NFLX
Saturday, 8/27/2011
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NFL preseason odds: Full Saturday primer
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New York Jets at New York Giants (+2.5, 35)
Jets head coach Rex Ryan was adamant this week that he wants to see more out of his running game against the Giants.
"I'd like to see us be able to establish our run game a little more," Ryan said. "Obviously, this will be a huge test for us going against the Giants defense."
Gang Green will welcome RB Shonn Green and RG Brandon Moore back to the field this week. Both will likely be used sparingly, but the rest of the Jets starters are expected to work into the third quarter after playing the entire first half last week.
Tom Coughlin has indicated that his starters will play most of the first half on Saturday. He’s giving them a bit of a break given that it’s a short week after dismantling the Bears this past Monday night.
Don’t be surprised if both teams hold a little back given they’ll face each other for real on Christmas Eve.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills (-2.5 36)
The Jaguars will be focused on sharpening their offense after a sloppy performance, albeit a winning one, against the Falcons last week.
"I guess I look at that as our team is tuning up, it's not just David Garrard. It's not any one player,” head coach Jack Del Rio said, “I think as a football team we need to begin to play as a team and play better football and have it all come together for us and with an eye on the opener, yes, no question. But I think just like last week we saw some encouraging signs. I think this week we need to see more of them throughout our football team in all three phases."
Jacksonville’s first unit is expected to see action into the third quarter this week. Blaine Gabbert will once again take the majority of the snaps with the second-team offense after starter David Garrard exits.
Bills head coach Chan Gailey has been fairly tight-lipped when it comes to playing time here in the preseason. He has stated that Fred Jackson will be the team’s starter at running back, and has also hinted that his first-unit will see more action than they have in the last two weeks, but that’s it.
Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tyler Thigpen will once again share duties under center after a lackluster effort in Denver last Saturday.
Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3.5, 36)
Off to an 0-2 start, Atlanta will give its starters their most extensive action of the preseason on Saturday in Pittsburgh.
“In terms of the amount of snaps that they are going to play, I don’t know that we’ve sat down and decided,” head coach Mike Smith said. “But we want to keep those (starting) units in there and get them as many exposures as possible.”
After not game-planning for either of their first two matchups, the Falcons will be hitting the film room for this week’s game.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin isn’t downplaying the importance of the third preseason game, particularly for guys fighting for roster spots. His starters are expected to play into the third quarter, but Tomlin has yet to decide on how his QB rotation will shake down after Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich. Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon both remain on the roster.
Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-4, 36.5)
The Dolphins offense is off to a fast start, scoring 48 points in back-to-back wins over the Falcons and Panthers.
That doesn’t mean they’ll be easing off the gas on Saturday, however. Miami starters are likely to play into the third quarter against the Bucs. Starting QB Chad Henne threw 24 passes last week, and should see another heavy workload this week.
The Bucs were embarrassed by the Patriots on their own home turf last week, but they remain confident heading into Saturday’s showdown with the Dolphins.
Raheem Morris hasn’t officially stated how long his starters will play, but WR Mike Williams has hinted that they’ll see at least a half of action.
"We get to play more plays this week, at least the whole first half,'' Williams said. “The last game, we knew we were on limited reps. It was hard getting into a rhythm, knowing you only had 12 or 13 plays.''
Houston Texans at San Francisco 49ers (+3, 35.5)
The Texans have been one of the league’s most impressive teams so far this preseason. Their offense lit up Reliant Stadium last Saturday, and they’ll get a chance to do the same in San Francisco this week, as Matt Schaub and the rest of their starters are likely to play into the third quarter.
That leaves the bulk of the second half snaps to backup QB Matt Leinart.
49ers first year head coach Jim Harbaugh isn’t a believer in using the third preseason game as a dress rehearsal for the regular season.
He’ll use his starters sparingly in the first quarter, instead electing to give his backups plenty of time to hone their skills.
New England Patriots at Detroit Lions (+4, 44.5)
New England’s starters will see at least a half of action on Saturday. Even after two blowout wins, don’t count on Bellichick to call off the dogs against the Lions.
Lions WR Calvin Johnson returned to practice on Thursday, but remains a game-time decision for Saturday’s game. RB Jahvid Best has been officially ruled out.
If you consider head coach Jim Schwarz’s track record, the rest of the Lions starting unit will likely play into the third quarter. The focus will be on improving defensively after a poor showing in Cleveland last week.
Chicago Bears at Tennessee Titans (-3, 37)
Playing on a short week, and being on the road for a second consecutive game, Bears head coach Lovie Smith will take a cautious approach when it comes to his starters playing time on Saturday. If the first-unit plays into the second half, it will come as a surprise.
With that being said, there’s obviously plenty of work to be done after back-to-back less than impressive performances against the Bills and Giants. If there’s no improvement, there will be plenty of restless fans in the seats at Soldier Field next week.
Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck took a big hit against the Rams last week, but is expected to start Saturday’s game. He and Jake Locker will handle at least the first three quarters against the Bears, with Hasselbeck taking all of the snaps with the first-team offense.
Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings (+1, 37)
The Cowboys will begin the road portion of their preseason schedule in Minnesota on Saturday. We can expect to see plenty from the starters, likely playing into the third quarter.
Head coach Jason Garrett puts a lot of stock in preseason results, so he was understandably upset with last week’s sloppy effort against the Chargers.
"We live in reality," Garrett said. "There were some things that happened that exposed us. There were a number of mental mistakes. We need to play better. There were some good things that happened, but there were a lot of things that need to be addressed."
There’s a heated battle for the number two quarterback spot ongoing in Minnesota. Christian Ponder and Joe Webb are competing, and should see the bulk of the action under center again on Saturday.
Leslie Frazier has been one the conservative side when it comes to starters playing time this preseason. He has indicated that his first-team offenses and defenses will play at least the first quarter on Saturday.
Seattle Seahawks at Denver Broncos (-4.5, 37.5)
Pete Carroll says there’s no QB controversy in Seattle.
He continues to back up the play of Tarvaris Jackson, who once again struggled last week, completing 11-of-21 passes for 75 yards. Jackson, along with the rest of the Seahawks starters, will once again play the majority of the first half, and possibly even into the third quarter on Saturday.
The big news out of Broncos camp this week was that Tim Tebow had been dropped to third on the QB depth chart behind Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn.
With that being said, John Fox stated this week that Tebow would see more playing time in at least one of the Broncos final two preseason games.
"Kyle has had 19 passes, Brady's had 30 and Tim's had nine," Fox said. "So in fairness to Tim, we need to get that total up whether that's this week or next week."
San Diego Chargers at Arizona Cardinals (+3, 40.5)
Philip Rivers and the rest of the Chargers starters played into the second quarter last week, and should see more extensive action here in Week 3.
Norv Turner has traditionally used his first-unit into the third quarter in the third preseason game, and while he hasn’t made it official this week, that remains the expectation.
Billy Volek will spend the majority of the second half under center, with Scott Tolzien possibly getting only a series in mop-up duty.
The Cardinals continue to work on getting Kevin Kolb acclimated with the offense, so no surprise that he’s expected to play the entire first half and a series or two in the third quarter on Saturday.
Playing for only the third time in 17 days, the Cardinals can afford to give their starters a fairly heavy workload.
Arizona signed QB Brodie Croyle this week, waiving former BYU standout Max Hall. That still leaves four quarterbacks on the roster, with Richard Bartel and John Skelton rounding out the quartet.