After stunning the Calgary Stampeders with a remarkable come-from-behind victory last week on the CFL betting odds, the Montreal Alouettes have moved to 5/1 on the CFL futures to win the Grey Cup and will be looking to continue building momentum when they visit Hamilton to tangle with the rival Tiger-Cats in Week 4 CFL action on Saturday night.
Sign up at Bovada NOW and deposit for your 20% Free Bet bonus up to $100.
Montreal (2-1 SU, 1-2 ATS, 2-1 O/U) trailed Calgary 32-20 late in the fourth quarter last week, but veteran QB Anthony Calvillo threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final two minutes as the Alouettes hung on for a shocking 33-32 victory on the CFL betting odds to move into first place in the East after three weeks of action.
Hamilton (1-2 SU, 2-1 ATS, 3-0 O/U) won its first game of the season last week, knocking off the visiting Argonauts 36-27 as Chris Williams scored three touchdowns and racked up 264 all-purpose yards for the Tiger-Cats. Both Williams and Calvillo were subsequently honored by the league for their star performances, with Williams earning recognition as Special Teams Player of the Week and Calvillo getting the nod as the top offensive player.
Hamilton (11/2 odds to win the Grey Cup) is 5-1 ATS in its past six matchups with Montreal, while the UNDER is 9-4 in the past 13 encounters between these teams in the Steel City. Overall, the Alouettes are just 1-9 ATS in their past ten games.
Elsewhere in Week 4 CFL betting action, injured Winnipeg QB Buck Pierce will be sidelined when the underdog Blue Bombers visit the favored Argos (-7) in Toronto on Wednesday night, undefeated Saskatchewan is at Calgary on Thursday night, and British Columbia will host Edmonton on Friday night.
Indianapolis Colts signed quarterback Andrew Luck, the first player selected in this year's NFL draft, to a four-year, $22.1 million deal on Thursday,
"12 is officially signed😡😡" Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted, adding a photo of Luck signing his contract for good measure. Luck's agent and uncle, Will Wilson, confirmed the deal had been completed.
The deal is similar to the one signed by Cam Newton a year ago and the one signed this week by Robert Griffin III. Newton, last year's top pick, has a four-year, $22 million deal with Carolina and Griffin, who went No. 2 behind Luck in April's draft, signed a four-year contract with the Washington Redskins worth $21.1 million guaranteed, with a club option for a fifth year.
Read more: NFL Notebook: Luck signs for $22.1 million
The NFL asked a U.S. District Court judge on Friday to dismiss Jonathan Vilma's motion seeking to have his season-long suspension overturned.
The Saints linebacker is scheduled to have a hearing on Thursday. But the NFL wants the case dismissed because the collective bargaining agreement reached last August to end the lockout gives Commissioner Roger Goodell the authority to punish players for "conduct detrimental" to the NFL.
Vilma and Saints coach Sean Payton have been suspended for the 2012 season for their roles in the bounty program the NFL says went on for three seasons.
Mike Lynn, the longtime Minnesota Vikings executive who made the ill-fated trade with Dallas for Herschel Walker, has died. He was 76.
The Vikings confirmed Lynn's death Saturday with a statement on the team website. Lynn served as the team's general manager from 1975 to 1990.
He is best remembered for one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history. The Vikings sent five players and seven draft picks to the Cowboys in 1989 for Walker, the running back Lynn considered the missing link to a Super Bowl run.
Walker never panned out in Minnesota and Dallas used the riches of players and picks to lay the groundwork for three Super Bowl wins in the 1990s.
Read More: Former Vikings GM Mike Lynn dead at 76 ? USATODAY-com
This week marks the beginning of training camp in the NFL. The Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints will be the first teams to get to work, but it won't be long before the entire league is back in action. See the team-by-team schedule here and check NFL Network and NFL-com for all of your training camp primers and up-to-the-minute news.
Read More: Training camps throughout NFL set to kick off this week - NFL-com
Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith met Monday with NFL lawyers and a federal magistrate, but the closed-door settlement conference didn't resolve lawsuits spawned by the players' suspensions following the league's bounty investigation.
Vilma and his attorneys emerged from the three-hour-long conference with U.S. Magistrate Daniel Knowles III without commenting on whether progress was made toward resolution of the case. The meeting was closed to the public.
In a court filing later Monday, Knowles said a settlement can't be reached "at this time." But he instructed the parties to contact him "at any stage of the proceeding if an additional settlement conference would be beneficial."
Peter Ginsberg, one of Vilma's attorneys, said only that the group "went through the settlement process" and that he expects "things will move along."
Read More: Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith of New Orleans Saints talk settlements with NFL - ESPN
The Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints, who kick off the preseason Aug. 5 when they meet in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, have reported to training camp. Eleven more teams will convene Wednesday, and the entire league will be in camp by Sunday. On the heels of one of the most memorable offseasons in NFL history, Nate Davis of USA TODAY Sports ponders 10 questions for the coming weeks:
Read More: 10 burning questions as NFL training camps get underway ? USATODAY-com
The Green Bay Packers finished 15-1 last season, only to make a hasty exit from the playoffs.
As the players reported to Lambeau Field for the start of training camp Wednesday, coach Mike McCarthy said he believes his team can be better this season - without having to duplicate last season's record.
After all, Green Bay won the Super Bowl two years ago after a 10-6 regular season.
The Packers' seventh-year coach even made an alteration to how he spent his summer vacation this year. He didn't leave town, as he was known to do in previous years when he would visit his oldest daughter in Texas.
"I've stayed in Green Bay the whole summer,'' McCarthy said. "So this is probably the most prepared I've been for a training camp. I feel that way because I haven't left. It's been good. I've had quality time in my office in the early mornings, that it used to be down in Austin, Texas, in 100-degree weather. ... being here in Green Bay the whole summer, you could feel the excitement building.''
McCarthy is anxious as the Packers strive to make amends for what happened at the end of the 2011 season.
Read more: Expectations high once again for Packers - NFL - SI-com
Andy Benoit previewed the Redskins, the Cowboys and the Eagles earlier in the week. He picked the Cowboys to win the division.
What do we make of the New York Giants? They’ve won two Super Bowls in the last five years, yet in that span, they’ve posted win totals of 10, 12, 8, 10 and 9. They’ve illustrated how the competitive nature of today’s N.F.L. has created a system in which titles are won not by the best team but by the team that gets hot at the right time. Surprisingly, the fallout from this has not been a nationwide discussion about whether the N.F.L. model has become flawed. Instead, there’s been a rethinking of the defining characteristics of greatness. Hardly anyone claims that the Giants have gotten lucky or cut corners. Instead, we marvel at the way they blossom down the stretch.
Read More: Giants, 2012 N.F.L. Season Preview - NYTimes-com
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith is donating $100,000 to help the survivors of the movie-theater shooting in Colorado pay for medical expenses.
Smith didn't know any of the victims of the July 20 shooting in Aurora, which left 12 people dead and 58 injured. But the news hit home because he says his oldest son Peyton was at a similar midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Returns" in Charlotte that same night.
Smith said the thought of losing one of his family members was frightening and was moved to do something to help.
"I can't imagine getting someone severely injured, one, and then, two, trying to figure out how to pay for it," Smith said after arriving for the start of the Panthers training camp.
Read More: NFL notebook: Former Ute Steve Smith donates $100K to Colorado shooting victims | Deseret News
I'm calling my shot right now: I don't see any scenario where Ryan Tannehill, a rookie, shows up to camp late, beats out two veterans and starts in Week 1. Put Tannehill on ice. Hand him a clipboard. He's finished -- at least for the early part of the season.
Any chance Tannehill had of playing right away disappeared after his recent contract dispute forced him to miss the first two days (maybe more?) of training camp. Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland says both sides are making progress, but time is already not on Tannehill's side.
Tannehill probably wasn't going to win Miami’s three-way quarterback competition anyway. He looked like a rookie in spring practices and was clearly the No. 3 quarterback. Tannehill knows the offense well but wasn't used to the speed of the NFL game. Things were moving fast and Tannehill's reads were shaky. That's not a knock on Tannehill, who has the tools to be a great quarterback. But he only had 19 career starts in college and is not ready. It’s expected.
Read More: 2012 NFL training camp - AFC East Blog - ESPN
The wagering site, Bovada, has posted win totals for each NFL team for the 2012 regular season. They range from the teams they think will win the most games in the season (12: Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots) to the teams they are betting will win the fewest games in 2012 (5: Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts).
They have the Baltimore Ravens win total at ten games, the same amount as their AFC North rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Also at ten games are the Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers. The Philadelphia Eagles are considered a half-game better than that group, with a win total of 10.5 games.
The defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants are not getting the love they perhaps thought they deserve, as their win total line is at nine games. the same as Eli Manning's brother, Peyton's new team, the Denver Broncos, are getting. Joining them at the nine win total are the San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, all a half-game behind the Chicago Bears, expected to win either more or less than 9.5 games.
(See the full list and odds for all 32 teams after the 'Jump')
Star-divide
NFL Win Totals, courtesy of Bovada,
Read More: 2012 NFL Season Win Totals - Baltimore Beat Down
The N.F.L. has few quaint nooks and crannies of tradition and is instead defined by the here and now of violence. But one of its enduring traditions is the ritual of the quarterback controversy. Nothing is more polarizing; nothing can tear a team apart — or make it stronger — than the competition between two candidates for team sports’ most distinctive position.
As the N.F.L. begins its first full week of training camp, no fewer than seven teams will treat their fans to the spectacle of the quarterback battle royal. Teams like Seattle, Arizona and Miami begin camp with no clear-cut starter.
The center of quarterback controversy is New York, where Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow showed up at the Jets’ camp in Cortland, N.Y. Sanchez is the starter; Tebow is his backup and will play in certain packages. At least that’s the plan now, although as the boxer Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until he gets hit.
Dennis Allen is an NFL head coach for the first time, but he's got plenty of company.
Four of the league's six new coaches have never held that position with any pro team, the others being Tampa Bay's Greg Schiano, Miami's Joe Philbin and Indianapolis' Chuck Pagano.
Mike Mularkey, Jacksonville's new coach, coached Buffalo for two seasons, and St. Louis' Jeff Fisher is heading into his 17th season as a head coach — two years shy of Mike Shanahan's total experience and tied for second with Bill Belichick.
Rams quarterback Sam Bradford said of Fisher: "His natural vibe, his calmness, his confidence just rubs off on everyone. When you're around him for three, four months in the off-season and then you're around him in camp every day, I think everyone just kind of feeds off that. It takes over the team."
Read More: NFL's new head coaches aiming for influence in first season - latimes-com
Packers tight end Jermichael Finley has had a concussion before. He is not entirely sure what he had last week qualified as one.
Finley was cleared to return to full workouts Tuesday, saying he was thankful trainers pulled him out of practice last week and put him through the requisite concussion safety protocols. He was hurt when he fell while running a pass pattern in Thursday's practice.
Read more: NFL: Packers TE Finley cleared to practice after concussion
Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else
New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin feels the NFL didn't use common sense in suspending safety Tyler Sash for a violation of the league's performance enhancing drug policy.
The league announced the suspension Tuesday, saying Sash would be ineligible for the first four games of the season.
Sash said he took a prescription drug (Adderall) while under a doctor's care for an anxiety condition in March, having no idea it was banned by NFL policy. The league denied his appeal.
Coughlin defended his second-year player Wednesday after a rain-shortened practice at the University at Albany.
"This kid really had no intention of doing anything illegal,'' Coughlin said. "I know what the definition of the rule is and understand all about that and been there myself when you have had to ask yourself ... sometimes you think maybe common sense needs to be involved in this.
"I feel bad for the kid.''
Read more: Giants coach upset with suspension of S Tyler Sash - NFL - SI-com
Here's one to make Cleveland fans shake their heads: A partial owner of the hated Pittsburgh Steelers is buying the Browns.
Randy Lerner has reached a deal to sell the club to Tennessee truck-stop magnate Jimmy Haslam III — a minority stockholder in the rival Steelers.
Lerner will sell 70 percent of the Browns to Haslam now, with the other 30 percent reverting to him four years after the closing date, a person with knowledge of the sale told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details have not officially been announced.
Read More: NFL: Cleveland Browns sold to truck-stop magnate | Deseret News
Roddy White and Julio Jones believe they can become the NFL’s top receiving tandem.
That’s not to say White and Jones are promising that success will come easily.
The Atlanta Falcons’ offense is still a work in progress.
“Every year, I feel like if we don’t win a playoff game, there’s something I did wrong and there’s more I’ve got to do,” White said Thursday. “I’m just trying to find ways to win games and get us over the hump.”
Entering his eighth season, White has reached several personal goals:
— In December, he became the eighth NFL receiver to catch at least 80 passes for 1,000 yards receiving in five consecutive years.
— He has led the NFC in catches for the past two seasons and has played in five straight Pro Bowls.
Read More: White, Jones hoping to become a top NFL receiving tandem - The Washington Post
Ohio -- Suspended New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton will be attending the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony tonight.
Payton requested and was given permission by the NFL to attend the ceremony that includes the enshrinement of former Saints player Willie Roaf.
League spokesman Greg Aiello said Friday that Payton also can be at a private reception for Roaf, but cannot be with the Saints or attend Sunday night's Hall of Fame game matching New Orleans against the Arizona Cardinals.
Read More: NFL roundup: Suspended Saints coach Sean Payton allowed to attend Hall ceremony | Detroit Lions | Detroit Free Press | freep-com
The NFL Preseason gets underway coming up on Sunday with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. The opening game of the 2012-13 NFL season pits the Arizona Cardinals against the New Orleans Saints. The game is scheduled for an 8:05 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on the NFL Network. Currently the odds for the game have the Saints favored by 2.5 points for the game.
Read More: NFL Hall of Fame Game Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints Start Time, Odds - News - Stories - Pregame-com
Sign up at Bovada NOW and deposit for your 20% Free Bet bonus up to $100.
Montreal (2-1 SU, 1-2 ATS, 2-1 O/U) trailed Calgary 32-20 late in the fourth quarter last week, but veteran QB Anthony Calvillo threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final two minutes as the Alouettes hung on for a shocking 33-32 victory on the CFL betting odds to move into first place in the East after three weeks of action.
Hamilton (1-2 SU, 2-1 ATS, 3-0 O/U) won its first game of the season last week, knocking off the visiting Argonauts 36-27 as Chris Williams scored three touchdowns and racked up 264 all-purpose yards for the Tiger-Cats. Both Williams and Calvillo were subsequently honored by the league for their star performances, with Williams earning recognition as Special Teams Player of the Week and Calvillo getting the nod as the top offensive player.
Hamilton (11/2 odds to win the Grey Cup) is 5-1 ATS in its past six matchups with Montreal, while the UNDER is 9-4 in the past 13 encounters between these teams in the Steel City. Overall, the Alouettes are just 1-9 ATS in their past ten games.
Elsewhere in Week 4 CFL betting action, injured Winnipeg QB Buck Pierce will be sidelined when the underdog Blue Bombers visit the favored Argos (-7) in Toronto on Wednesday night, undefeated Saskatchewan is at Calgary on Thursday night, and British Columbia will host Edmonton on Friday night.