Brad Wilton
Thursday's free play winner is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they play host to the Baltimore Ravens and we get some NFL action underway.
Baltimore may be the defending Super Bowl champions, but the Ravens were ravaged on both sides of the line in the off-season and now must find players to replace last year's championship roster.
I do not think John Harbaugh's focus will be on actually winning this game tonight, but more on finding out who is going to be playing come regular season.
As for Tampa Bay, rookie coach Greg Schiano got the Bucs out of the gate quickly last season, but they sputtered to a 1-5 finish the last 6 games of the campaign. Look for the 2nd year coach to have his team focused from the outset tonight, and ready to deliver in front of the home fans.
The fact the Bucs have gone 8-2 straight up, and 8-1-1 against the spread the past 10 years in preseason openers is enough to make me side with the home favorite in this "meaningless" preseason contest.
2♦ TAMPA BAY
Brett Atkins
Your free winner for tonight is on the Detroit Tigers in their series finale at Progressive Field in Cleveland with the Indians.
Your free winner for tonight is on the Detroit Tigers in their series finale at Progressive Field in Cleveland with the Indians. And with this game, go ahead and list the starting pitchers: Max Scherzer and Zach McAllister. After all, if there has been one constant for the Tigers - one bit of consistency - it's been Scherzer, who won his first 13 decisions and I think will add to his Cy Young credentials with a solid win tonight.
Cleveland has dropped six games back of Detroit in the American League Central, and I don't think McAllister is the answer for the Tribe. The right-hander is winless over his last five starts. And even though he's had some success against the Tigers over the course of his career, this is going to a tough chore against a surging Detroit squad that has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the clubs, including seven of eight at Progressive Field.
Take Detroit.
3♦ DETROIT
Scott Delaney
I love the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons to go Over the posted number tonight.
As it is with any other preseason game in Week 1 of the exhibition campaign, nobody should expect much from the regular starters - if anything at all. But what can you expect is valiant efforts from everyone who does play, as this is the first audition to get down to that 53-man roster.
Personally, I can't help but think about how much the Falcons have been looking forward to getting back on the football field. Think about it, they were so close to beating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game, bolting out to a 17-0 lead. But they had to play the second half, and the 49ers ran the football down Atlanta's throat.
I don't care if it's preseason or regular season, you lose that game in that manner, there's a bad taste left over and any minutes you can get on the field, and any type of salvation you can get, you want it. This one being at the Georgia Dome, the Falcons will be fired up just to take the field.
As for the Bengals, knowing Andy Dalton is in place at quarterback, that leaves the backup job up for grabs, so the competition will be heavy between Josh Johnson and John Skelton. Cincinnati's offense could see plenty of fireworks, so I suspect at times this will appear to be a shootout.
Finally, this one is being nationally televised. The bright lights of "Monday Night Football" take center stage in Atlanta, with Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden calling the action. Trust me, these teams are set to put on a show. Take the Over.
2♦ Cincinnati/Atlanta OVER
Harry Bondi
ST LOUIS (+3) over Cleveland
We got the free football winners of to a good start Sunday with Dallas outright over Miami and will back another dog that we expect to win outright tonight with the same rational. We like to bet coaches more than anything other than inside info in the pre-season. Jeff Fisher always took pre-season games seriously when he was the head coach in Tennessee and we made money backing him. Last pre-season, his first in St Louis, we also went with Fish and he again made us money going 3-1 ATS. We expect the Rams to be a money maker again this pre-season so lets jump on them tonight as they take on a poor Cleveland squad that will be without its top two running backs. Take the Rams over the Browns in preseason action tonight. Your next FREE WINNER will be posted Friday after 5 pm est.
Bob Balfe
Ravens +3 over Bucs
There can't be sucker bets in the preseason can there? The defending champs are sure to be on most gamblers ticket tonight. I just don't think the Bucs have the depth at the skill positions to compete with the Ravens backups. Tampa has a new coach and a ton of things to work on. You might think they are more determined to win this game for momentum,, but I believe that every single player in the NFL has the competitive mentality to want to win no matter if its a regular season game or preseason. The far better team here is the Ravens up and down there lineup. Take Baltimore
Browns -3.5 over Rams
I don't like laying this much in the preseason because teams go for 2 at the end of games and take it of ties to avoid overtime. I just can't get over the fact the Rams are going to have to revamp their entire running game with Jackson gone and just about every receiver on this lineup has never caught a pass for this team. This is the true definition of the word youth. Every skill position is young and once they get into the backups mistakes will be made tonight. Its almost a guarantee. Cleveland has some issues in their running game so I expect tonight's game to be a showcase of the QB's airing the ball out which they need major work with. This should be a good game, but I think the Rams will hand the Browns this game with youthful mistakes. Take Cleveland.
Pass MLB
Teddy Covers
Washington at Tennessee
Play: Tennessee -3
The Redskins are expected to start three rookies in the secondary tonight. The Titans are expected to give Jake Locker an extended look for a preseason opener; in the range of 20 snaps. Locker has a lot to prove this August…Advantage: Tennessee.
The betting markets like Washington’s backup QB duo of Rex Grossman and Pat White after Kirk Cousins sits. No argument there. But the Titans backup QB rotation looks good as well, with former Bills starter Ryan Fitzpatrick and four year veteran Rusty Smith backing up Locker.
Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan is taking a very relaxed attitude towards game planning here in August. They’ll be focusing on “general concepts” tonight. Washington was -3 in their preseason opener last year and scored a grand total of seven points in their non-cover against the Bills.
We’ve got rainy conditions expected in Nashville this evening. In the regular season, it wouldn’t matter much. In the preseason, with Shanahan still taking criticism for not pulling RGIII in the playoffs, a soggy field ensures that no one of consequence will be on the field for long, at least on the Washington side.
Titans head coach Mike Munchak wants to win, plain and simple. His quotes:
“You know what, we want to win. That’s it. We want to win. I don’t look at it any other way. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Well, we played so-and-so, that’s why we didn’t win.’ We want to win no matter who’s out there. I think you always have to have that attitude for the first quarter to the fourth, no matter who’s in there."
Munchak, talking about evaluating his roster for the bevy of cuts to come: “It’s not all about Thursday night. You don’t want guys who’ve worked 9, 11, 12 weeks already and say, ‘Well, Thursday night and 10 plays, they didn’t look so good, so we’re going to make a change.’” Take Tennessee.