Young, Merriman and Brown earn AFC weekly honors

Football Betting Lines

12/27/2006 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and Houston kicker Kris Brown have been honored as the AFC's top players for Week 16 of the NFL season.

Young kept his team in the playoff race with a pair of touchdown passes and a rushing score in Tennessee's 30-29 victory over Buffalo. The rookie is 8-4 since taking over as the starting quarterback for the 8-7 Titans.

Last April's No. 3 draft pick completed 13-of-20 passes for 183 yards without an interception against the Bills to take the offensive award for the week.

Merriman earned defensive honors for the second time in his career, as his three sacks helped the Chargers notch a 20-17 victory at Seattle. He became the second San Diego defensive winner this year, joining Jamal Williams in Week 5 and his selection gave the Chargers a player of the week for the third consecutive time as LaDainian Tomlinson had taken the offensive award each of the past two weeks.

Brown captured his fifth career special teams award and third with the Texans, as his 48-yard field goal on the game's final play helped Houston earn a 27-24 win over Indianapolis. He also kicked a 42-yard field goal earlier in the fourth quarter, as the Texans beat the Colts for the first time in 10 all-time tries.

Other nominees for the top offensive player included Houston running back Ron Dayne, who posted a career-best 158 rushing yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in the victory over the Colts; Tennessee running back Travis Henry, who ran for 135 yards in his return to Buffalo; and Jacksonville rookie running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who ran for 131 yards with a pair of touchdowns in a 24-21 loss to New England.

Defensive consideration went to Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who returned to the lineup after missing six games and recovered a fumble in the closing minutes of the victory over the Jaguars; Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, who had an interception and a fumble recovery that led to 14 first-half points in the Broncos' 24-23 win over Cincinnati.

Also up for the special teams award was New York Jets kicker Mike Nugent, whose second field goal of the game was a 30-yarder with 10 seconds to play that provided the difference in a 13-10 win against the Miami Dolphins.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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