Keith Fredrick
Panthers vs. Ravens
Pick: Over 33.5
Carolina has four young QB's, each with a point to prove. Matt Moore is the new starter, Jimmy Claussen has Notre Dame-itis to fend off, Tony Pike has late round draft pick chip on his shoulder syndrome, and Hunter Cantwell is playing basically at home and is trying to make an impression. Sure, playing the Ravens when trying to make an impression is less than ideal, but in that light a mistake could lead to an Over helping defensive score as well. Cannot find fault with the Flacco/Bulger/Smith top three QB's of the Ravens either. Tech reserach shows that Carolina with coach Fox is 10-2 to the Over in the first two weeks of preseason play, 7-3 to the Over in their last ten preseason away games while the Ravens are 2-0 to the Over in Harbaugh home openers. Have to take a shot at this one.
The Duke's Sports
Baltimore (+130) for 2 Units
We'll ride the red hot Orioles who have found their bats. Baltimore is batting a sizzling .315 vs righties after Showalter took over. Yesterday, they banged out 13 hits. We'll look for more production from them tonight vs rookie Jeanmar Gomez in his only his 4th start. He's been hot for Cleveland but should be tested here. And eventually the shaky bullpen will have to take over for Gomez who most like won't see action beyond 7 innings. On the other hand, Kevin Millwood, who finally got a decent start together on the 7th, should do well on his old stomping grounds (2005). Baltimore is 5-1 with Millwood against teams under .500. Cleveland has gone 0-7 in their last 7 vs righty starters and should succumb here. The Indians are batting just .210 vs righties this month and we'll fade them here.
BOB BALFE
New England Patriots / New Orleans Saints Over 35
New Orleans crushed and embarrassed the Patriots in their last meeting. In addition, the last home game of the year for New England was a blowout loss to the Ravens in the playoffs. The Patriots have a lot to prove and Bill Belichick is a very revengeful coach. Both teams have been scrimmaging against each other the last few days and will be eager to put all the work into a live game format. Brees and Brady looked extremely sharp and both scored touchdowns in the scrimmages the other day. The Saints have such a complex offense that I don't see the Patriots stopping them, especially the first team offense. New Orleans lost their third string running back, Lynell Hamilton, for the season so I expect them to throw the ball a little more to keep the main backs healthy. Last year in the first week of the preseason, Brady played well into the second quarter.
Brian Hoyer will be the backup tonight. Hoyer has a lot of preseason experience dating back to last year within the same system. Zac Robinson will finish the game. Robinson can run well and throw the ball quite accurately. It will be interesting to see how he does against third stringers. They key for the Patriots offense will be their depth advantage at running back. The starting offensive line is banged up but the backup running backs will be the best players on the field in the second half. I expect someone to break off a big touchdown late in the game. The Saints are not good against the run so they could be in for a long night on defense.
At this point in time, the Saints are a more intact team with less injuries and should have success against a weak a young Patriots secondary. Look for the Saints to do well in their passing attack and the Patriots to do well running the ball. Both strengths on each team's offense will make this a high scoring game. Take the Over.
Carolina Panthers +4
At first glance, the Ravens feel like a strong play. The Panthers are very young and have a lot of starters inactive for tonight’s game. If this was a regular season game, all bets would be on Baltimore, however the Ravens would gladly take you or I as a backup in their defensive secondary! Not one starter will be playing tonight and, with limited depth, they could be in for a long night against 4 Panther QB's who have great arms and need to prove themselves. If there ever is a time to boost young QB's confidence, it will be tonight.
These coaches are good friends and I wouldn't be shocked if John Harbaugh helps John Fox and his young team out tonight by letting them throw deep to their young receivers. Baltimore is thin at offensive line so I do not see their talented QB's having all day to throw or the running backs getting huge holes. The Panthers also win the special teams battle, as Baltimore does not yet have a #1 field goal kicker. In a game like this, the youth of the Panthers actually works in their favor because the young guys take these games seriously in order to mark their spot on the roster.
We might see a little rain and thunderstorm tonight FYI.
It will definitely be interesting to see if the Raven veterans show up for a meaningless game. Take Carolina.
Oakland Raiders +3.5
Dallas suffered a lot of key injuries on monday night and now are playing on a short week. They only have one healthy tight end in Jason Witten. If they play him tonight, Wade Phillips should be fired. Without tight ends, you can't run the ball as well. Dallas already has a few problems at offensive line and their backups were downright awful a few nights ago. In addition, they have struggled on opening drives in the past few seasons and I do not think the starters will go more than two series.
Dallas is also low on defensive backs and their punt-coverage looked bad the other night as well. The Raiders come into this game with high hopes and a great quarterback rotation for the preseason. Jason Campbell will start, giving way to Kyle Boller and Colt Brennan will mop up. Brennan won't play at all this year but he should pan out to be a productive preseason QB. The Raiders have a better punter and kicker in this game also. Dallas placekicker, David Buehler, struggled in the Hall of Fame game and might not make it out of camp.
The keys to this game are Oakland's QB rotation and how well Dallas can overcome their injury bug factor. Once a coach is affected, they usually play it safe and put it on auto pilot for the rest of the preseason. Take Oakland
New York Yankees -1.5
The Yankees are back on top of the AL East and should be a team that you ride for the next couple nights until they lose. C.C. Sabathia is a having a great season and I wouldn’t be shocked if New York starts to run away with the division in the next couple of weeks. Take the Yankees run line.
Accu Picks
3'* Yankees -1.5
3* Padres -1.5
Paul Leiner
200* Red Sox -110
50* Ravens -4
25* Phi/LA Over 8.5
RICH GREEN
3* SD Padres - 195
2* New England Patriots
Executive
250% White Sox
ATS Lock Club
4 on Baltimore-4
Mike Neri Sports
1 Unit Chicago White Sox -125
Northcoast
Marquee Oak/Dal Under 34.5
KELSO
15 Units SD Padres -1.5
10 Units NY Mets
10 Units Florida Marlins
10 Units Minnesota Twins
5 Unit Parlay
15 Units Dallas Cowboys -3.5
3 Units Baltimore Ravens -4.5
OC Dooley
3* Dallas Over 34
2* Dodgers-125
ATS LOCK CLUB
4 Units Baltimore Ravens
4 Units Boston Red Sox
4 Units Chicago White Sox
Marc Lawrence
Oakland +3.5
The Raiders open their preseason when they visit the Cowboys in Dallas Thursday evening. While it's highly acknowledged that NFL teams with a game under their belt have fared well against those playing their first contest during the preseason, the fact of the matter is these teams are just 25-21-2 ATS when at home in these contests. To further invalidate the Cowboys chances here tonight is the fact the NFL teams in their home opener in Game Two of the preseason,off a SU and ATS win of six or more points are just 7-21-1 ATS when hosting an opponent that is not off a win. With the Raiders quarterback rotation of Kyle Boller, Charlie Frye, Bruce Gradkowski and possibly Jason Campbell (all former starters in the NFL) as good as it gets in preseason games, we'll grab the points here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Oakland.
Lenny Del Genio
LA Dodgers -120
The Phillies shutout the Dodgers last night 2-0 as Oswalt pitched an outstanding game. In tonight’s series finale we like Kershaw to beat Blanton. The Dodgers lefty hasn’t fared very well against these Phillies in the past, but he’s a much different, and better pitcher this season. He’s given the Dodgers a lot of quality starts and has posted a 3.02 ERA on the season. If the Dodgers would provide him with a little better support he would have a much better team start record than his present 13-10 mark. For the Phillies, Blanton has been ineffective all season. He comes into this game tonight with a very lofty 5.65 ERA and 1.442 WHIP. The Phillies are hitting .261 on the season, but that drops way down to .249 against lefties. Although the Dodgers were shutout last night, their bats have started to perk up a bit and we think they’ll generate runs tonight against Blanton. Kershaw pitches the Dodgers to a win tonight.