SPORTS UNLIMITED
3* Colorado Rockies
3* Carolina
Sports Bank
500* Seattle
John Fina
Seattle Seahawks
Jon Starz
1 Unit Jax -1
1 Unit Car +3.5
3G Sports
10* Hou -3
5* SF/Oak Under 36
Mike Neri Sports
4* Cleveland/Detroit Over 40
3* Baltimore -4
3* Houston -5
3* Carolina -3
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
10* SF Giants -135
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the home side:
Daniel Hudson gets the call for the visitors; Hudson continues to pitch well as he’s 4-2 on the year with a 3.10 ERA; however his efforts have been wasted because of a chronic lack of run support.
And keep in mind that despite yesterday’s rare victory, the Diamondbacks are in fact a horrible 1-7 their last eight vs. the Giants; just 7-14 (-4.6 units) as a road dog in the +125 to +150 range; also a horrible 18-33 (-15.1 units) after a victory.
In the other dugout: Barry Zito heads to the hill for the home side; Zito has a chance at a start here and he’ll look to return his club to the winners circle; despite his recent struggles, keep in mind that Zito is 6-3 with a 2.83 ERA in front of the home town crowd.
The Giants are 39-25 (+5.1 units) at home this year; 31-26 (+3 units) after a loss.
Bottom line: San Francisco is trying to avoid its first three-game home losing streak since dropping five in a row June 26-30; the Giants had been enjoying an offensive outburst until yesterday’s contest and I believe they’ll return to form this evening and get to the rookie early; Zito is a different pitcher at home and I expect him to do just enough to secure a victory today;
Lenny Del Genio
Cincinnati Bengals -3
You typically don't find too many road favorites in NFL Preseason play, particularly here in the 3rd week, but you also typically don't find NFL teams as bad as the Buffalo Bills. Additionally, we've got the scheduling advantage with this being the Bengals fourth game (lost to Dallas in HOF Game) while its just the third for the Bills. Since losing the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Cincinnati has looked much better, particularly in the second halves where they've outscored Denver and Philadelphia by a combined 31-10. Both games ended up being easy wins and covers for Bengals backers. Last week vs. the Eagles, newly acquired WR Terrell Owens hauled in a big 43 yard reception, which led to a Cincy TD in the first half. You just gotta know that Owens will be primed and asking for the ball against his former team here. Particularly because of the way he felt he was "misused" in Buffalo. We expect a TD from TO here. Meanwhile, this is the first true home game for new Bills HC Chan Gailey. That's normally a good 'play on' opportunity, but not with Buffalo in the third week. After looking, well, like the worst team in the NFL in the preseason opener - a 42-17 loss at Washington - the Bills rebounded last week with a 34-21 victory over Indianapolis in Toronto. However, as we've all come to know, beating the Colts in preseason play means absolutely nothing, particularly when you consider Buffalo was +4 in turnover differential in that game. One of those takeaways was converted into a 'pick 6' and 1st round DC CJ Spiller (Clemson) also electrified fans by breaking a long TD run. Problem is that Buffalo could very well be the most depth shy team in the league while Cincinnati's young players have actually been producing late in these games (see above) with 7 or 8 roster spots still up for grabs. Since '93, the Bengals are 11-2 ATS in preseason games on the conference road. League-wide, there is a system that says to play on road teams in this week of the preseason, provided they are off BB ATS wins. The Bengals are just that, so we look for this system to move to 37-13 ATS since 1993. Cincinnati is our NFLX Oddsmaker Mismatch.
Marc Lawrence
Houston Texans -3
The Texans return home off an 18-point loss in quest of their first preseason win when they host state-rival Dallas this evening and it's our contention they will get it rather comfortably this evening. For openers, NFL home teams in Game Three of the preseason hosting a team playing its 4th preseason game are 17-3 SU and 15-5 ATS if they are off a loss of four or more points, including 11-0 ATS if the host scored more than three points in its last game and the foe is not off an ATS loss (Dallas is not). In addition, teams in Game Three of the preseason off back-to-back SU and ATS losses are 19-4 ATS when facing an opponent off one win-exact if the last loss for the winless team was by more than eight points ATS, including 10-0 ATS if the foe is off a win of 10 or less points in its last game and our team was not shutout in its last game. With Dallas 0-3 ATS in preseason games when playing off a SU underdog win against an opponent off back-to-back losses, look for the Texans to enter the win column here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Houston.
WAYNE ROOT
Millionaire - Carolina Panthers
Billionaire - Chicago Bears
SEABASS
NFLX
200 Houston Texans (downgraded from 300 due to line movement)
100 Oakland Raiders
CFL
100 Edmonton
MLB
100 Angels
100 Cardinals
100 Yankees