On Thursday, Buffalo welcomes Indianapolis to town. The Bills opened as a 3 point favorite, and the line has moved to Buffalo -3½. Both teams will try to rebound from blowouts last week.
The second game sees New England visiting Atlanta with the Falcons opening as 1½ point favorites. The Patriots are playing their second straight road/dome game after beating the New Orleans Saints by a field goal. The Falcons are coming off an ugly win over the Chiefs.
Friday night has an intriguing match-up with Philadelphia traveling to Cincinnati. The Bengals opened as 3 point favorites. The Eagles, behind Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick, slid past Jacksonville 28-27 despite giving up 3 touchdowns and 244 yards to backup Luke McCown. Cincy bounced back from their Hall of Fame game loss to Dallas with a good beatdown of Denver, 33-24.
Saturday offers 11 games for betting enthusiasts, and two games have already seen significant line movement. New Orleans opened as a 2 ½ point home favorite against the Houston Texans, but now sportsbooks are listing the Texans as favorites, ranging from 1 (-125) to 2 ½ points. Perhaps bettors noticed how well the Texans played in a 19-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals; the Texans led 16-0 going into the fourth quarter. The Saints, on the other hand, looked sloppy in their 27-24 loss to the Patriots.
The second game with early line movement is between San Diego and Dallas. The home Chargers opened as a 1 ½ point favorite, and now most sportsbooks have pushed that to 3 points. Dallas had serious red zone problems against the Raiders, ultimately losing 17-9 in Dallas. Four times the Cowboys took the ball inside the Raiders’ 16 yard line, but managed only 3 field goals. San Diego throttled the Bears, and rookie running back Ryan Mathews shined.
Also on Saturday Baltimore travels to Washington with the Redskins as 2 ½ point favorites. Joe Flacco and Donovan McNabb looked very good in limited action as both clubs won last week. Miami travels to Jacksonville in a line that opened as ‘pick.’ Now most books have moved that to the Jaguars as 2 point favorites. The Dolphins are coming off a disappointing win over Tampa Bay, only managing to squeak out a 10-7 victory. The Jags lost to Philadelphia, but look for Jack Del Rio’s first-stringers to look much better this week. Tampa Bay takes on Kansas City in what might be the worst football game in the entire preseason. The Bucs opened as 2 point home favorites. Both teams are looking to bounce back from ugly losses. Cleveland is an early 3 point favorite over the visiting Rams. The Browns had a nice win in Green Bay last week, while St. Louis was dismantled by the Vikings, 28-7. Oakland visits Chicago with the Bears opening as 2 ½ point favorites. The Raiders scored late and often against Dallas last week, winning 17-9. The Bears couldn’t find footing in San Diego, losing 25-10. The Broncos host the Lions with Denver as a 2 ½ point favorite, though most lines have gone to 3. Kyle Orton looked good in Denver’s loss to Cincinnati, while Detroit fell in Pittsburgh 23-7. And in Seattle, the 2 point favorite Seahawks tangle with the Pack. The Seahawks snuck by Tennessee, 20-18, unfortunately giving up a late touchdown and failing to cover the spread. The Packers lost to Cleveland in Green Bay, 27-24.
Two other Saturday games have yet to be handicapped. The New York Giants host the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the New York Jets travel to Carolina. The Giants and Jets are playing the Monday night game, and their lines should be set sometime after the game.
The Sunday night matchup is a good one. Minnesota heads out to San Francisco where the Niners are the early 3 point favorite. Both teams played well last week in blowout wins. Sage Rosenfels wowed Viking fans, throwing for 3 touchdowns and 310 yards. San Fran took advantage of Indianapolis miscues en route to a 37-17 win.
Finally, the Monday night game sees Tennessee hosting the Arizona Cardinals. The Titans lost in Seattle 20-18, while Arizona scored 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to get by the Houston Texans, 19-16. Neither team looked particularly good.
| Time | Game | Team | Open | Bmaker | Pincle | 5 Dimes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/19 6:30p |
401 402 |
INDIANAPOLIS BUFFALO (N) |
34 3 |
34 3½ |
34 3½ |
34 3-30 |
| 8/19 7:00p |
403 404 |
NEW ENGLAND ATLANTA |
37 1½ |
37 2½ |
37 2½-11 |
37 1-30 |
| 8/20 7:00p |
405 406 |
PHILADELPHIA CINCINNATI |
35 3 |
35½ 3 |
36o08 3+04 |
36 2½-20 |
| 8/21 6:00p |
407 408 |
BALTIMORE WASHINGTON |
38 2½ |
38½ 3-05 |
38½u10 3+09 |
38½ 1½-25 |
| 8/21 6:00p |
409 410 |
PITTSBURGH NY GIANTS |
||||
| 8/21 6:30p |
411 412 |
MIAMI JACKSONVILLE |
37 pk |
36 2 |
36u06 2-02 |
36 1-20 |
| 8/21 6:30p |
413 414 |
KANSAS CITY TAMPA BAY |
34 2 |
34 2½ |
34 2½-11 |
34 1½-25 |
| 8/21 6:30p |
415 416 |
ST. LOUIS CLEVELAND |
35½ 3-04 |
35½ 3-15 |
35½ 3-15 |
35½ 3-20 |
| 8/21 7:00p |
417 418 |
HOUSTON NEW ORLEANS |
40½ 2½ |
2½ 40½ |
2½-03 40½o10 |
1-25 41 |
| 8/21 7:00p |
419 420 |
NY JETS CAROLINA |
||||
| 8/21 7:30p |
421 422 |
OAKLAND CHICAGO |
34½ 2½ |
34½ 3ev |
34½u10 3+03 |
34 2½-20 |
| 8/21 8:00p |
423 424 |
DALLAS SAN DIEGO |
36½ 1½ |
36½ 3ev |
36½o10 3+03 |
37 2½-20 |
| 8/21 8:00p |
425 426 |
DETROIT DENVER |
36 2½ |
36 3-20 |
36 3-15 |
36 3-20 |
| 8/21 9:00p |
427 428 |
GREEN BAY SEATTLE |
38½ 2 |
38½ 2 |
38½ 2-01 |
38½ 1-20 |
| 8/22 7:00p |
429 430 |
MINNESOTA SAN FRANCISCO |
34 3 |
34½ 3½ |
34½o10 3½+04 |
35 3-20 |
| 8/23 7:00p |
431 432 |
ARIZONA TENNESSEE |
37 3+01 |
37 3½ |
37 3½-11 |
37 3-30 |
All lines taken from Bookmaker, Pinnacle, and 5Dimes and current as of 2:00 AM eastern time on Tuesday.
