Dwayne Bryant
Houston Texans -1.5
Arizona's QB rotation is weak, in my opinion. And while Houston's QB lineup after Schaub is nothing special either, it's the RB depth for the Texans that makes this a play for me. Also keep in mind that 'Zona head coach Ken Whisenhunt does not put an emphasis on winning in the preseason, as is evident by their 0-4 record last year. Houston has played well on the preseason road, going 7-1 ATS in their last eight. Arizona does not have a good recent preseason history at home either, going 2-9 ATS in their last 11. I'll take Houston tonight.
Marc Lawrence
Seattle Seahawks -4
Pete Carroll makes in debut with the Seahawks Saturday night in Seattle when they host the Titans in the first game of the preseason for both clubs tonight. In his previous tenure in the NFL Carroll made winning in the preseason a priority. That was evidenced by his 11-5-1 ATS mark. Inside those numbers, Carroll is 6-1 ATS as a favorite, including 5-0 ATS when laying less than six points. On the flip side, Tennessee defeated Seattle on this field in the final game of the 2009 season, denying the Seahawks a winning season in the process. With that, look for the Seahawks to improve to 4-0 SU and ATS in peaseason home openers the last four years here this evening. We recommend a 3-unit play on Seattle.
Lenny Del Genio
Chicago Bears +3
The Chargers received some good news when Merriman signed and will reporting to camp. However, he will not play tonight as will a number of other Chargers. San Diego coach Turner has a veteran squad which includes QB Rivers and we don’t expect him to play very much tonight. Without Sproles who is injured as well and won’t play, don’t expect to see much out of the Charger offense. Meanwhile, it’s a different story in Chicago. Smith brought Martz in as new offense coordinator with hopes of rejuvenating the Bears offense. He’s been working with Bears QB Cutler trying to instill some confidence in the interception prone thrower. Look for Cutler to play a bit more than normal tonight as he begins to install Martz’s new system. Against a non-inspired Charger defense look for Cutler and the Bears to put some points on the board. The Bears have four quarterbacks in camp with Hanie the #2 QB, with Teel and LeFevour the numbers three and four. However, Teel is hurt and LeFevour hasn’t looked very good and probably won’t make the team. Thus, more playing time for Cutler and Hanie. Remember, the Chargers are a pass oriented offense but without Rivers in the game they’ll be going through the motions. Much more incentive to record a win for the Bears.
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
9* Houston Texans +1
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the visitors:
Houston went 2-2 ATS in the 2009 pre-season.
The Texans went 9-7 last year and are seemingly on the cusp of becoming one of the elite; to do that though they'll have to knock off the reigning division champs, the Indianapolis Colts;
"It starts with beating the Colts in our division, a team that's pretty much owned the AFC South the last few years," quarterback Matt Schaub said. "It's time someone else goes out and gets it."
Houston is just 1-15 against Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis.
Coach Gary Kubiak; "It's a do-or-die year for all of us," he says. "The way I look at it, 15 out of 16 times, we had a legit chance to win. Our biggest thing is closing games. We have to have guys grow up and make plays at the end.
"Your job in this business is to get over the hump to play in January. That's where we need to go."
Schaub and Andre Johnson are a dynamic duo; to say the Texans need to get a running game would be an understatement.
The running game starts with second-year pro Arian Foster, who came on strong for fumble-prone Steve Slaton, whose 2009 season was ended by a neck injury; Slaton, second-round selection Ben Tate, fourth-year back Chris Henry and second-year back Jeremiah Johnson are fighting for carries.
There is going to be competition during the pre-season to fill the void left by OLB Brian Cushing who will serve a four game suspension to begin the year.
At the other end of the field: Arizona went 0-4 ATS in last years pre-season.
And that's because Matt Leinart, the hesitant, inaccurate back up to Kurt Warner was under centre for most of those games. Warner is gone and Leinart now has his chance to finally become the number 1 guy in Arizona.
If Leinart "ups his game", then the Cards have a chance this year; however to this point he's done nothing to make me believe he'll be able to do that.
Derek Anderson is the safety net for this team and will see a lot of reps in the pre-season; same as rookie John Skelton.
Bottom line: Schaub is backed up by John David Booty and Dan Orlovsky who should both see a bunch of touches throughout the pre-season; both are competent.
I like the Texans this year and believe they will be able to give the Colts a run for their money in the AFC South.
To do that though, this team has to come out of the blocks running at full speed and to me that means having a strong pre-season outing to get the confidence and swagger that its going to take to get over that hump;
Evan Altemus
3 Units Seattle Seahawks -3.5
Seattle’s head coach Pete Carroll has made it clear that he wants a strong effort from his team in this game. This will be his head coaching debut for Seattle, and this game is also at home, meaning that he needs to make sure his team has a good showing. In fact, Carroll has made it known that he wants to see the capabilities of his back-up quarterbacks J.P. Losman and Charlie Whitehurst. Matt Hasselbeck’s snaps are likely to be limited, but I expect the other two quarterbacks to be airing it out and attacking down the field the entire game. Tennessee’s head coach Jeff Fisher hasn’t expressed an interest to want this game at all. In fact, after Vince Young goes out of the game, Kerry Collins is likely to see only a few snaps. That means that quarterbacks Chris Simms and rookie Rusty Smith are going to see the majority of the snaps in this game. I expect Seattle to put up a great deal of points in this game, while Tennessee will run a generic offense behind less talented quarterbacks. The Seahawks will get the win.
Wayne Root
Billionaire - Seahawks
Beat Your Bookie
10* Play Houston (-130) over Pittsburgh (POD)
Pittsburgh is 1-9 as a road underdog of +100 to +150 this season Pittsburgh is 0-7 vs. Houston on the road this season Paul Maholm is 1-2 over the last 3 starts with an ERA of 11.57
10* Play Houston (-1.5) over Arizona (Top Play)
Arizona is 0-4 SU & ATS in pre-season home games the last 2 seasonsArizona is 1-5 SU & ATS in pre-season games when the line is between +3 to -3Arizona is 0-2 SU & ATS when playing in the 1st two weeks of the pre-season
5* Play Green Bay (-2) over Cleveland
Cleveland is 1-5 SU & ATS in pre-season non-conference games the last 3 seasonsCleveland is 0-4 SU & ATS in pre-season road games the last 2 seasonsCleveland is 0-2 SU & ATS when playing in the 1st two weeks of the pre-season
Mike Neri
3* Dolphins
3* Seahawks
SEABASS
100* Buccaneers