I’ve decided to introduce a new feature to TSR called “NFL Gambler Killer of the Week,” where I’ll call out a player or a team for having a hand in screwing bettors. In order to stay objective, I won’t indicate whether or not I personally was affected by the play.

The inaugural NFL Gambler Killer of the Week goes to Seahawks’ quarterback Matt Hasselbeck for his brilliant fourth quarter performance in Seattle’s 31-20 loss to the Cardinals.

Here’s the situation:

The Seahawks were 9-point underdogs heading into Sunday’s game in Arizona and actually jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. But being the gracious people they are, Seattle allowed Arizona to rack up 31 points, including 14 points in the fourth quarter to take a 31-20 lead.

With 5:20 remaining and trailing by 11 (remember, Seattle was getting nine points), the Seahawks took over at their own five-yard line. Hasselbeck then successfully moved the offense to Arizona’s 25-yard line and it appeared that the Seahawks would cut into their deficit with either a field goal or a touchdown and help bettors out in the process.

But being the gracious person he is, Hasselbeck threw into triple coverage on 2nd and 10 and was intercepted by Antrel Rolle.

“Damn!” Mr. Bettor is thinking to himself. “Could have been a nice backdoor cover.”

But then Seattle’s defense gives Mr. Bettor a sliver of hope by forcing Arizona to a three-and-out and giving the offense the ball back with 3:05 remaining. The crafty Hasselbeck once again led the Seahawks into Arizona territory and then down to the Cardinals’ 3-yard line.

“You sweet son of a bitch! You’re going to save me, Matt,” Mr. Bettor screams.

Then, in one of the dumbest decisions of the NFL season, Hasselbeck gets the snap, almost fumbles it, and then tries to shovel it to his running back three feet in front of him. But instead of falling incomplete or into the loving arms of his running back, Adrian Wilson comes out of nowhere and snatches the ball out of the air like the Black Angel of Death he is. (It was actually a great play by Wilson; one of the best of the day.)

“Are you serious?! What were you thinking?! What were you thinking! F-you Matt, you pile of garbage!”

Game over. A field goal in either one of those situations probably would have given bettors a cover, but instead they had to watch as Hasselbeck lost his mind on two separate occasions.

He must have had the Cardinals –9.

When Edgerrin James requested his release from Arizona this past offseason, he was hoping that he could resurrect his career elsewhere and have one last shot at being a team’s primary back.

James thought that team would be the Seahawks, whom he signed a one-year, $2 million contract with in late August. But less than three months later, Seattle released the struggling James, who carried the ball just 46 times for the Seahawks in 2009.

The former Colt and Cardinal was averaging a paltry 2.7 yards per carry this season and was highly ineffective. Comparatively, Justin Forsett was averaging 5.7 YPC and Julius Jones was averaging 3.9, so it just didn’t make sense for the Hawks to keep James on the roster.

It didn’t seem that long ago that James was the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and was making yearly trips to Honolulu as Pro Bowler. But considering it’s unlikely that he’ll garner much interest on the free agent market, it appears that James’ career is over.

If 2009 does mark his final season, James would finish with 12,246 career rushing yards, a 4.0 yard per carry average and 80 rushing touchdowns. He is currently first in career rushing yards among active players and his 9,226 total yards makes him Indianapolis’ record holder for most career total yards rushing.

James fell off the map as soon as he signed a lucrative deal with Arizona in March of 2006, but he’s definitely a potential Hall of Fame candidate.

According to SI.com’s Peter King, Matt Hasselbeck is expected to play this week against the Bears despite suffering a rib injury in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers.

From King’s Twitter page:

Re injuries: Am told Westbrook not bad, should play this week. Ditto Hasselbeck. McNabb? Still very sore. But Vick will only play spot duty.

King also reiterated on NBC last night that McNabb was doubtful to play in Week 3 as he continues to battle a rib injury himself. As King noted, the Eagles will continue to start Kevin Kolb (or get Jeff Garcia ready?) and ease Vick into games in sub packages.

Kolb threw for 391 yards and two touchdowns on 31 of 51 passing, although he did throw three interceptions. I know Andy Reid likes to throw the ball, but it’s probably never a good sign if Kolb is attempting 51 passes. Fortunately for the Eagles, they host Kansas City this Sunday and have their bye in Week 4.

Talk about a great time for the bye.

It’s always nice when the football gods can add a little insult to injury.

Such was the case on Sunday when the Seahawks fell to the now 2-0 49ers 23-10 in San Francisco. Seattle signal caller Matt Hasselbeck was knocked out of the game after taking a blow to the back from linebacker Patrick Willis while trying to scramble into the end zone at the end of the first half. The team is calling it a rib injury, although there has to be major concern that Hasselbeck took the hit in the back after he virtually missed the entire 2008 season due to back problems.

The insult to Hasselbeck’s injury came when Seneca Wallace entered the game and couldn’t generate any second half points. He did throw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Julius Jones after Hasselbeck left the field, but that’s about where Wallace’s contributions to Seattle stopped as he often settled for check down and underneath passes.

Of course, even if he did attempt to throw the ball vertically, Niners’ cornerback Nate Clements was blanketing the field like a freaking tarp. Clements was all over the field on Sunday, racking up six tackles (five solo) and four pass breakups. This was Clemens’ second solid game and it looks like he’s setting himself up for a stellar year.

Frank Gore also had a monster day for San Fran, churning out 207 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. He limped off the field late in the game and didn’t return, but apparently he didn’t re-enter for precautionary reasons and at least at this point, it doesn’t appear that he’ll miss any time.

San Fran was aided by Hasselbeck’s injury today, but that doesn’t mean that Mike Singletary’s group didn’t play a fine game. The young defensive players flew to the football and the secondary once again proved that it could hang with most offenses in the NFL. It’s a little early to say that the Niners are for real, but after two weeks they have sole possession of first place in the NFC West.

Six games highlight Saturday’s preseason action in the NFL. Below are six things to keep an eye on tonight in the NFL.

1. It’s the start of a new era in Detroit.
Word out of Lions camp is that rookie Matthew Stafford is way ahead of the curve when it comes to first-year quarterbacks. Even though Detroit would love to see veteran Daunte Culpepper take the majority of the snaps behind a brutal offensive line this season, it appears that Stafford has made quite the impression and it may be hard for the Lions to keep him on the sidelines. Today when the Lions host the Falcons in both teams’ preseason opener, Detroit isn’t going to overact to Stafford’s performance either way. If he goes out and throws two interceptions in two series, they’ll shrug it off as a learning experience. If he throws two touchdowns on his first two pass attempts, the team will chalk it up to preseason luck and hope the live game experience will be valuable in his development. The point is that it’s only preseason and chances are, his performance won’t be an indication either way of how well he’ll fair in Detroit. The key is that the Lions can officially put their disastrous 2008 season behind them today, and Stafford represents the future.

2. Cutler makes his Bears’ debut.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a Chicagoan who isn’t thinking playoffs (or even Super Bowl) after the Bears acquired quarterback Jay Cutler from the Broncos this offseason. You’ll have to excuse Chicago fans for their budding enthusiasm because, you see, they’ve been waiting a long time for a quarterback of Cutler’s ilk to pass through their great city. Sure, the Bears still don’t have the greatest set of receivers and there are still question marks surrounding the offensive line, even after the offseason addition of Orlando Pace. But none of that will matter once Cutler lines up under center tonight against the Bills and riffles his first completion, because the Bears finally have their quarterback.

3. The new-look Chiefs.
The Chiefs went through a whirlwind of changes this offseason, hiring long-time New England front office executive Scott Pioli as their GM, former Arizona offensive coordinator Todd Haley as their head coach, and trading for former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel. The new-look Chiefs will take the field tonight against the Texans and there is a raw energy surrounding the team. Haley has implemented a new no-nonsense attitude, Cassel finally gives the Chiefs some stability at quarterback, running back Larry Johnson is reportedly in great shape, the young offensive line continues to develop and Pioli has worked hard revamping the defense. It could be a while before all of these changes amount to victories, but there’s no question that the Chiefs are heading in the right direction.

4. Eric Mangini puts his imprint on the Browns.
It’s out with Romeo Crennel and in with Eric Mangini and as the Browns head to Lambeau Field tonight to take on the Packers, the Cleveland faithful will be focusing on what kind of impact their new head coach will make. Crennel was often criticized for his laid back personality, one in which many people thought was an underlying issue with the Browns over the years. Mangini is a lot of things, but laid back isn’t one of them. He’s had a rather tumultuous start to his tenure in Cleveland, first butting heads with DT Shaun Rodgers and then having to deal with receiver Braylon Edwards reporting to camp late and then failing a physical. But all of that goes out the window tonight when the Browns take the field for the first time since Mangini took over. Will his influence have a positive or negative effective on a team in desperate need of a postseason berth? Who will emerge between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson as Cleveland’s starting quarterback? Will Mangini and his staff be more aggressive in their coaching and scheming than their predecessors? Let the fun begin.

5. Is Hasselbeck finally healthy?
For the better part of his decade, the Seahawks have absolutely dominated the NFC West. But a back injury to quarterback Matt Hasselbeck doomed the Hawks last season and a changing of the guard happened in the division. Early reports indicate that Hasselbeck is healthy again (save for a sore elbow) and ready to assume his role under center again. But can he stay healthy all season? Can he succeed under new head coach Jim Mora as he did Mike Holmgren, who used to call all of the plays for Seattle’s West Coast Offense? A good showing tonight against the Chargers would go a long way in proving that Hasselbeck is healthy again.

6.Can the Packers make the transition to the 3-4?
One of the main issues Green Bay had defensively last year was stopping the run. So they hired Dom Capers as their new defensive coordinator in hopes that his 3-4 scheme would help give them a boost in that area. They also selected big-bodied, agile DT B.J. Raji and OLB Clay Matthews in the first round of April’s draft and expect both players to contribute as rookies. The Packers will need both players to learn on the job this season, as well as former defensive end Aaron Kampan to make the transition to outside linebacker. Considering Green Bay’s secondary should once again be solid, if the front seven can step up and produce the Packers will be in the playoff hunt. But tonight is the first live dress rehearsal for the Pack’s new defense, so it’ll be interesting to see how they fair.

Not that it stood much of a chance of happening in the first place, but the Michael Vick-to-the-Packers rumors seem to have been officially squashed.

Per Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com:

Nevertheless, Thompson did that Tuesday during a mini-news conference when he seemingly left the door open for Michael Vick to join the Packers by saying he would “not rule anything out.”

Well, rule it out. As several team officials later clarified, Thompson was merely staying consistent with his own personal policy — never show your hand on personnel moves. To absolutely rule out Vick publicly would be setting a precedent for the “reclusive” general manager.

As I wrote yesterday when this rumor first hit the net, Vick winding up in Green Bay made little sense. They already have Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and youngsters Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn to back him up.

Where would Vick fit in? Running back?

Anyone who ever thought Vick was a running back was dreaming. First of all, he’s not that big and while he has (or used to have; who knows what prison life did to him) immense athletic ability, can you actually envision Vick running up the middle and taking on 250-pound linebackers? He would get crushed and if he didn’t get crushed, he would certainly fumble.

The only role the Packers (or any other team not looking for a QB) could have used Vick for is their version of the “Wild Cat” formation. But to my knowledge, Green Bay didn’t hop on that craze last year, so it’s not like they’re desperately looking for a player to help fill that role in their offense.

I maintain that Vick will wind up in Oakland, Seattle or San Francisco. Those are the three teams that I’ve said all along, so I’m sticking to them, although rumor had it that Jacksonville was a reasonable landing spot for him too.

When it comes to fumbles, nobody drops the ball more than quarterbacks, because they handle the ball more than anyone besides the center. Brett Favre has 157 of them, which leads active players (yes, we’re considering Favre active). But many times when a QB fumbles, he can pounce right back on the ball. Running backs are a different story. The ones who fumble a lot often wind up in their coach’s doghouse because most of the time it’s because of careless ball handling. As for fantasy football, you’ll want to be careful with these guys too because they take points off your scoreboard, both by negative points for fumbles, and for lost opportunities on offense. So here is the active Top 10 in fumbles by running backs…..

1. Edgerrin James (43)—James isn’t as bad as early in his career, like when he fumbled 8 times during his rookie year of 1999 with the Colts. But you tend to look the other way when the other numbers offset the fumbles—and James was an All Pro that year with 2139 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns.

2. Ricky Williams (41)—Ricky definitely comes down with fumble-it is pretty often, and that has to drive Bill Parcells crazy. I wonder if it would help if Ricky thought he was carrying a bag of..…oh forget it.

3. Jamal Lewis (39)—Lewis has improved drastically in this area, fumbling only twice last season. But he fumbled 8 times in back to back seasons in 2002 and 2003 while with Baltimore. Yikes.

4. Ahman Green (37)—He hasn’t fumbled since 2006, but that’s only because Green has carried the ball just 144 times since then.

5. Michael Pittman (31)—Pittman was one of like 15 running backs used by the Broncos last season.

6. Shaun Alexander (31)—For a few years there, Alexander was putting up such ridiculous numbers that Mike Holmgren was forced to accept some drops.

7. Warrick Dunn (26)—He’s never had more than 4 fumbles in a season, but he’s been playing for so long that he wound up on here. Dunn may be one of the most underrated RBs in the history of the NFL.

8. Fred Taylor (26)—Taylor has fumbled less in recent years, but he’s also carried the ball less. It should be interesting to see if his career is re-ignited in a Patriots’ uniform.

9. LaDainian Tomlinson (25)—He fumbled 8 times in his rookie year, and only 17 times since. With 2657 total carries, that’s not bad at all.

9 (tie). Clinton Portis (25)—Portis is a solid RB, but he does have two quirks—he’s injury prone and he drops the ball a few too many times.

Source: Pro Football Reference