Saints move closer to bye with win over Giants

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12/24/2006 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reggie Bush rushed for a career-high 126 yards with a score, as New Orleans moved one step closer to a first-round bye after a 30-7 win over the fading New York Giants.

Bush recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his career.

Deuce McAllister added another 108 yards on the ground and a touchdown for the Saints (10-5), who will claim a first-round bye if Philadelphia defeats Dallas on Christmas Day.

Drew Brees threw for 132 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-32 passing, while Marques Colston caught Brees' lone touchdown pass in what was the Saints' fourth win in their last five games.

In what was probably his last game ever at Giants Stadium, 10-year veteran Tiki Barber ran for 71 yards on 16 carries. Barber, who spent all 10 of his seasons with the Giants, has said he plans to retire after the season.

That may be as early as next week as New York's playoff chances took another hit as it fell to 7-8 on the year. Once front runners in the NFC East, the Giants lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Luckily for the Giants, the Atlanta Falcons also lost on Sunday and dropped to 7-8 as well. New York, though, defeated the Falcons back on Week 6. The Giants wrap up their season in Washington while Atlanta travels to Philadelphia.

Atlanta and New York are the front-runners in a pack of teams still alive for the second wild card spot.

Eli Manning completed just nine of his 25 pass attempts for 74 yards. 55 of those yards came on one play, a lone touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in what turned out to be his lone catch of the game.

Burress' touchdown reception was his 10th of the season, the most by a Giants receiver since Earnest Gray hauled in 10 TD passes in 1980.

In fact, New York never ran a play inside New Orleans territory.

The Giants failed to receive a spark from Michael Strahan, who returned to the lineup after missing the last six games with a sprained foot ligament. Strahan had five tackles in the loss.

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FOOTBALL BETTING

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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.

Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.

Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.

So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.

In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.

For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.

The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.

The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.

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