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02/01/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jackie Slater had as close to perfect a career a professional athlete could have. A 20-year tenure in the NFL, all with one team. A retired jersey number. And of course, the greatest honor of them all -- a first-ballot induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The legendary former Rams offensive tackle left the game with his health intact and next to no regrets, save maybe for one. He never won a world championship.
"I think that was one of the biggest things that he kind of missed on his career," said Slater's son, Matthew. "I knew how much that meant to him, because he was a huge team guy."
Matthew Slater isn't going to ever come close to matching the individual accomplishments of his famous father, but the New England Patriots special teams ace and noted jack of all trades will have the opportunity to become the family's first member on a NFL title recipient when the AFC representatives for Super Bowl XLVI take the field at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium on Feb. 5.
Like his son, Jackie Slater reached the NFL's ultimate game in his fourth season, when the then-Los Angeles Rams made it to Super Bowl XIV during the 1979 campaign. The heavy underdogs entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead on powerhouse Pittsburgh that day, before the star-studded Steelers scored two unanswered touchdowns in the final 12 minutes to rally for a 31-19 decision.
It would be his first and last time participating in a Super Bowl.
"Sixteen years and never went back," Matthew Slater remarked.
His father's story has given the younger Slater an added appreciation for the moment he'll be experiencing in Indianapolis. But then again, Matthew Slater has never taken much for granted as a football player.
The UCLA graduate was tabbed by the Patriots with the 153rd overall selection in the 2008 draft, hardly a position that would assure a rookie a roster spot and especially so on a team coming off an unprecedented 16-0 regular season and a Super Bowl appearance. Slater not only survived the cut, but the reserve wide receiver earned a regular role as a kick returner and contributor on coverage units and finished his initial year second on the club in special-teams tackles.
"You kind of have that sense of urgency from the day you come into the league, knowing that things are not going to be easy for you," he stated. "You've got to kind of come in and be willing to do dirty work; whatever it takes to stick around. I think a lot of guys on this team have that mentality, and that's why we've had the success that we've had."
Slater has enhanced his own value by taking on additional responsibilities in the years since. The 26-year-old even started three games at safety when an upsurge of injuries struck the Patriots' secondary earlier this season.
"My career has been about [taking] whatever anyone asks of me and then going out there to do it at the best of my ability," he said. "Playing hard and fast and doing whatever it takes to help this team have success."
That versatility, rigorous work ethic and ever-willing attitude hasn't gone unnoticed or unappreciated by Slater's coaches and teammates either, as he was voted New England's special teams captain prior to this 2011 season. Another prestigious honor would come his way a few months later, when he was chosen as the AFC's designated special teams player for the recently-held Pro Bowl.
That last distinction made the Slaters only the fifth father/son combination to be invited to the NFL's annual all-star event, an exclusive list that also contains such famous names as Manning (Archie, Peyton and Eli), Matthews (Clay Jr. and Clay III) and Winslow (Kellen and Kellen II).
Below is a capsule look at the special teams of the New England Patriots, with regular season statistics in parentheses:
Placekicker: Being the successor to Adam Vinatieri, who kicked the Patriots to two of their three Super Bowl victories under head coach Bill Belichick with last-second field goals, isn't the easiest of tasks, but Stephen Gostkowski has handled the challenge well. The 2006 draft choice owns a solid 84.4 percent career success rate on three-point attempts during his six years in New England and has made good on 13-of-15 tries in postseason play. One of only two NFL kickers to compile 500 points over his first four seasons, Gostkowski was a reliable 28-of-33 overall in 2011 and an impressive 10-of-13 from 40 yards out or more.
Punter: Zoltan Mesko doesn't get overworked as the punter on the league's third-highest scoring team, but the Romanian-born lefty has certainly come through when called upon. The second-year pro's 41.5 net average was the best in the AFC this season, while 24 of his 57 kicks landed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He also set a New England record by averaging 46.5 gross yards per boot, breaking a mark that had stood since 1997.
Long-snapper: What had been a sore spot for the Patriots the past two years no longer seems to be concern thanks to the steady showing of rookie Danny Aiken, claimed off waivers from Buffalo during final preseason cuts. The 23-year-old has not had a bad snap in his 18 appearances while chipping in five tackles on special teams.
Punt Returners: The Patriots have a potential game-breaker here in Julian Edelman (10.6 avg.), with the backup slot receiver having averaged a noteworthy 12.6 yards per return over the past two seasons and scored two touchdowns over that span. One of them came from 72 yards out in a rout of Kansas City back in November.
Kickoff Returners: New England hasn't been as dynamic taking back kicks, placing a poor 29th out of 32 teams with a 21.4 average in the regular season. There have been problems during the playoffs as well, with primary returner Danny Woodhead (21.9 avg.) committing a costly fumble that Baltimore converted into a field goal in the AFC Championship.
Special Teams Defense: Slater (14 special teams tackles) is one of a host of standouts in an area where Belichick has always put a heavy emphasis upon. Reserve linebackers Tracy White (12 tackles) and Niko Koutouvides (7 tackles) have both carved out long careers toiling on kickoff and punt coverage teams, with safety Sergio Brown (11 tackles) and starting cornerback Kyle Arrington (11 tackles) also having made their mark on a unit that held opponents to a modest 21.6 yards per kick return (6th overall) and 8.5 on punts.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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