Bruce Marshall
Yankees at Rangers
Pick: Rangers
Since the Rangers seem to be able to get 5 or so innings out of AJ Griffin in his recent starts, the underdog price looks tempting at Arlington in the rubber game of this three-game weekend set. NY counterpart Jordan Montgomery has hardly been untouchable in his recent outings, as the Yanks have lost in three of his last four starts.
Andre Ramirez
Mets-152
Jacob deGrom is back on the hill for the 29th time of the season, looking to rebound from a disastrous outing. DeGrom served up nine runs (six earned) in 3.2 innings to the Phillies last time out, and was charged with the loss. The 6-foot-4 right-hander has not pitched well in three out of his last five starts however he still features a 3.65 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP accompanied with a 14-9 record in 182.1 innings of work. He faced the Reds for the first time of the year in late August and allowed four runs (three earned) in six innings and took the loss, and has now conceded a total of five runs (four earned) in 12 career innings against Cincinnati. Juan Lagares has been steadily reaching base, notching a hit in 9 of his last 29 at bats with three RBI’s in that span. The 28-year old centerfielder has been injured for a good portion of the season and is currently hitting .259 with three homers and 14 RBI’s in 75 games. Lagares is 2 for 19 against the Reds this season.
Wesley Scott
Raiders vs. Titans
Play: Titans
The Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans are set to do battle for what should be a close week one opener.
Both Quarterbacks are back from injury, and ready to get their team back on the right path. Marcus Mariota and the Titans are ready for a playoff push while the Raiders are poised for another postseason run. This time with a healthy David Carr.
Some are picking the Titans to win the AFC South this season, while the Raiders are the early favorite in the AFC West.
Last year the Raiders were able to win close games. They won five games that were decided by five points or less. Oakland also won their only matchup last year against the Titans, 17-10.
Dave Price
Falcons vs. Bears
Play: Bears +7
Fading the Super Bowl loser from the previous season is usually a great move in Week 1. In fact, the last 17 times the Super Bowl loser from last year opened the next season on the road, they have gone 2-15 straight up. That's a great trend backing the Bears today, and we're getting 7 points with them to boot. The price is right to pull the trigger here. Atlanta was 0-4 in preseason play, and the last 16 teams that went winless in the preseason have gone 4-12 ATS in Week 1.
ASA
Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Play: Pittsburgh -9.5
We hate putting ourselves on the side of the public, with a road favorite but this is one of those rare occasions we’ll have to bite. Last year we made this same wager and won with the Steelers (24-9) laying 8-points in Cleveland. The Steelers will once again have a potent offense with the 3-headed monster of QB Roethlisberger, RB Bell and WR Brown and could improve upon their 7th overall offensive efficiency rankings from 2016. Pittsburgh had an average point differential of +3.8PPG last season which was the 5th best number in the NFL. Defensively the Steelers weren’t the Steel Curtain of the 70’s but they were still solid with the 11th best overall defensive efficiency ranking. Pittsburgh allowed 16 or less points in 7 of their sixteen regular season games a year ago. The Browns will be starting a rookie quarterback in DeShone Kizer who’s in for a long day against a Steelers D that was 9th in the NFL in sack % a year ago. Cleveland was bad on both sides of the football last year and don’t look to be any better. In terms of OEFF and DEFF the Browns were 30th and 29th respectively in both categories and they had the worst overall point differential in the league at minus -11.8PPG. At home the Browns lost by an average of -11.5PPG. Pittsburgh has dominated this series with a 30-4 SU record the last 34 meetings and Roethlisberger is 20-2 SU lifetime. Cleveland is a horrendous 10-44 SU their last 54 versus AFC North. We’ll lay the big number here.