Forte, Bears knock out Bulger, Rams

Football Betting Lines

11/23/2008 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Forte rushed for 132 yards with two touchdowns as the Chicago Bears hammered the St. Louis Rams, 27-3, at the Edward Jones Dome.

Kyle Orton managed the game well, completing 18-of-29 passes for 139 yards with a touchdown for Chicago (6-5), which snapped a brief two-game losing skid. The Bears, who have split their last six contests, are now tied with Minnesota for first place in the NFC North. The Vikings defeated Jacksonville on Sunday. Jason McKie had a TD catch, while Robbie Gould kicked a pair of field goals in the win.

Devin Hester had 115 all-purpose yards for the Bears and Tommie Harris had a pair of sacks to lead the defense.

Trent Green finished 16-of-30 for 219 yards with four interceptions in relief of Marc Bulger for the Rams (2-9), who have lost their last five. Bulger completed both of his passes for 11 yards before leaving early in the first quarter with a concussion after being sacked by Adewale Ogunleye, who also had a pair of sacks. Bulger is listed as day-to-day.

Torry Holt had four catches for 84 yards, and Josh Brown accounted for the Rams only points with a 43-yard field goal.

Chicago opened the scoring on its first drive of the contest, going 49 yards on four plays. Danieal Manning returned the kickoff 50 yards to the St. Louis 49, and Hester ripped off 20 yards on an end around to move it to the 29-yard line. After a short run by Forte and a 15-yard pass from Orton to Desmond Clark, Forte ran up the middle for a 13-yard score.

Jason McKie's seven-yard touchdown grab capped a seven-play, 63-yard drive to make it a 14-0 game with 1:44 remaining in the opening quarter.

Following a missed 40-yard field-goal by Brown on the first play of the second quarter, the Bears coughed up the ball when Forte fumbled on the Rams 40-yard- line. After St. Louis was unable to take advantage of the miscue, Forte, on the second play of the set, sprinted up the middle of the field for a 47-yard TD.

A 43-yard effort by Brown with 5:01 left in the half got the Rams on the board at 21-3. But Gould would nail a 43-yarder of his own to put the Bears up by 21 with 1:38 remaining in the half, an advantage they would take into the break.

In the third quarter, the Bears used a strong dose of the running game behind Forte and managed to tack on another field goal, this time a 38-yarder by Gould with 5:13 left in the period. They would hold a 27-3 lead after three quarters, which would be the final score after a scoreless fourth.

Game Notes

Chicago will play at Minnesota on November 30, while St. Louis will host Miami...The Bears improved to 49-34-3 all-time versus the Rams in the regular season...The Bears' Lovie Smith is 2-0 in his head coaching career against the Rams, for whom he served as defensive coordinator from 2001 through 2003...The Rams were without lead running back Steven Jackson, who is nursing a thigh injury, and left tackle Orlando Pace, who is out with a knee injury...Despite the loss, the Rams have won four of their last six against the Bears.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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