Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
11/06/2006 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javon Walker's arrival -- six catches for 134 yards with two touchdowns and a 72-yard rushing score -- signaled Pittsburgh's season departure just 10 months after winning the Super Bowl, as Denver capitalized on constant Steelers mistakes in a 31-20 victory at Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh's 2006 script was played out over the course of three hours on Sunday -- a game that appeared like domination on paper was ripped up by fumbles, penalties and countless mental miscues.
The Steelers (2-6) have lost five of six since a season-opening victory over the Miami Dolphins.
The losses have all started and ended with turnovers, with six more on Sunday. Santonio Holmes fumbled away a kickoff and fumbled again on a punt return before being removed from special teams duties.
The epitome of the season occurred late in the fourth, as Hines Ward fumbled as he jumped toward the goal line.
"It's not shocking if you keep turning the ball over," said Ward. "If you turn the ball over that just shows you can't win the big games by doing that. The more and more we do it the less and less we're going to win."
The fifth turnover left the defending champions with their heads down and quiet fans headed toward the exits.
Ben Roethlisberger compiled career highs in attempts (54), completions (38) and yards (433) -- all for naught -- as five of Pittsburgh's turnovers were recovered or intercepted inside Denver's 10-yard line.
Willie Parker ran for 70 yards and a score and caught seven more passes for 67 yards and another score. Ward had seven catches for 127 yards in the loss.
For everything Pittsburgh did wrong, Jake Plummer and Walker did everything right. Plummer completed 16-of-27 passes for 227 yards and three scores.
Mike Bell only had 28 yards rushing for Denver (6-2), which bounced back from a loss last Sunday in Indianapolis.
"It's always nice to beat a good football team and a great organization," said Denver Mike Shanahan.
The first score for the Broncos came of the conventional variety, a four-play, 63-yard march that ended with Plummer finding Rod Smith in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown.
Holmes fumbled the subsequent kickoff, and the Broncos quickly took advantage. After a near touchdown pass on a fade to Walker, Plummer went to the same play and found the wideout in the right corner of the end zone for a 14-0 lead with still 11:05 remaining in the first quarter.
The Steelers, who also saw Cedric Wilson fumble at the Denver five-yard line in the first quarter, finally held on to the ball and got on the board in the second stanza.
The eight-play, 65-yard march spanned the first and second quarters, with Roethlisberger moving around and buying time before finding Parker for a 15- yard touchdown that cut the deficit to 14-7. Roethlisberger was 5-of-6 passing on the march.
The turnover bug bit Pittsburgh again on its next series, as it drove the ball to the Broncos 14-yard line before Roethlisberger was picked off by Champ Bailey.
On its next drive, Jeff Reed badly pushed a 41-yard field goal well wide right.
The Steelers moved the ball again on their final series of the half, as Reed ran on to the field and drilled a 46-yard kick as time expired for a 14-10 game.
The first half belonged to Pittsburgh in every facet but on the scoreboard. The Steelers outgained Denver, 266-106, and almost doubled it up on plays, 40-22.
No matter to Denver, which struck quickly with Walker's 72-yard touchdown run, knifing through the middle of the Steelers defense and sprinting away from the second line of defense for the score.
The Steelers finally finished off a drive, as Parker capped the eight-play, 54-yard drive with a three-yard plunge off right tackle -- which included a great seal block by Ward.
Denver responded with 11:16 left in the game, as it received great field possession and took advantage with a third down fade pass from Plummer to Walker, the receiver's third score of the game for a 28-17 game.
"He had a great game," said Shanahan about Walker. "He had a couple of really big catches during the game. He had a great effort. He's a guy that loves the ball and we got it to him when we could."
Pittsburgh came right back, with Roethlisberger finding Ward for 63 yards -- the longest play given up by the Broncos this season. The march eventually stalled, and Reed converted a 29-yard field goal to make it a one-score game, 28-20.
Ike Taylor was beaten badly by Walker again -- this time a 61-yard connection -- that set up a 32-yard Jason Elam field goal to push the edge to 31-20 with 4:48 remaining.
Game Notes
Pittsburgh totaled 499 total yards to 336 for Denver...Bailey had two interceptions...Aaron Smith recorded a sack for Pittsburgh...Roethlisberger has 14 interceptions on the season...Denver head coach Mike Shanahan (136) tied Hall of Fame coach Hank Stram for 17th most wins in NFL history...Plummer has won four consecutive regular season starts versus AFC North.
<< Nedney kicks Niners past Vikings
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Nedney kicked three field goals as
the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 9-3, in a defensive
battle at Monster Park.
Alex Smith was 13-of-21 passing for 105 yards and an int
<< Bears lose perfect season to the Dolphins...again
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Taylor had one sack, forced a fumble,
intercepted a pass and scored a touchdown as Miami capitalized on six Chicago
turnovers to best the Bears, 31-13, at Soldier Field.
Chicago lost its chance for
<< Saints Brees by Bucs
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Brees threw for 314 yards and three
touchdowns to lead the New Orleans Saints to a 31-14 beating of the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
Brees completed 24 of his 32 passes without
<< Louisville surges to third in BCS
Morristown, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The undefeated tandem of Ohio State and
Michigan held down the top two spots in the latest Bowl Championship Series
Poll, while undefeated Louisville jumped up two spots to number three.
Neither the
Manning, Colts down Patriots to stay unbeaten >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning threw for 326 yards and two
touchdowns as the Indianapolis Colts are now the sole unbeaten team in the
league with a 27-20 victory over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Mann
Washington to take over Rangers >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers are set to hire Ron
Washington as their new manager.
According to a report in the Dallas Morning News, Washington, who was the
third base coach for the Oakland Athletics, wil
Azinger to captain U.S. Ryder Cup squad >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The PGA of America officially announced on
Monday that 1993 PGA champion Paul Azinger will captain the 2008 United States
Ryder Cup team.
Azinger will lead the United States team against his former broadca
Jazz try to remain perfect against Pistons >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz try to begin the new season with a 4-0
record, as they host the Detroit Pistons tonight at the Delta Center.
The Jazz opened the 2004-05 season with four straight wins and the 2000-01
campaign with five str
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!
Every month MySportsbook.com's casino host, Jack Black, gives
away $10,000.00 in free casino prize money. To Enter
- All you have to do is play at least 10
hands (total) of Blackjack on one of the
specified dates of the blackjack contest. The online casino host
randomly hands out free bonuses ranging
from $50 - $500, and one lucky player who
will receive a free $2,500.00 bonus.
"We have been running this monthly free blackjack contest to our active mebers for 5 years now, and the players just love it," says Jack Black, online casino host at MySportsbook.com. "And why wouldn't they love a free chance to win some extra online blackjack cash."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting