had a talented, yet brittle quarterback on its hands going into the season. The gamble started off in the right direction, but Pierce is sidelined for 2-4 weeks with a right knee injury.

Heading into the Edmonton game, that left Steven Jyles and his one-game experience as a CFL starter to carry the team on offense.

Jyles was up to the task and then some, throwing a touchdown and running in two more to lead his team to a 47-21 thrashing of the Eskimos.

While Edmonton isn't exactly a powerhouse this season, Jyles and the Bombers did what they had to do to bounce back from an ugly week three, when they scored just seven points.

The Bombers better hope they continue to put up points when they travel to Calgary for the first western division matchup.

Offensive key to the next game: It's easy to say Jyles will need to shine again for Winnipeg to have a chance, but that is indeed the scenario. If he can combine the running game with the balanced passing last week, the Bombers will be tough to beat.

Defensive key to the game: Burris loves to pass, perhaps a little too much. The Bombers should force Burris to make poor throwing decisions, and interceptions have plagued the Stampeders all season.

Look ahead: A peek at the upcoming schedule includes some deja vu for Winnipeg, as it takes on Hamilton two weeks in a row. This is a crucial set of games for both teams in determining the playoff picture, as both teams have already split their first two matchups this season.

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

Just when it looked like Hamilton had straightened themselves out, the Tiger- Cats come out with a dud against division rival Montreal Alouettes.

The defense did well to allow just two touchdowns in the game, but that doesn't help when you allow a kicker to get close enough to the uprights for seven field goals.

Offense was the bigger concern as Kevin Glenn took a step backwards, completing just 16-of-32 passes for 201 yards. Even worse, Deandra Cobb still can't find his legs as he rushed for a measly 25 yards.

With Cobb struggling so much on the ground, the Ti-Cats will face extra pressure each and every night to find adequate offense elsewhere.

Offensive key to next game: Pressure will just increase next week when Hamilton travels to Regina to take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders. As Cobb has been unable to have that big game so far this season, the receiving combination of Marquay McDaniel and David Stala will be looked on again to provide all the offense against a very defensively sound team.

Defensive key to the next game: Calgary forced Durant to throw three interceptions last week. Hamilton better hope for the same luck if they want to limit Saskatchewan's scoring opportunities. Durant still had 354 yards passing, but the Ti-Cats can live with that as long as the deep receiving corps is tightly covered. Force Wes Cates or even Durant to run and earn their yards the hard way.

Look ahead: If Hamilton loses against Saskatchewan in week five, its record falls to 1-4. While it is too early to hit the panic button in such young a season, losing back-to-back against Winnipeg in weeks six and seven would certainly leave fingers within millimeters of pressing it. A split is the bare minimum during this important stretch.

MONTREAL ALOUETTES

The Als are looking better and better with every passing game, and last week they can thank kicker Damon Duval for that. The veteran booted in seven field goals in eight attempts, scoring 23 of the 37 points scored in their win against Hamilton last week.

Quarterback Anthony Calvillo admitted after the game that his team should have scored more touchdowns, but it's a little difficult to complain when allowing just 14 points against a fellow eastern side.

With the exception of the ridiculous 54-51 loss to Saskatchewan in week one, the Als defense has carried Montreal all season.

Offensive key to next game: While the wins the Argos have been piling up are a surprise, the strength of their defense is not. The Argos field a better defensive squad than Hamilton and so the Als will have to work even harder to get the touchdowns that were lacking last week. Keeping drives alive, and limiting some of the dropped passes that have crept up amongst the receiving corps, will be key for Montreal this week.

Defensive key to the game: Stopping Cory Boyd is of the utmost importance. The rookie running back has been huge for the Argos and has become an integral part of the offense.

Look ahead: CFL fans already lie in wait for the rematch of the thrilling season opener between Montreal and Saskatchewan. Better defense will prevail this time around, though a clash between the league's two best teams will still probably be offense-first.

TORONTO ARGONAUTS

The Argonauts found another way to win last week when Byron Parker returned a 41-yard interception in the dying minutes of the comeback win.

Parker now needs just one more TD return to match the CFL record of eight.

Last week's win marked the fourth time in as many games that the Argos have been forced to rally in the final quarter, and follows on the heels of a 27-24 come-from-behind win against Calgary two weeks ago.

These are the kinds of games Toronto lost each of the last two seasons, but the new swagger it has developed this year is all thanks to the newcomers who have transformed this team into a viable playoff contender.

The Argos better hope that swagger carries forward this week when they face a strong fourth quarter team in the Montreal Alouettes.

Offensive key to the game: Montreal's defense has been getting better as the season's gone along, which spells trouble for a Toronto side that has trouble scoring points. Cory Boyd will need to be the focal point again for the Argos to have a chance against the East's best team.

Defensive key to the game: He is one of the best quarterbacks to play the game, and though his offense has struggled this season, quarterback Anthony Calvillo must be the first name discussed when planning defensive strategies against Montreal. The Toronto defensive line is one of the best in the league and so will be charged with the task of pressuring the inexperienced o-line of the Alouettes.

Look ahead: Having two of the next three games against the defending champs may not be a pleasant experience, but sandwiched in between is a date with the punchless Edmonton Eskimos. Suffering two losses at the hands of the Alouettes is entirely possible, but so is a win in Edmonton for the resurgent Argos.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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