Alouettes rout Eskimos

Football Betting Lines

07/09/2009 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Calvillo completed 24-of-32 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing TD, as the Montreal Alouettes routed the Edmonton Eskimos, 50-16, in the second game of the season for both teams.

Kerry Watkins caught nine passes for 119 yards and one score for the Alouettes (2-0), who kicked off the season by claiming a convincing 40-27 triumph over the reigning champion Calgary Stampeders. S.J. Green brought in five balls for 113 yards and a TD.

Avon Cobourne led the way on the ground, rushing for 65 yards and a score on 10 carries for Montreal, which was the only team in the East Division to post double-digit victories in 2008.

Edmonton (1-1), which won 19-17 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the season opener, sorely missed running back Jesse Lumsden on Thursday. Lumsden will miss at least nine games after dislocating his left shoulder in the opener.

Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray ended up leading the way on the ground, rushing for 33 yards on five carries. Arkee Whitlock finished with 29 yards and a score on 12 rushing attempts.

Ray completed 19-of-33 passes for 280 yards. Maurice Mann caught seven balls for 139 yards.

Calvillo's 28-yard strike to Watkins early in the first quarter gave the Als a 7-0 lead. The Eskimos used a 22-yard field goal from Noel Prefontaine late in the frame to cut the deficit to 8-3.

Montreal used the arm of Calvillo and the foot of Damon Duval to take a comfortable 19-6 margin heading into the locker room. Prefontaine cut the gap to three with a 15-yard field goal early in the second period. The Alouettes, though, finished out the quarter with an 11-yard field goal from Duval and a Calvillo 3-yard TD run to take control.

Prefontaine's 14-yard field goal proved to be the only scoring in the third period.

The Als turned the game into a rout in the fourth, scoring four touchdowns and a field goal. Calvillo got things started when he connected with Green on a 21-yard TD pass early in the frame. Also included in the quarter was a 67- yard punt return from Larry Taylor and a 38-yard interception return by Cory Huclack.

Whitlock capped the scoring in the contest with a 1-yard TD run.

Game Notes

It was the 87th consecutive sellout for Montreal...Als' Keron Williams had five tackles and two sacks, while Mark Estelle recorded eight tackles. Jonte Buhl led the Eskimos defense with six sacks.

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Betting Football

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.