Giants' Coughlin still whistling past the critics

Football Betting Lines

02/02/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Some of the NFL's greatest coaches were unmistakable in presence.

Hear a gruff voice while watching a 1960's era NFL Films marathon: It's Green Bays Vince Lombardi. See the outline of a hat atop an angular and expressionless face: It's Dallas' Tom Landry. Notice a jutting chin at the end of a powerful jaw line: It's Pittsburghs Bill Cowher.

And come Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, another signature look joins the honor roll. But no, it's not the somber-looking chap in the navy blue hooded sweatshirt. Instead, welcome New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin to the fraternity for his own go-to facial expression: Middle-aged man with Type A personality with a look resembling someone smelling raw sewage.

Of course, if things go well for Big Blue over 60 on-field minutes at Lucas Oil Stadium, Coughlin resume will have a new line that reads a lot sweeter than his face might project:

Two-time Super Bowl champion.

Perhaps a fitting reward for a sturdy 16-year veteran of the league's short- term sidelines, complete with 142 regular-season wins, nine playoff appearances in two cities and as improbable as a championship run as there's been -- the one that ended with the 10-6 Giants defeating the 16-0 New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII four years ago.

And surely a far cry from the epitaphs flung in Coughlin direction as recently as two months ago, when a 6-2 start crumbled into a 6-6 crevasse and prompted some to boldly forecast an imminent demise.

"Tom Coughlin has no choice but to reconnect with his team this week, and find something, anything, to restore its credibility," ESPNNewYork columnist Ian OConnor wrote in late November. "If he fails, Coughlin is not going to lose only his cool or his mind. He is going to lose his job."

The piece ran under the hindsight-unfortunate headline of "Coughlin can't weather another collapse."

"For winning that epic Super Bowl, and for standing among the best coaches in franchise history, Coughlin will always have the memories," O'Connor continued.

"Those will be his parting gifts."

But if anyone expected the 65-year-old native of upstate New York to channel North Jersey stadium co-habitant Rex Ryan and mock the media for getting it so far wrong on him yet again -- they don't know Coughlin.

Because it's simply not his style.

"Staying the course, never saying never," he instead said when asked for the mental mantra that propelled him through the latest bout of tough times. Trying to encourage at every point throughout the season, whether it was good or bad, not denying the facts, but nevertheless seeing that we had a talented team and believing in that team.

"Thinking that if we could only get all of these pieces together, maybe we would have a chance to make ourselves recognized. I felt like we were always in contention to win the division, even when things weren't going as well as we'd have liked them."

As it turned out, while Ryan's self-promoting talk petered out as the crosstown-rival Jets crumbled from 7-5 to 8-8, Coughlin steered the Giants to three wins in their last four regular-season tests while capturing a chaotic NFC East and parlaying it into a New England rematch in Super Bowl XLVI following January defeats of seeds No. 5 (Atlanta), No. 1 (Green Bay) and No. 2 (San Francisco), respectively, in the conference.

The Giants' present run is at least vaguely reminiscent of 2007, when while the Patriots were laying waste to foes in record-setting fashion, Coughlin's team trudged along under the spotlight in losing their first two games, then winning six straight and splitting the final eight en route to a 10-6 finish and an NFC Wild Card berth.

That time around, they strung together road playoff defeats of fourth-seeded Tampa Bay, top-seeded Dallas and No. 2 Green Bay -- an NFC Championship Game noteworthy as Brett Favre's final one as a Packer -- before beating the Patriots at Arizona's University of Phoenix Stadium on Eli Manning's fade- route touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 second left.

It was a nice celebration to a surely epic comeback. But when the Giants failed to replicate their postseason success a year later, then missed the tournament altogether in successive seasons in 2009 and 2010, the keyboard- wielding jackals returned.

While composing a 2011 preview for the Giants, ESPN columnist Dan Graziano fired this verbal warning shot:

"Coughlin survived the collapse of 2009, and the fact that the team won 10 games [in 2010] certainly helped him survive last season's lack of a playoff appearance. But if these Giants bottom out (as their lack of depth could lead them to do), one must wonder if the team will go in another direction at coach, or even if Coughlin might decide to go in a different direction himself.

A bad year in New York could bring about change at a number of spots for the Giants."

Again, well...let's just say reports of the demise were a bit premature.

And the whole debate is enough to make Giants defensive end Justin Tuck laugh.

"This might be the defining career season for him," Tuck said of Coughlin. "I don't see why he wouldn't be the top candidate for Coach of the Year considering the pressure that's on him in New York. It is definitely the type of city that's about 'what have you done for me lately'? And it just seems every year Coach Coughlin's job is up for grabs.

"I know it's a lot of pressure on him and he's always not really wavering either way. You really couldn't tell if he's a coach that has won four Super Bowls in a row or a coach that is on the hot seat all season. He stays even- keeled and kind of stuck to his guns, and believed what this team was going to be about. And I think that has trickled downstairs and trickled throughout this entire franchise."

For his part, Coughlin insists the constant tumult has brought his team closer. In fact, he claimed this week that the unit that captured the NFC title with a 20-17 overtime win against the 49ers at Candlestick Park on Jan. 22 was as galvanized as any he's been a part of. That victory, incidentally, came exactly 77 days after New York beat New England by a 24-20 verdict at Gillette Stadium in Week 9 of the 2011 regular season.

"I understand young people and all that goes with that, but these guys have been able to really create a very strong business-like approach to what they're doing," Coughlin said. "Whether you use the word fellowship or whatever word you want to use, there's a strong, strong feeling among this group. It's been a great source of pride for all of us as coaches."

The Giants' aforementioned Super Bowl win over the Patriots, by the way, came exactly four years ago on the Friday prior to this year's championship game.

Wwwnextmedia Football Betting News

<< Manning's status no longer in doubt
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Listen to a presidential campaign long enough and you're bound to hear the phrase: Are you better off than you were four years ago? But while Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Anarchists might come up with four diff

<< Indians avoid arbitration with Perez
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians avoided arbitration with reliever Rafael Perez on Thursday, signing him to a one-year deal. Terms were not disclosed, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported the deal to be worth $2

<< Nationals beat Lannan in arbitration
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals have reportedly won their salary arbitration case against pitcher John Lannan. According to the Washington Times, Lannan will earn the team's offer of $5 million for 2012 inste

<< New England acquires Colombia forward Moreno
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution acquired Colombia forward Jose Moreno on loan from Colombian power Once Caldas on Thursday. The 30-year-old Moreno has played in Colombia, Ukraine, Argentina, Romania and Peru duri

<< Mast wins European Senior Q School
Lagoa, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Dick Mast posted a four-under 67 on Thursday to earn the victory in the Finals of European Senior Tour Qualifying School. Mast, the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s, finishe

Tottenham signs defender Nelsen >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham signed defender Ryan Nelsen after he was released from Blackburn, the Premier League club announced Thursday. Nelsen, 34, captained New Zealand at the 2010 World Cup. Blackburn terminated his con

Fordham signs 15 for Moorhead's first class >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fordham University football coach Joe Moorhead announced the 15 members of his first recruiting class on Thursday, one day after the national signing period began. It is the Rams' third recruiting class since

Vancouver's Hodgson named top rookie for January >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vancouver Canucks center Cory Hodgson has been selected as the NHL's top rookie for the month of January. Hodgson scored six goals and assisted on four others, leading all rookies last month with 10 points,

Alabama A&M to wrap up 2012 regular season at Auburn >>
Huntsville, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama A&M football will stay in state for seven of its 11 games in 2012, including a trip to Auburn in what is the Bulldogs' first game against a Southeastern Conference program. A&M, coming off an

Magic sign Ish Smith >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic signed free agent guard Ish Smith from the NBA D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders on Thursday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, per team policy. Smith has played in six games

FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sports betting

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.