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ring for 1,200 of its VIP customers
CINCINNATI (AP) — The first month shaped up as the Bengals‘ most daunting Yodny Cajuste Jersey Draft , with three road games in the first four. The offense and defense were getting accustomed to new systems. And then the injuries began.Running back Joe Mixon tore knee cartilage. Center Billy Price tore a foot ligament. Linebacker Preston Brown sprained an ankle. Linebacker Vontaze Burfict was suspended all month for another NFL policy violation.Cincinnati (3-1) came through it successfully with a handful of big plays and a resurgent Andy Dalton . Now the Bengals are getting some of those important players back as they settle into a more cushy part of the schedule — four home games in the next five, starting with the Miami Dolphins (3-1) on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.Things are looking up in Cincinnati, off to its best start since it won the AFC North in 2015.“It’s a new team, a new energy around here,” cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said.The Dolphins are trying to regroup from their first loss, a 38-7 drubbing by the Patriots that highlighted their flaws. Both lines got pushed around , and injuries forced adjustments that didn’t turn out so well.“It was a humbling experience,” defensive tackle Davon Godchaux said.The Bengals want to keep their momentum going during home games against the Dolphins and against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers the following week. The Dolphins need to pull out of their one-week funk and not allow it to turn into a downward trend.Some things to watch Sunday at Paul Brown StadiumALTON’S RESURGENCE: The Bengals’ eighth-year quarterback has been a key to their turnaround, getting off to his best start since 2015 in a redesigned offense. He’s thrown 11 touchdown passes, his best total for an opening four-game stretch.During a 37-36 win at Atlanta on Sunday, he had a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in the first half, when he missed on only two passes. He led a winning 16-play drive, culminating in a touchdown pass to A.J. Green with 7 seconds left.“We have to keep playing the way we have been and keep the confidence level high, because we’ve shown we can do it Yodny Cajuste NFL Jersey ,” Dalton said. “We just have to keep it going.”HUMBLE PIE?Godchaux hinted that the Dolphins lost a little motivation by winning their first three games, so the drubbing by the Patriots could provide a correction. The Dolphins lead the AFC East despite ranking in the bottom half of the league in many offensive and defensive categories.“Believe it or not, we needed that loss to get back on track,” Godchaux said. “As a team we just needed that. We were 3-0. We got a wakeup call.”ON THE LINEThe Dolphins’ lines have been depleted and got pushed around against the Patriots, who rushed for 175 yards while the Dolphins were held to 172 total yards.Center Daniel Kilgore suffered a season-ending triceps injury, and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was released after another poor game punctuated by a sideline outburst. Veteran Travis Swanson replaces Kilgore. The Dolphins earlier lost guard Josh Sitton with a season-ending shoulder injury.“We just got crushed,” coach Adam Gase said.NOT MOVING THE CHAINSThe Dolphins have converted 31 percent of their third downs, which ranks third-worst in the NFL. They were 3 for 11 against New England and had the ball for less than 24 minutes.“We were bad on third, we were bad on second, and we were bad on first,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “It’s all tied together. When you’re in third-and-long situations, which we were, you’re not going to be in good situations. It really comes down to first and second down, being efficient and keeping it third-and-manageable.”Tannehill has often been knocked for his play on third down. This year his quarterback rating is 72.8 in those situations Yodny Cajuste NFL Draft , compared with 106.1 overall.LETTING THEM MOVE THE CHAINSThe Dolphins will be going against a defense that’s last in the league by far on third down, allowing opponents to convert 57 percent of the time. It’s the biggest problem with a defense that’s ranked 29th overall and has allowed the 10th-most points in the league.Cincinnati hopes that getting Burfict back from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers will help fix the problems.“I feel like he balances everything out,” Kirkpatrick said. Thousands of football fans from around the country converge at Las Vegas casinos every February to place their bets on the Super Bowl’s winner, MVP, first touchdown scorer and hundreds of other outcomes. They cheer, boo and hold their breath as they watch every moment of the game at sportsbooks, VIP parties and other gatherings.If they’re lucky, they then get in long lines to cash out.That enthusiasm is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Las Vegas, and for the first time Sunday, it will face legal competition outside Nevada as casinos in seven more states have opened sportsbooks since the U.S. Supreme Court issued a relevant ruling in May. But the race for the betting dollars is not worrying officials or casino operators. This Super Bowl, they say, will be business as usual.Their confidence comes from the magnetism of Las Vegas: Storied casinos, superb hospitality and dining, plus a growing list of world-class entertainment options that together create the Sin City vibe that draws millions every year. Seldom do people come to this desert oasis nowadays exclusively to bet.“People come to Vegas for four-five hours around the Super Bowl Yodny Cajuste Buffalo Bills Jersey , but they come for a lot more to fill the other 48 hours that they are here in town for that weekend,” said Jay Rood, who heads sports betting operations for MGM Resorts International. “I really don’t think that Vegas, or Nevada, has anything to worry about in the future. I think it’s only going to increase our customer base and probably deliver more people to our doorstep.”Tourism officials expect 306,000 people to travel to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend, with a projected economic impact of $426 million. The figures from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority represent a $1.4 million year-over-year increase in economic impact with about the same number of visitors.Gamblers wagered a record $158.6 million on the big game at Nevada’s nearly 200 sportsbooks last year, over $20.1 million more than in 2017. But the sportsbooks made a profit of only about $1.2 million, as some reported six- and seven-figure losses in part because of a seemingly deep-pocketed mystery bettor.Nevada’s effective monopoly on sports betting ended last spring, when the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on that form of gambling. Casinos in seven other states — Rhode Island, Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania Color Rush Yodny Cajuste Jersey , West Virginia and New Mexico— are accepting wagers on the game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. And by 2020, the list could be longer with lawmakers in two dozen states thinking about allowing sports betting.The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is responsible for promoting the destination, estimates that 93.5 percent of the city’s roughly 147,000 available rooms will be booked this weekend.“In addition to weather that’s better than most of the country right now, we have so many other amenities you can build out a full weekend,” said Jacqueline Peterson, the authority’s chief communications officer. “Yes, you can sit down and watch the big game and have a great time. But before and after, we have the best clubs and bars and restaurants in the world. Some amazing shows are in town this weekend.”Lady Gaga, American rock band ZZ Top, George Strait and Van Morrison are among those with shows scheduled.MGM Resorts anticipates the majority of its Las Vegas Strip properties will be sold out. Rood said he has already taken several six-figure wagers and anticipated he will get three or four wagers topping $1 million each. He expects Rams supporters from nearby southern California to start showing up in Las Vegas by Friday afternoon.MGM and the Westgate Las Vegas casino-hotel had the Patriots as 2 1/2-point favorite Thursday.The Westgate Las Vegas casino-hotel expects to be at capacity, too. It will host a gathering for 1,200 of its VIP customers Youth Yodny Cajuste Jersey , a private event for over 2,000 people and a party for about 1,500 people that’s open to the public at the theater where Elvis Presley once performed. A satellite betting station will be centrally placed to allow partygoers to bet without missing much of the game.Longtime Las Vegas oddsmaker Jay Kornegay believes bettors in Nevada will set another record this year. He said some of the big bettors have made arrangements to wire money ahead of the game, with 80 to 85 percent of all the bets historically coming in the last two days before the game.“It’s an important weekend for us, and when I say us, I’m talking about the city of Las Vegas because we have to put on our best show to keep them coming back not just for next year’s game, but throughout the entire year,” said Kornegay, the Westgate’s vice president of race and sports book operations. “It’s all hands on deck throughout the entire city.” |
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