Posted on
3/7/2008 8:43:09 PM
Arena Football Betting – Sunday Game Match-ups
By Mike Rose
San Jose Sabercats vs. Grand Rapids Rampage
The defending ArenaBowl Champions got off to a rough start last week in Chicago in a game that was a tail of two halves. Chicago busted out of the gates to grab a quick 14-0 lead, but the Sabercats stayed calm, cool, and collected and got themselves right back into the game. After Rodney Wright hauled in a 6-yard TD pass from QB Mark Grieb at the 10:50 mark of the second quarter, the Sabercats astonishingly found themselves up 21-14. The All State Arena seemed to be a more tranquil place after that, but the Rush weren’t going to go down quietly. The 2nd quarter expired when K AJ Haglund nailed a 45-yard FG, and the Sabercats went into the break down a point at 28-27. They were right in it, and Head Coach Darren Arbet demanded his men got more physical in the second half to allow them to steal a win.
It didn’t happen however as they were outscored 14-7 in the third quarter and 28-13 in the final quarter. There was a very questionable call made that went against the Sabercats on what was a perceived fumble by WR James Roe, but replay made it clearly apparent that his knee was down before he lost control of the pigskin. Thankfully for the Rush, there is no instant replay in this league. Mark Grieb completed 35-of-46 passes for 353 yards and 5 TDs, but Chicago’s relentless stop unit coaxed him into throwing some errant passes that were picked off three times. They lost the turnover battle 5:2 and only converted 2 of their 6 3rd down tries. All in all, the defending champs got beat up pretty bad and will no doubt take the field against Grand Rapids in search of atonement.
Tonight’s game will be the first of the season for Grand Rapids as they were the lone team off last week. The new look Rampage have a new leader at the helm that goes by the name of Steve Thonn. He was the offensive coordinator for the Georgia Force, who averaged a whopping 62.9 PPG in 2007. They rebuilt their roster through Nashville and Austin folding. The secondary looks rather impressive, headed up by Ahmad Hawkins, who broke the AFL record with 13 INTs in 2007. The offense seems patchwork, but if anyone can build an offense from the ground up, it’s Steve Thonn.
San Jose is an 11-point road chalk with the ‘total’ set at 106 for this match-up, and you’ll find both of those lines at BetUS.com right now. In the eight games played between these two clubs, San Jose has won 7 of them SU and gone 6-2-1 ATS. The Sabercats have won 4 of its L/5 road games SU, and they’re a solid 9-3-1 ATS its L/13 road contests.
Go to the BetUS.com online sportsbook today to bet on Arena Football. We have the most current Arena Football odds and lines. Join BetUS.com to experience the best in online sports betting action available!