After just laying an egg in Baltimore and stinking the joint up in their Motor City debut the previous week, the Detroit Lions better show some improvement in their preseason Week 4 finale against Buffalo or else the boo birds will be out in full force. Meanwhile, Rex Ryan’s Bills will likely be looking just to stay healthy after incurring some disappointing injuries in last week’s dress rehearsal loss at Washington.
Ford Field will be the site for this Week 4 preseason matchup between the Bills and Lions on Thursday, September 1, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Odds Analysis
With Buffalo likely treating this game with kid gloves in hopes of being able to march out its healthiest roster against Baltimore in Week 1, it’s likely Ryan elects to only look at his backups in this exhibition finale. Detroit’s starting offense has looked flat out awful throughout the first three games of the exhibitions season. Most alarming has been the play of the unit’s supposed stars.
Make it a point to find out if any of the starters are going for any amount of time in this one. If they are, it would certainly give Detroit the slight advantage.
Quarterback Rotation
Tyrod Taylor has not been asked to do much this preseason. That however shouldn’t be looked upon as a bad thing since he’s got the QB1 job all wrapped up. The story of Buffalo camp – besides the injuries to key personnel on both sides of the ball – has been the quarterback battle that’s brewed between former starter E.J. Manuel and rookie Cardale Jones.
Each has shined in at least one game this preseason. Whichever of the field generals stands out tonight will likely snag the backup job. Look for each to get all the snaps in this one as Rex determines who Tyrod’s back up will be.
Matthew Stafford is a veteran in this league. He hasn’t played like one however through the first three games in amassing just 266 total yards and throwing one pick with no touchdowns. While he clearly needs some reps to build some confidence, it’s likely Jim Caldwell elects to keep his QB1 right by his side all game long.
If he does get a few series to work out the kinks, Detroit would hold the early advantage especially if Buffalo trots out a defense full of backups. If not, Dan Orlovsky and rookie Jake Rudock will likely take part in a time share with each getting a half.
Coaching History
Rex Ryan has churned out just one winning preseason campaign through his previous seven seasons as a head coach in the NFL. At best, he’d finish up 2-2 over the last three seasons if in fact his squad got back in the win column after this one’s said and done. Ryan’s a combined 10-6 SU in Weeks 2 and 3 of the preseason and 4-11 SU in Weeks 1 and 4.
Jim Caldwell didn’t give two you know what’s about the preseason when the head coach of Indianapolis. Maybe No. 18 had something to do with that. However, he’s excelled throughout the exhibition season in Detroit where he was 6-2 SU before managing just one win through three games this season. He owns a career 3-2 SU mark in Week 4 and really needs to light a fire under his team’s butt before they head to Indianapolis next week.
Free ATS Pick
Trend bettors are going to be all over the Lions who have taken the Bills to the woodshed each of the last eight times these teams locked horns in Week 4 of the exhibition season. That’s right folks, Buffalo has lost and failed to cover eight straight times against Detroit in the preseason! There’s really no rhyme or reason to it, Detroit has simply just owned them.
That said, should the Lions elect to sit their starting units, I give Buffalo the advantage in this one. It has a quarterback battle going while Detroit has nothing to get excited about backing Stafford up. Look for that to be just enough to put an end to the Lions’ recent preseason dominance.
NFL Odds: Bills 28, Lions 21
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
