Announcement

**Udog** · 09-02-2018, 10:08 AM

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

— Raiders also traded with Buffalo for QB AJ McCarron; Gruden likes to collect QB’s. Oakland gave the Bills a 5th-round draft pick for a guy with three NFL starts. Oakland cut Connor Cook.

— Word out of Philly: QB Nick Foles will start the Eagles’ season opener Thursday.

— Notre Dame 24, Michigan 17— Emotion outweighed execution in this game.

— New Jersey Giants kept four QB’s on their 53-man roster.

— Dallas Cowboys released veteran kicker Dan Bailey.

— With rosters expanding on Sept 1, A’s activated eight players Saturday, mostly pitchers.

**********

Armadillo: Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a football Saturday

13) Oakland Raiders traded star LB Khalil Mack to the Bears Saturday, getting two first round picks in return. Consensus on the Interweb is that this is a good trade for Chicago. Teams also swapped four other draft picks; Bears got a 2nd round pick in 2020, Raiders got a 3rd.

This says that Jon Gruden has all the power in Oakland; GM Reggie McKenzie and owner Mark Davis were supposedly not real anxious to trade Mack, but they also weren’t close to signing him to a new contract, either.

Chicago quickly gave Mack a 6-year, $141M contract extension. After the trade was announced, Bears dropped from 100-1 to 40-1 to win the Super Bowl; Raiders went from 20-1 to 40-1.

12) Auburn 21, Washington 16- Huskies gained 398 yards, but scored only one TD; they were 5-14 on 3rd down, -2 in turnovers and missed a short FG. SEC teams are now 9-3 in their last 12 games against Pac-12 opponents.

11) Penn State 45, Appalachian State 38, OT— 11 years ago this weekend, App State won at Michigan, when the Wolverines were #5 in country. App State was a I-AA team then; they’re in the Sun Belt now, and was a 24-point underdog here- they scored 28 points in 4th quarter after trailing 24-10, but the Nittany Lions tied the game with 0:42 left and avoided the upset in OT.

10) Cincinnati 26, UCLA 17— 6:00 left in the game, Cincy led 19-17; UCLA had 4th-and-1 from its own 36 with a true freshman (backup) QB playing, and the Bruins went for it, threw the ball, and failed miserably. Poor start to the Chip Kelly era in Westwood.

9) Maryland 34, Texas 29— For second year in a row, Terrapins upset Texas as a double-digit underdog; this game was delayed a while by stormy weather.

8) Michigan State 38, Utah State 31— Spartans were favored by 23.5, but needed a 13-yard TD with 2:00 left to hold off the gritty Aggies, who threw for 319 yards and look to be an improved team this season.

7) I-A teams that lost to I-AA teams:
— San Jose State (-2.5) lost 44-38 to Cal-Davis.
— Temple (-14.5) lost 19-17 to Villanova.
— UTEP (+7) lost 30-10 to Northern Arizona.
— Kansas (-9) lost 26-23 in OT to Nicholls State.

6) Rutgers 35, Texas State 7— Bobcats’ only score came on a pick-6; they had zero INT’s all of last season, which is hard to believe. Not sure I’ve ever heard of a team going thru an entire season with no INT’s. Bobcats were -15 in turnovers LY, -14 the year before, going 2-10 both seasons. Hard to win with terrible turnover margins.

5) West Virginia 40, Tennessee 14- Will Grier passed for 429 yards, five TD’s, as Mountaineers opened their season with a decisive win on a neutral field in Charlotte. Total yardage in this game was 547-301.

4) Illinois 31, Kent State 24— Huge sigh of relief from Champaign; Illini trailed this game 17-3 at the half. Total yardage was 469-453, not a good omen for the Illini’s Big 14 hopes.

3) Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 27— Signing Day for college football is usually the first Wednesday in February; every year on day after Signing Day, I ask here why Texas Tech doesn’t sign more defensive players, and then in the fall, when their defense sucks, I ask again.

Last two years, Texas Tech lost eight games that they scored 30+ points in.

2) Buffalo Bills cut WR Corey Coleman, who they acquired from Cleveland this month; Bills now have $50M of dead money on their salary cap- next highest is Dallas, with $26M in dead money.

1) Cowboys’ TE Rico Gathers was arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession by police in Frisco, TX Friday, as he sat on the bubble to make the Dallas roster. No bueno.

Gathers played basketball at Baylor; not sure what else to say here, other than your job as a player is to give the team reasons to keep you, not reasons to cut you.

Somehow, Gathers still made the Cowboys’ 53-man roster; we’ll see if he sticks.

**Udog** · 09-02-2018, 10:13 AM

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, September 2

Atlanta @ Washington

Game 607-608
September 2, 2018 @ 3:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Atlanta
111.057
Washington
120.185
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Washington
by 9
154
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Washington
by 2
158
Dunkel Pick:
Washington
(-2); Under

Seattle @ Phoenix

Game 605-606
September 2, 2018 @ 5:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Seattle
112.683
Phoenix
117.318
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Phoenix
by 4 1/2
175
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Phoenix
by 2
172 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Phoenix
(-2); Over

WNBA
Long Sheet

Sunday, September 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SEATTLE (28 - 9) at PHOENIX (23 - 16) - 9/2/2018, 5:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
PHOENIX is 8-5 against the spread versus SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
SEATTLE is 7-6 straight up against PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
7 of 13 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ATLANTA (25 - 12) at WASHINGTON (23 - 14) - 9/2/2018, 3:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 6-4 against the spread versus ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 7-5 straight up against ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
7 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WNBA

Sunday, September 2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
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Atlanta Dream
Atlanta is 17-2-1 ATS in its last 20 games
Atlanta is 17-3 SU in its last 20 games
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Atlanta's last 17 games
Atlanta is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games on the road
Atlanta is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 7 games on the road
Atlanta is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Washington
Atlanta is 4-6-2 ATS in its last 12 games when playing Washington
Atlanta is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing Washington
Atlanta is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games when playing on the road against Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Atlanta's last 12 games when playing on the road against Washington
Washington Mystics
Washington is 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Washington is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games
The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Washington's last 23 games
Washington is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Washington is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Washington's last 10 games at home
Washington is 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Atlanta
Washington is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing Atlanta
Washington is 6-12 SU in its last 18 games when playing at home against Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Washington's last 12 games when playing at home against Atlanta

Seattle Storm
Seattle is 15-7 ATS in its last 22 games
Seattle is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Seattle is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Seattle's last 6 games
Seattle is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games on the road
Seattle is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Seattle's last 6 games on the road
Seattle is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Phoenix
Seattle is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Phoenix
Seattle is 7-15 SU in its last 22 games when playing Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Seattle's last 6 games when playing Phoenix
Seattle is 15-8 ATS in its last 23 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Seattle is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix Mercury
Phoenix is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Phoenix is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Phoenix's last 8 games
Phoenix is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Phoenix is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix's last 5 games at home
Phoenix is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Seattle
Phoenix is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games when playing Seattle
Phoenix is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix's last 6 games when playing Seattle
Phoenix is 8-15 ATS in its last 23 games when playing at home against Seattle
Phoenix is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games when playing at home against Seattl

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Udog** · 09-02-2018, 11:05 AM

Mercury looking to knot series with Storm

PHOENIX (AP) Intensity is a main reason Phoenix is still alive in its WNBA semifinal series against Seattle. The Mercury had it in abundance in Game 3 on Friday night. The Storm, not so much.

That was the assessment of the Storm, anyway, in the wake of an 86-66 loss to Phoenix that cut Seattle's lead in the best-of-five series to 2-1.

''They clearly came out as a team whose back was against the wall and just had a very determined mindset,'' the Storm's Sue Bird said, ''much more intensity than we came out with. And with that, loose balls go your way. You've got aggressive people making shots. For us, we just never really amped it up.''

Another Mercury win on Sunday and the series would face a winner-take-all Game 5 Tuesday night in Seattle.

''Being down 0-2 to the best team in the league - not easy,'' Phoenix's Diana Taurasi said after the team went through a light workout on Saturday. ''But we took on the challenge and tomorrow's going to be just as difficult. Hopefully we bring that same effort.''

Yvonne Turner will be in the Mercury starting lineup for the second game in a row as Stephanie Talbot goes through the concussion protocol. Coach Sandy Brondello said she was hopeful Talbot would be back if there's a Game 5.

With Taurasi having a rare off night offensively, Turner emerged as a surprise star with 19 points. DeWanna Bonner had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Brittney Griner had 21 points and 11 boards for the Mercury.

Seattle got 19 points from Natasha Howard and 15 points and 11 rebounds from league MVP Breanna Stewart but lost its eighth consecutive playoff road game dating to 2011.

''I thought their energy was immediate and consistent,'' Storm coach Dan Hughes said. ''And I think it's about learning. Our team has all year I think learn things. You can talk about the environment and what the sense of urgency that Phoenix was going to have. But now we saw it. And so we have to be a team that learns something from that experience as to what now we have to do.''

Shoot better, would be one thing. The Storm shot 37 percent (29-of-79). Their 66 points were their second-lowest total of the season.

Taurasi said it's a great sign to see her team win when she wasn't that involved offensively, making just 3 of 11 shots and scoring eight points.

''It's huge,'' she said, ''and that feels good. I think it feels good for our group. It feels good for a lot of people on this team. Sometimes you need someone else to pull you through the hole.''

Turner's presence as essentially a second playmaker on the floor energized the Mercury. It was a breakout game for a player who built a reputation in Europe before finally getting a chance in the WNBA.

''She can do that,'' Brondello said. ''I think it helps any player when they start. It just really does. She's a great little player, a great little competitor. She does it every game over in Europe so it's good to see her get that opportunity and play really well.''

Seattle had the WNBA's best regular-season record at 26-8. The Storm waited while Phoenix survived a pair of one-game playoffs against Dallas and Connecticut. The Storm won the season series with Phoenix 2-1. Seattle won twice in Phoenix, the Mercury once in Seattle.

''Of course we'd love to win tomorrow,'' Bird said, ''and they're going to be literally dying to win. So it's just going to be another tough game. It was physical yesterday. The refs let us play.

''I don't know. You don't want to analyze too much. You have an identity as a team and that's what got you here and you want to stick to that as much as possible while being smart and making the adjustments that you have to make.''

The Atlanta Dream lead the Washington Mystics 2-1 in the other best-of-five semifinal series with their Game 4 also on Sunday.

Announcement

Sunday's WNBA Trends and Indexes - 9/2

Sunday's WNBA Trends and Indexes - 9/2

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