Avril hopes to step up on new Lions defensive line

Football Betting Lines

08/12/2010 -

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -The Detroit Lions don't have many good memories of the Matt Millen era.

They are hoping that Cliff Avril turns out to be one.

Avril, a third-round pick in 2008, has 10 1/2 sacks in his two seasons, but has struggled against the run and never given Detroit a consistent pass rusher.

This season, the defensive end will have to improve his performance against the run in order to earn a regular role on the Lions' revamped defensive line.

``I've got a lot of work to do,'' Avril said. ``We've got a lot of new guys here, and I know I've got to get better.''

Lions coach Jim Schwartz thinks Avril is off to a good start, and has made good progress toward becoming a consistent, full-time player.

``Cliff is still a young guy, and at times last year, he played like that,'' Schwartz said. ``But he's taken a step forward in that department. He has had a very, very consistent camp.''

Schwartz is most pleased that Avril is showing versatility on the field.

``We know the skills he has as a pass rusher, but we're seeing more from him this year,'' he said. ``He's doing a better job at the point of attack in the run game.''

Avril says that the improvement is a combination of several factors, starting with hard work.

``I know that I've got the talent around me that I should be able to take a big step forward this year, so I'm working hard at it,'' he said. ``I've got a better understanding of what I'm doing out there, and of what the whole defense is doing.''

Avril has also picked up valuable lessons from newly acquired veterans like Kyle Vanden Bosch and Corey Williams.

``It's great to be able to pick those guys' brains,'' he said. ``It's been awesome to be on the field with two guys like that, and with a young kid like Ndamukong (Suh). We're all learning from each other, and we're starting to mesh as a unit.''

Avril, though, knows that Saturday's preseason opener against Pittsburgh will be the biggest test of the new unit.

``We're ready to get out there and hit someone other than our own offensive linemen,'' he said. ``We know what they can do, but we need to work against someone else for a change.''

Schwartz is equally ready to see how well Avril and his linemates handle someone other than the Detroit offensive line.

``At this point, our defensive linemen know all of the offensive line's blocking schemes, and the offense knows every defensive lineman's pass-rush moves,'' he said. ``That's not going to be the case on Saturday.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Wwdaum Football Betting News

<< Schaub, Knapp reunite in Houston
HOUSTON (AP) -Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub seemed comfortable and confident enough last season, leading the NFL with 4,770 yards passing.But offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is gone now. He left to join his father, Mike, the new coach o

<< Bear Pascoe holding fort at tight end for Giants
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -Watching the New York Giants tight ends at training camp these days is pretty simple - there's Bear Pascoe.With four of the five tight ends at camp sidelined by minor injuries, Pascoe has gotten almost all the work. Whether it's o

<< Gonzalez leads Padres over Pirates
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Gonzalez reached base all five times he came to the plate, finishing with four hits, two runs scored and two RBI, as San Diego jumped out to a big early lead, en route to an 8-5 victory over Pi

<< Burrell's homer lifts Giants over Cubs
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Burrell hit the tie-breaking solo homer off Jason Berg leading off the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting San Francisco to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. Burrell, who had the game-winning R

<< Report: Mets' Rodriguez in custody after punching family member
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez was reportedly taken in custody by police at Citi Field following Wednesday night's 6-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Multiple reports say Rodriguez was acc

Fog delays start of PGA Championship >>
Kohler, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The start of the first round of the 92nd PGA Championship at Whistling Straits has been delayed due to fog. The forecast called for early fog that was to burn off after 9:00 a.m. local time and give way to

5 arrested in All-Star protest at baseball meeting >>
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Police arrested five protesters outside the quarterly meeting of Major League baseball team owners in Minneapolis.They were among 100 people who gathered outside a downtown hotel Wednesday, trying to deliver petitions to commission

180-year sentence in death of NBA player's brother >>
CHICAGO (AP) -A judge in Chicago has handed down a 180-year prison sentence for a man convicted of killing the brother of NBA player Quentin Richardson.Thirty-one-year-old Lee Richardson Jr. was shot to death during a robbery in December 2005.Author

Marlins try for fourth straight win, sweep of Nationals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The chances of the Marlins matching their longest winning streak of the season and completing a three-game sweep of Washington tonight just got stronger with Ricky Nolasco set to take the mound. Nolasco has won five straig

D'Backs go for first-ever sweep in Brew City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona's four-game series with Milwaukee has certainly featured some exciting moments for the club, but there is one more thing left to do. The Diamondbacks, who have already secured their first series win at Miller Pa

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.