Niners halt six-game slide and get first win under Singletary
Football Betting Lines
11/16/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shaun Hill threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score, and Frank Gore rushed for two more TDs, as the San Francisco 49ers crushed the St. Louis Rams, 35-16, at Candlestick Park to give interim head coach Mike Singletary his first triumph with the club.
Hill tallied 213 yards through the air, barely missing his career-high of 217 yards, on 15-of-20 passing for the Niners (3-7), who saw their six-game slide become history. Gore racked up 106 yards on 18 touches, while Bryant Johnson and Vernon Davis had TD receptions. Isaac Bruce had one catch for 20 yards in the first game against his former team.
Marc Bulger was an 34-of-53 for 295 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for the Rams (2-8), who have dropped four straight contests. Antonio Pittman gained 95 yards on 14 carries, while Donnie Avery grabbed a career-high nine passes for 93 yards. Dane Looker had a touchdown grab and Josh Brown made 3- of-4 field goal attempts.
The Rams were given a couple of bad breaks in the first half as left tackle, and former number one pick, Orlando Pace went down with an apparent knee injury. Right guard Richie Incognito also left with a strained shoulder just before halftime. Neither player returned to the game.
On the second drive of the game, the Niners needed just four plays to open the scoring. A five-yard touchdown run from Gore capped the 34-yard with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter.
The Rams countered with a 24-yard field goal from Brown to make it 7-3 early in the second, but San Fran had an answer.
San Fran started at its own 31, and on first down Hill hit Bruce for a 20- yard gain. Hill then hit Johnson for a 42-yard gain down to the St. Louis seven. Three plays later, Davis hauled in a two-yard touchdown to give the home team a 14-3 cushion.
On the Rams second play of their ensuing drive, Bulger coughed up the ball and Parys Haralson recovered at the St. Louis 16. It took Gore four plays to find paydirt, the finale a one-yard score.
"We have to find a way to score touchdowns when we get the opportunity," said Bulger. "We came out fast, but weren't able to capitalize completely on our opportunities. We didn't execute. It's up to us to make the plays."
Following a Walt Harris pick, Hill ran in a one-yard score to close out a seven-play, 60-yard drive that made it a 25-point game.
"We know the second half of the season we need to have a sense of urgency and we'd love to have started it last week, but it just didn't work out so we had to start it this week without a doubt," said Hill. "So it was great to get that (first) win for Coach Singletary and hopefully get this ball rolling."
On the heels of a Nate Clements interception, Hill connected with Johnson on a fade route in the left corner of the end zone late in the second quarter to make it 35-3 heading into the break.
The Rams have been outscored 75-3 in the first half over the past two weeks.
Brown hit a 48-yard field goal late in the third quarter, and then nailed a 44-yarder as time expired to make it 35-9.
Bulger hit Looker for a two-yard score late in the fourth frame to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
Bruce spent the first 14 seasons of his career with St. Louis (1994-2007) before being released after 197 games with the team in the offseason and signing with the 49ers. He caught 942 passes with the Rams, posting 14,109 receiving yards and 84 touchdowns -- all franchise records...The Rams have been outscored 116-25 over the last three games.
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Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
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