monday night football lines -
pittsburgh (-2.5) at jacksonville
The champs opened their Super
Bowl defense with a 28-17 win over Miami, coming
from 17-14 down to post a late victory. Backup
quarterback, Charlie Batch was in superb form
when given the start, throwing three touchdown
passes, two more than he’s thrown in the
past four seasons combined.
In their first ‘real’
game since the Super Bowl, the Steelers looked
flat for long stretches. However, they have now
posted nine wins in a row, including five in the
regular season, and took plenty of positives out
of the game.
For starters, Batch proved
himself a capable back-up for Roethlisberger,
who spent much of the off-season recovering from
a motorcycle accident, only to suffer this latest
setback.
Running back, Willie Parker
had 115 yards rushing, tight end Heath Miller
came up with 101 receiving yards, and wide receiver
Hines Ward showed he has overcome a nagging hamstring
injury with a fine touchdown.
Miller looks set for a huge
season, and it was his controversial fourth quarter
touchdown that proved the turning point against
the Dolphins last week.
Jacksonville (1-0) was the
only team in the NFL to beat both Super Bowl combatants
(Pittsburgh and Seattle) last year. They finished
a very productive 12-4 overall, but the season
fell apart with an inglorious 28-3 loss to the
Patriots in the playoffs.
Quarterback, Byron Leftwich
was much maligned for the loss, and had to wear
the blame in Florida all summer.
Leftwich did bounce back
in style in the opening week of the season, spurring
the Jaguars to a 24-17 win over Dallas.
With Terrell Owens making
a powerhouse debut for the Cowboys, the Jags needed
to be at their best to get the “W”.
Leftwich threw one touchdown pass and ran in another,
and running back Fred Taylor had 115 total yards.
The critics have been putting
plenty of question marks over Jacksonville since
the retirement of five-time Pro Bowler, Jimmy
Smith over the summer. Wide receivers, Matt Jones
(71 yards), Reggie Williams (47 yards) and Ernest
Wilford (58 yards) all stepped up last week to
show there is life after the prolific Smith.
The win was costly, however,
with the Jaguars losing defensive end Reggie Hayward
for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
Summary: The Jaguars took
the last meeting between the teams 23-17 in overtime
last season, and there’s likely to be little
between these two solid contenders again this
time around. Jacksonville is the slight underdog,
but they are more than capable of producing the
upset.
For
the latest Monday Night Football odds, visit VIP.com
Posted by miker at September
18, 2006 11:20 AM
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