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12/28/2006 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme practiced on Thursday and was upgraded to probable for the team's regular season finale in New Orleans.
Delhomme, who also practiced on Wednesday, has missed the Panthers' past three games with a sprained right thumb.
"He made it through (Wednesday) just fine and had no setbacks," Panthers head coach John Fox said on Thursday. "He slung it around pretty good (Thursday)."
The game is a must-win for Carolina, which is still in the NFL playoff hunt despite a 7-8 record. Even if the Panthers beat the Saints, they still need losses by the New York Giants (against Washington on December 30) and Green Bay (against Chicago on Sunday night) to claim the final playoff spot in the NFC.
Delhomme hurt his thumb after his hand hit a helmet on a first-quarter touchdown pass to wide receiver Steve Smith in Carolina's 27-24 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles on December 4. He stayed in the game and went 22- of-37 for 269 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions.
He has completed 240-of-404 passes for 2,598 yards in 12 games overall this season, with 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Chris Weinke has struggled while filling in for Delhomme, completing just 56- of-96 passes for 625 yards in three games, throwing two touchdowns and four interceptions. He has a 67.4 passer rating.
<< Yao, James remain on top of All-Star voting
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and
Cleveland's LeBron James still lead their respective conferences in votes
received after the second returns of the 2007 NBA All-Star balloting.
Yao, who is
<< Hawks ink Medvedenko
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks signed veteran free agent
forward/center Slava Medvedenko on Thursday. Per team policy, financial terms
were not disclosed.
Medvedenko spent the past six years with the Los Angeles
<< Villarreal captures young talent from South America
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villarreal made its first signing of the
winter break, introducing Chilean international striker Matias Fernandez
from Colo Colo for an undisclosed transfer fee.
The 20-year-old will not official
<< Report: Zito picks Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arguably the best free agent pitcher
available this offseason, former Oakland ace Barry Zito has reportedly agreed
to a deal with the San Francisco Giants.
Numerous media outlets reported the deal
How good is Gilbert Arenas? >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas is playing like an MVP this
season for the Washington Wizards. He has stepped up his game and belongs in
the same sentence with the elite players in the NBA.
Arenas, who led the Wizard
Ronaldinho opens school; Edmilson begins foundation >>
Porto Allegre, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five days after news that Ronaldinho
would become a Spanish citizen early next year, the Brazil and FC Barcelona
star showed the pride he has in his roots, as he announced plans to open a
soccer
Noonan and Franchino staying with Revs >>
Foxborough, MA. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. National Team forward Pat Noonan re-
signed with the New England Revolution on Thursday.
The 26-year-old has spent his entire Major League Soccer career in Foxborough
after being drafted by the Rev
Pirates staying in Bradenton >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The city of Bradenton agreed Thursday to a
new 30-year lease that will keep the Pittsburgh Pirates in town through the
year 2038.
The lease takes effect on February 1, 2008 following the completi
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.
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