Bucs prove they'll fight to the bitter end

Football Betting Lines

12/20/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Gruden is not into moral victories. Neither are his players. However, the hard-nosed Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and his troops had to feel at least some sense of satisfaction after nearly pulling off the biggest upset of the NFL season.

There wasn't a whole lot in the Bucs' favor heading into Sunday's visit to Chicago's Soldier Field. Tampa Bay hadn't won on the road all year long, and was facing a Bears squad that had been nearly invincible on its own turf in 2006. The Buccaneers came in as the lowest-scoring team in the league, while Chicago had yielded the fewest points at home this season. Even history wasn't on the Bucs' side, as the club historically hasn't fared well in cold-weather stadiums during the winter months.

Despite all those obstacles, Tampa Bay almost did the unthinkable. Fueled by a stellar performance off the bench from quarterback Tim Rattay, the Buccaneers roared back from a 21-point second-half deficit to send the game into overtime before finally succumbing to a Robbie Gould field goal late in the extra period that gave the Bears a thrilling 34-31 victory.

In the end, the game turned out to be another stinging defeat in what has been a season full of pain for Tampa Bay. But while the Bucs remain short on talent, Sunday's performance showed they clearly don't lack heart, especially considering the club has nothing to play for right now other than positioning for April's draft.

"We've got a lot of resolve," said Gruden. "(The players) showed tremendous grit today and (the comeback) is credited to them, it really is. I'm more proud of that then I can tell you."

You also can't question Gruden's intensity and desire and the way those attributes rub off on his charges. His handling of his team's quarterback quandary this season, however, is much more debatable, particularly after witnessing the results on Sunday.

Gruden's patience finally wore out with ineffective rookie Bruce Gradkowski, who was hopelessly ineffective once again, late in the second quarter with the Bucs trailing 14-3. Rattay showed his rust early on, but the one-time San Francisco 49ers hopeful was nearly unstoppable after the intermission, engineering four touchdown drives and providing the spark that the offense had been desperately seeking for months.

Rattay finished 20-of-35 for 268 yards and threw three touchdown passes, all of which came in the fourth quarter. One was a 64-yard strike to speedy wideout Joey Galloway - the longest play from scrimmage for the Bucs this season - that closed the gap to 31-24. After Tampa's defense forced a quick stop, Rattay hit Ike Hilliard in stride down the middle, and the veteran receiver outraced the Chicago secondary for a game-tying 44-yard score.

"He did a great job," said tight end Alex Smith of Rattay. "I think once he finally got his feet settled in, you can see that he was making plays left and right. He was moving around with his feet, and that was the big difference."

WALKING THE PLANK

Rattay's outing earned the journeyman signal-caller the start for this Sunday's contest at Cleveland, a move for which many fans and observers had been campaigning for weeks. The seventh-year pro started 16 games for the 49ers from 2003-05, including the first four games of last season, before being benched in favor of No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith. A few weeks later, Rattay was traded to Tampa Bay for a sixth-round draft choice to serve as Chris Simms' backup.

"It's just common sense right now, based on performance and who gives us a better chance to win a football game," explained Gruden on the switch. "We'd like to finish the season as strongly as we can."

Gradkowski had been under center for the last 11 games after Simms went down to season-ending internal injuries in Week 3. The 23-year-old was pretty effective early on, but has really hit the wall over the past month. Gradkowski's 65.9 quarterback rating is tied with fellow rookie Vince Young for the lowest among NFL regulars, and he hasn't thrown a touchdown pass in four straight games.

Against the Bears, Gradkowski completed just 5-of-11 throws for 37 yards and was sacked twice before getting the hook.

"He is a young guy and he does have promise, but I think right now he's out of rhythm a little bit," Gruden remarked. "Things are happening fast, he's clearly struggling and the best thing to do is try to go in another direction."

PILLAGED?

Gould's game-winning kick was set up by a controversial 28-yard pass from Bears quarterback Rex Grossman to wide receiver Rashied Davis. Although replays showed the ball appeared to come out of Davis' hands and touch the ground, the play was not reviewed upstairs.

It was later revealed that replay official Jim Blackwood attempted to contact the field crew to look at the catch, but was unable to do so because the pager system had malfunctioned. The NFL admitted to the technical error in a statement issued on Monday.

"(The ball) hit the ground," said Gruden of the costly play. "The disappointing thing is that the play's not ruled properly on the field."

HELLO CLEVELAND

Tampa Bay will get one final chance at earning that elusive first road victory of the season this Sunday, when the club travels to Cleveland to battle the 4-10 Browns.

Points could be at a premium in this upcoming matchup that clearly won't be a highlight of the Week 16 docket. Cleveland is tied for 29th overall with an average of 16.1 points per game, while the Buccaneers' 13.0 per game average is next-to-last in the league.

Tampa Bay is just 1-5 lifetime against the Browns, and hasn't won in two previous visits to Cleveland. The Bucs' only win in the series was a 17-3 verdict in 2002.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

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Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

NFL Sports Betting

NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Betting

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.