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The first day of the 2011 college bowl season finishes up as the San Diego State Aztecs and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns meet in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl with on Saturday.
After rolling over five consecutive opponents, the No. 23 Gonzaga Bulldogs finally met their match against a perfect Illinois squad that came into Assembly Hall and handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.
After dropping their worst non-conference defeat in 16 years, a 85-63 loss at No. 2 Ohio State last week, the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils rebounded with a win and will now face a Washington Huskies team that has won just one out if its last four contests.
What a difference two months can make.
Both the Buffalo Bills and the San Diego Chargers were chugging their way into the postseason in early October with 4-1 records, but now both are well out of the playoff hunt nearing mid December, sporting identical 5-7 records.
Buffalo v San Diego
When: 4:15 PM ET, Sunday, December 11, 2011
Where: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
TV:CBS
LINE: -7 (San Diego) O/U 47.5
Still, Sunday’s battle will mean something to both teams as San Diego will try to salvage a train wreck of a season by beating up on an already deflated Bills squad that will be looking to avoid a sixth consecutive loss in a city where it hasn’t won in 30 years.
After starting the season 5-2, the bus ran off the cliff and the entire Buffalo fan base has felt the impact.
The Bills, who led the league in scoring over that span, averaging just under 33 points per game, have fallen well off the mark by putting up a meager 13.4 points during its five-game skid.
Sure, one can blame injuries to team MVP Fred Jackson, big nose tackle Kyle Williams, and several other players on the offensive line for the Bills dip in performance. But that still doesn’t excuse the poor execution from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
However, after throwing seven interceptions in a three-game stretch, Fitz been far better, throwing four TD passes in his last two outings. He needs only 163 passing yards to match last season’s career high of 3,000, but if the rest of the team can’t step it up, he could very well have to wait until next season. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Take for example Stevie Johnson dropping the potential game-winning touchdown with seconds to play against the Jests, or C.J. Spiller’s fumble in the end zone last week in the Bills loss to the Titans. Of course, the officials ruled that Spiller recovered the ball in the end zone for the touchdown during the relay review, but it’s that kind of sloppy play that has landed the Bills near the bottom floor in the AFC East.
The same kind that will allow the Chargers to manhandle the Bills on their home turf.
The Bolts should be in a better frame of mind after ending their own six-game losing streak by dismantling Jacksonville 38-14 on Monday night.
Quarterback Phillip Rivers, who’s had a disappointing season (19 TD, 17 INT), threw three touchdown passes, as San Diego scored the final 28 points to pull within two games of co-AFC West leaders Denver and Oakland.
San Diego matched its best offensive output of the season in blowing out the Jaguars, thanks in part to RB Ryan Mathews’ second straight 100-yard game.
Matt’ s Prediction: San Diego 34 , Buffalo 24–
San Diego has an NFL-best 19-1 record over the final four weeks of a season since 2006, and will be looking to avoid their first four-game home losing streak since 2001.
I just don’t see how Buffalo, which last won at San Diego in December 1981, and has dropped five straight road games, can shut down a San Diego offense that if clicking can be a scoring machine.
I expect the Bolts to keep their faint playoff hopes alive with another December surge.
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The Denver Broncos attempt to extend their five-game winning streak when they face off against the Chicago Bears who are still in solid position for the NFC Wild Card race but they have lost their last two games in a row, making them 0-2 since they lost Jay Cutler to a thumb injury.
Rex Ryan’s AFC East second place New York Jets will look to stay in the thick of the race for the final Wild Card spot in the AFC,when they host the injury riddled Kansas City Chiefs who are coming off a surprising win over Chicago their last time out.
Week 12 in the NFL is in the books. The Weisguy takes over for Matt and offers up these recaps for your NFL viewing pleasure.
No. 17 Pittsburgh Panthers improved to 6-1 on the season with their win over Duquesne, while the Tennessee Volunteers continue to struggle, and followed up their Chaminade win with a loss on Monday to the Golden Grizzlies, 89-81.
Fueled by another second-half comeback from Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos find themselves right back into the thick of the hunt in the AFC West, and will set their sights on winning their fifth straight when they hit the road to take on the Minnesota Vikings who continue to struggle to find wins this season.
The No. 18 Gonzaga Bulldogs remain undefeated with their blowout win over Notre Dame on Wednesday, and will now set their sights on Illinois who is rolling after beating Maryland on the road their last time out.
Date/Time: Friday, Dec 2 9 p.m. (ET)
Venue: KFC Yum Center, Louisville, KT.
Broadcast: ESPN
Commodores at Cardinals lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Cardinals
Over/Under: OFF
The Vanderbilt Commodores will look to knock the Louisville Cardinals from the ranks of the unbeaten this Friday night when the two teams clash at the KFC Yum Center in this SEC/Big East tilt. This game is set to tip-off at 9 p.m. and it will be broadcast on ESPN.
Vanderbilt is coming off a tough 82-70 overtime loss to No.11 Xavier this past Monday as a four-point home favorite that dropped its record to 5-2 straight-up and 2-3 ATS. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of the five games with lines.
John Jenkins has been a force for the Commodores with 20.2 point scoring average while logging 34 minutes a game. Lance Goulbourne and Jeffery Taylor have done a good job under the boards with a combined 13.7 rebounds a game. As a whole, Vandy is averaging 75.9 points a game and shooting 45.7 percent from the field. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Louisville has worked its way up the rankings with a solid 6-0 start SU including a 69-53 win over Butler as a four-point road favorite on Nov.19. The Cardinals have covered the spread in four of their first five games with a posted line and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of the five games.
Kyle Kuric is averaging 12 points a game and Chris Smith is adding another 10.5, but the real strength of this season’s Cardinals is a smothering defense that is holding its opponents to an average of just 48.3 points a game and 33.2 percent from the field.
Louisville should have its hands full with Jenkins in this one, but stick with the Cardinals’ defense to keep the clamps on him just enough to grind out the win at home.
The Pick: Louisville 66 vs. Vanderbilt 63
The Idaho Vandals head to Mackay Stadium this weekend searching for just their second road win of the season against conference rival Nevada who have done well at home, going 4-2 against conference opponents while holding them to just under 20 points per game.
BYU will travel to the Aloha State in search of ending its season with a nine win record, while the Warriors, who started this year’s campaign coming off an 11-win season in 2010, hope they can avoid finishing the season with a losing record.
Like many college football fans, I still can’t believe the UCLA Bruins ended the PAC 12 regular season with a 50-0 blowout loss to rival USC, and still somehow miraculously ended up representing the south division in the inaugural PAC 12 Conference Championship Game this Friday at the No. 7 Oregon Ducks.
The San Diego Chargers will look to end their five game losing streak as they host the Denver Broncos in a pivotal game in the wide open AFC West on Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Chicago Bears were in the midst of five-game winning streak, and then something unthinkable happened. Quarterback Jay Cutler went down possibly for the season with a broken thumb.
