Indy holds slim lead going into fourth quarter
Football Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joseph Addai's four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter has helped the Colts grab a tenuous 17-16 lead over New Orleans heading into the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV.
Drew Brees has lit a fire for the Saints with a spectacular performance over the last two quarters, but he'll need to lead the team to at least one more score if New Orleans is to celebrate its first-ever Super Bowl victory.
Garrett Hartley has kicked three field goals - all over 40 yards - for the Saints. New Orleans' lone touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Brees to Pierre Thomas.
Meanwhile, Peyton Manning has been steady under center for the Colts as he tries to engineer his team to a second title in four years.
Trailing, 10-6, the Saints used a gutsy approach to start the second half, trying on onside kick. The ball glanced off Indianapolis' Hank Baskett, and after a scrum at the bottom of the pile, New Orleans' Jonathan Casillas came away with the football.
It was the first onside kick in the Super Bowl coming before the fourth quarter, and the move paid off. Brees moved the Saints into the lead at 13-10 on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Thomas with 11:41 left in the third. Brees completed all five of his passes on the drive for 51 yards, the last one being a screen on the right side of the field. Thomas evaded defenders, stepped out of a tackle in the middle of the field before diving into the end zone.
Indianapolis went back on top, 17-13, with 6:15 left in the quarter thanks to Addai's four-yard TD run. Manning hit Dallas Clark with an 11-yard gain up the middle to convert a 3rd-and-5. On the next play, Addai powered up the middle, spun out of a tackle and scored standing up to end the 10-play, 76-yard drive. He accounted for 24 yards in the march.
Brees then moved the Saints from their own 34 to the Indy 29, but the drive stalled when Jeremy Shockey couldn't break loose for a first down after a four-yard catch over the middle. Hartley was called on and split the uprights from 47 yards out with 2:01 remaining.
Hartley became the first kicker to have at least three field goals made of 40- plus yards in the same Super Bowl game.
The Colts were deep in their territory when the quarter came to a close.
A Manning touchdown pass capped a 96-yard drive in the opening quarter and then the Colts had a goal-line stand to stop the Saints in the final two minutes of the half.
Matt Stover kicked a 38-yard field goal midway through the first quarter, and Manning ended the Super Bowl's record-tying longest drive with a 19-yard scoring toss to Pierre Garcon with 36 seconds remaining in the same period.
The Saints, in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, got a 46-yard field goal from Hartley in the early moments of the second quarter, but were thwarted on a fourth down run from the one with 1:49 left. Hartley split the uprights from 44 yards on the final play of the second quarter.
Through three quarters, Brees has connected on 25-of-32 passes for 244 yards, while Manning is 17-of-24 for 162 yards. Addai has 10 rushes for 79 yards.
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.