Thomas Into Super Playoff

Football Betting Lines

It's not a surprise Brady would critique his own play so harshly, but in reality he didn't play all that poorly. He may have missed a few open targets, but one of the two picks he threw came on an acrobatic tip drill by two Baltimore defensive backs.

 

It's easy how quickly some, including Brady, can forget how well he played in against Denver one week earlier in the Divisional Round. The future Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion carved up the Broncos to the tune of 363 yards while tying an NFL single-game playoff record with six touchdown passes.

 

"Tom's an up-front guy, straight-forward," said Branch. "Trust me, everyone made a lot of mistakes on the field [in the game] except for our defense. Defense and special teams did a great job. As far as offense, we didn't put our best outing on the football field [in the game], and I promise you the next time we step on the field it won't be the same thing. I promise you that."

 

That promise by Branch, and Brady's own pact with Kraft, can only come to fruition if the entire offense is on the same page for the Patriots' Super Bowl XLVI matchup with the New York Giants. And that starts with the quarterback.

 

Brady and the Patriots will be out for a measure of revenge against the Giants, the franchise that ruined their quest for a perfect season in Super Bowl XLII and kept the three-time champion quarterback from becoming just the third signal-caller (along with Bradshaw and Montana) to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy four times in a career.

 

"We'll see how it goes with Rob and some of the other players that are getting treatment," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. "We'll just see how that is when we get back out on the field. We have a lot of tough players on our team. I think that everybody is going to do all they can to be ready physically and mentally -- but especially physically -- to try to compete in the game. We'll just see where all that takes us."

 

New York also defeated the Patriots, 24-20, in a Week 9 matchup during this regular season, with Brady finishing 28-of-49 for 342 yards with two touchdown passes and a pair of interceptions. He also lost a fumble and was sacked twice. Gronkowski was around for that defeat and did his best, gaining 101 yards and a score on eight receptions. Wes Welker, perhaps Brady's favorite target, ran all over the field for 136 yards on nine catches that day.

 

When all said and done, and the confetti is streaming from the rafters after the final whistle, Brady and the Patriots could be making some room on the shelf with the only other four-time Super Bowl champions: Pittsburgh (six titles), San Francisco (six), Dallas (five) and Green Bay (four). If promises go awry, however, the Giants will be the ones to join that list.

 

Thomas did indeed get his career off to a slow start, managing just 120 yards on 15 receptions as a rookie with the Washington Redskins, who made the now 25- year-old the third pick of the second round (No. 34 overall) in the 2008 draft. But a more productive second season, highlighted by a seven-catch, 100-yard, two-touchdown outburst against New Orleans in December, seemed to be a positive sign that the talented youngster was on the right path to stardom.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.