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Saturday 8-17-19 Free Plays / Trends / Betting Info / Etc
Last week the Cleveland Browns put up 30 points in their preseason lid-lfter, as they combined with the Washington Redskins to total 40 points and the Over in the Brownies 30-10 victory.
As for the Indianapolis Colts, they were slow to start on offense and could only come up with 16 points by the final gun, but they also combined with the Buffalo Bills to score 40 points in their 24-16 loss that also eclipsed the posted price.
Going to look for these 2 teams to combine for another Over in their second game of the preseason Saturday night at Lucas Oil Field. True, Andrew Luck is injured yet again, and we are not going to see the Colts starter tonight or at any time soon from what I am hearing, but that means that Frank Reich's team had better find some results at the quarterback spot, and I suspect Indy will be able to get some results in this preseason home opener.
Jacoby Brissett has been the team's back up - and starter at times - for a while now, and since he played very sparingly last week, I would think he will get more playing time in this contest. Last week, Chad Kelly got the majority of the first team reps, as he was a decent 13-of-19 with 121 passing yards. Phillip Walker also got a long look as well as he connected on 8 of his 18 attempts for 85 yards. However, none of the 3 Colts quarterbacks was able to throw a touchdown pass. Again, I expect that to change tonight as the offense must show they can muster points without Luck in the game.
You can also expect the offensive-minded Freddie Kitchens to look to improve on the 30 points his team tallied in last week's win. Cleveland used 4 quarterbacks last week, with starter Baker Mayfield coming in for a cup-of-coffee and going 5-of-6 for 77 yards and one touchdown pass. Mayfield likely will see a few more plays tonight, and you can expect Garrett Gilbert who was a decent 14-for-22 in the Browns win over Washington will also look to improve his stock as the team's backup, so expect some points to be scored while he is on the field.
Tricky dynamic for the Pittsburgh Steelers here at home this Saturday night, as Pittsburgh did open their 2019 preseason campaign with a 30-28 win at home over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a game that pitted Mike Tomlin against Bruce Arians, and with their coaching relationship a little "tenuous", I am sure Tomlin wanted to come out the winner in that meeting.
The Steelers did indeed get the win last week, but then they suffered a tragic loss during the week, as their wide receivers coach Darryl Drake passed away suddenly on Sunday at the age of 62. Obviously, it has been a very tough week for the Men of Steel, and it would not surprise me at all if this meaningless game sees them come out a little listless.
Ben Roethlisberger did not play at all in last week's win, but the Steelers have a healthy back-up competition brewing between Mason Rudolph and Joshua Dobbs who both had their moments in the win over the Bucs.
Kansas City looked like the team to beat in the AFC last weekend, as they opened their preseason with a 38-17 hammering of the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium. Patrick Mahomes only played one series, but he was a perfect 4-for-4 for 66 yards. I would guess Mahomes is kept under wraps tonight and does not see much more time than he saw last week, and if that is the case Andy Reid will likely be wanting to see more from Kyle Shurmur and Chase Litton who saw the bulk of the action last week, but were not overly impressive.
In the end my feeling is the satisfying win over Tampa Bay coupled with the tragic loss of Coach Drake is going to leave the Steelers flat in this home spot.
Out of the NFC West, I don't have an opinion on defending the conference champion Los Angeles Rams (10'), and looked at playing both the Seattle Seahawks (8') and Arizona Cardinals (5) under the respective totals. I don't know what to make out of the boys from Glendale, but the 'Hawks, I do believe they'll fail to hit the 9-win mark considering their road schedule, and their offseason roster hits.
That leaves the San Francisco 49ers, who I believe will go over 8 wins.
The hype surrounding Jimmy Garoppolo's arrival last season was well deserved. By the start of this season, I'm encouraged he'll know his offense and have a solid rhythm with his receivers.
Jordan Matthews signed as a free agent with the 49ers this past offseason, and the team drafted receivers in the second and third round, taking Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd, respectively. Jerick McKinnon, was acquired as a free agent last offseason, and will be back from a preseason injury he suffered last year. He and Tevin Coleman figure to blend in well.
That rejuvenated offense on a team that went 4-12 last season, and still produced an average of +14 yards per game, is very promising.
While the 49ers defense ranked a solid 13th overall, it ranked 28th in scoring last season. Last year’s 17th-best pass rush will surely improve this year.
First-round choice Joey Bosa fell right into the 49ers' lap, while they did a good job in acquiring Dee Ford from the Kansas City Chiefs and signed linebacker Kwon Alexander from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
They can help a team that had a -25 turnover differential last year. Believe it or not, we've seen teams dramatically improve the year after registering a -20 turnover differential or worse the previous season, to the tune of at least 6 wins the following campaign.
The philosophy there is that by shoring up the turnovers, you create more opportunities for the offense, by holding on to the ball, and increasing the takeaways with an improved defense.
Look, the fact is, the 49ers were one of only two teams to rank top 10 on both offense and defense in 2018. This year they're poised to be much better.
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