NFL Preseason Friday: What Bettors Need to Know
By Ashton Grewal
Green Bay Packers at Indianapolis Colts (8.5, 39)
Starter Report
Packers: Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy will not give his starters three quarters of work like most coaches do in Week 3 of the preseason. He told Packers.com that he's more interested in seeing the younger players on the team’s roster.
“I know you traditionally play into the third quarter (in the third preseason game),” McCarthy said. “We will not do that. Our starters will not come out in the second half.”
Quarterbacks Matt Flynn and Graham Harrell will split the second half snaps. Also, starting receiver Greg Jennings hasn’t been ruled out but missed practice on Thursday and is still troubled by a sore right knee.
Colts: The big news came in on Wednesday regarding the Colts' QB situation. Peyton Manning will not play again this week but neither will newly-signed veteran Kerry Collins. The 38-year-old won’t see any game action for Indy until the final week of the preseason, according to the IndyStar.com.
That leaves the quarterbacking duties still in the hands of Curtis Painter, Dan Orlovsky and Nate Davis. The Colts are tight-lipped about the amount of playing time for their starters in Friday’s game but bettors can expect to see Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne back on the field. Fellow receivers Austin Collie and Anthony Gonzalez will continue to sit out due to injuries.
Thing to remember: Indy has been outscored 49-13 this preseason and are 2-8 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 preseason games.
St. Louis Rams at Kansas City Chiefs (+2.5, 35)
Starter Report
Rams: Head coach Steve Spagnuolo said he’d like his starters to play the entire first half and one series in the second half, depending on how many snaps that ends up being for his first-team offense.
A.J. Feeley and Thaddeus Lewis should get the remaining offensive plays under center for the Rams but there’s a chance fourth-string QB Taylor Potts could see some playing time late in the game.
Chiefs: Kansas City coach Todd Haley isn’t saying how long he’ll play his starters on Friday but it’d be safe for bettors to assume Haley will fall on the conservative side. The Chiefs have been an abysmal preseason bet for years, especially under Haley’s direction.
Thing to remember: The Chiefs are 0-9-1 ATS in the preseason under Haley and 4-25-1 in their last 30 exhibition games.
Packers And Colts Top Friday NFL Betting Slate
By: Dave Consolazio
Friday night’s NFL preseason action features four teams trying to round into form before their season regular season openers in two weeks. Starters generally see a solid amount of playing time in the third week of the preseason.
The headline game Friday night pits the Green Bay Packers (1-1) against the Indianapolis Colts (0-2) at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on CBS and is set to start at 5:00 p.m. (PT).
Indianapolis has been terrible in the first two preseason games, losing to St. Louis and Washington by a combined score of 49-17.
After Curtis Painter (8-for-16, 95 yards, one interception) and Dan Orlovsky (11-for-27, 178 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions) failed miserably to establish themselves as reliable backups to Peyton Manning, the Colts went out and signed veteran Kerry Collins Wednesday.
It isn’t clear how much playing time Collins will get Thursday, but despite his lack of knowledge of the playbook, you have to figure head coach Jim Caldwell will want to get him some reps with the team’s regular starters.
Green Bay beat Arizona, 28-20, the last time out and the starters looked sharp. The impact of the return of Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant was apparent on offense, even in limited playing time.
Regardless of who’s under center for the Colts, they’re bound to have their share of troubles against Green Bay’s stingy first-team defense. Clay Matthews is expected to start on defense despite dealing with a slight hamstring injury.
Green Bay currently sits as a 9-point favorite over Indianapolis, and the ‘total’ is set at 39.
The other game taking place Friday night is the St. Louis Rams (2-0) facing the Kansas City Chiefs (0-2) at Arrowhead Stadium, also set to begin at 5:00 p.m. (PT).
Like Indianapolis, Kansas City has had a terrible preseason to this point. The Chiefs were shut out at home, 25-0, in their opener against Tampa Bay and lost last week at Baltimore, 31-13. The Chiefs haven’t been doing much right on either side of the ball this preseason.
Then again, the Chiefs are no strangers to bad preseasons lately, and have made for a pretty good fade. Over the past three preseasons, Kansas City is just 1-9 straight up and 0-8 against the spread (-8.80 units) when the line is between +3 and -3.
St. Louis on the other hand is off to a strong start to the preseason, winning big over Indianapolis in Week 1 and topping Tennessee 17-16 on a last-second field goal last week (though they were losers ATS in that one as 3-point favorites).
Sam Bradford has played well in limited action (15-for-27, 183 yards, two touchdowns, one interception), and offseason addition Cadillac Williams (17 carries, 63 yards) should form a nice one-two backfield punch with Steven Jackson.
The Rams are a slight 1½-point favorite over the Chiefs, and the total is currently 35.