Brown's FG lifts Texans past Colts

Football Betting Lines

12/24/2006 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Dayne rushed for a career-high 153 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Kris Brown booted a 48-yard field goal as time expired, as Houston stunned Indianapolis with a 27-24 victory, the first win in 10 all-time meetings.

David Carr completed 16-of-23 passes for 163 yards with a touchdown for the Texans (5-10), who ended a two-game slide. Dayne also surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time since the 2001 season, when he was a member of the New York Giants.

Vonta Leach caught his first touchdown pass of the season for Houston, which scored the game's first 14 points to take control early.

Peyton Manning went 21-for-27 for 205 yards and three touchdowns for the Colts (11-4), who have lost four of their last five. Manning also surpassed the 4,000-yard passing mark for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, setting a new NFL record.

Marvin Harrison hauled in eight passes for 112 yards and two scores while Joseph Addai ran for 100 yards for Indianapolis, which has already won the AFC South championship for the fourth straight year. The Colts could have secured a first-round playoff bye with a win and a Baltimore loss.

After Indy tied the contest at 24-24 with just under three minutes left in the fourth, Houston's Dexter Wynn returned the kickoff 38 yards to the Houston 39. Carr then moved the Texans down to the 33-yard line, setting up Brown for a game-winning field goal attempt. After the Colts took two timeouts, attempting to ice the kicker with three seconds left, Brown stepped up and split the uprights with a 48-yard field goal to win it for Houston.

The Texans scored on the opening drive of the game to take an early 7-0 lead. Dayne capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown up the middle. The key play on the drive was a 25-yard pass to Mark Bruener while Dayne had 21 yards rushing.

After recovering a Dominic Rhodes fumble on the following drive, Houston put together a nine-play, 47-yard drive that ended with Dayne barreling his way across the goal line from six yards out for his second touchdown of the game with 5:46 left in the first.

With less than a minute left in the opening quarter, the Colts got on the board and made it 14-7 after Manning connected with a wide-open Harrison for a 37-yard touchdown.

Indianapolis evened the score at 14-14 with 8:16 left in the second stanza after Manning found Aaron Moorehead open just over the goal line for a nine- yard touchdown pass.

Houston went into halftime with a 21-14 lead after Carr connected with Leach for a three-yard touchdown reception with just 16 seconds remaining in the first half. The Texans marched 75 yards on 14 plays during the scoring drive that spanned eight minutes.

With 6:08 left in the third quarter, the Colts pulled to within 21-17 after Adam Vinatieri split the uprights with a 33-yard field goal. Vinatieri's three points highlighted an 11-play, 65-yard drive.

Brown extended Houston's lead to 24-17 with 6:54 left in the contest after hitting a 42-yard field goal. Brown's field goal ended a mammoth drive for the Texans that went 51 yards on 15 plays and lasted almost 9 1/2 minutes.

Manning and the Colts though tied the game at 24-24 after Harrison hauled in his second touchdown of the game, a seven-yard reception over the middle of the end zone with 2:41 remaining.

Game Notes

The Colts had won all nine head-to-head meetings with the Texans all-time, including a 43-24 home triumph in Week 2 this season...Dayne has five touchdowns over his last four games...Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson had four catches for 48 yards and...The Texans outgained the Colts in total net yards, 354-319...The Colts close out the regular season next Sunday at home against the Miami Dolphins while the Texans host the Cleveland Browns in their season finale.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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