FOOTBALL NFL ARTICLES

The Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins both won their preseason debuts last week. Neither team played its starters for any significant amount of time, but the bench was good enough to lead each team to victory. Each team has suffered a significant injury to its quarterback in training camp, with Miami losing Ryan Tannehill for the entire season due to a knee injury and Baltimore not having Joe Flacco available for preseason because of an injured back. Both coaches will likely be hesitant to play their starters, especially quarterbacks, that much with those injuries weighing on their minds.... 

If you would have bet the Green Bay Packers under 10 wins last season, you would forever curse Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay started the season 4-6 and the playoffs looked out of the picture with Detroit pulling out miracle win after miracle win. Rodgers showed why you can never count him out though with six straight wins to end the regular season followed by playoff victories against the Giants and the Cowboys. Although the season ended with a loss in the NFC Championship Game, it’s hard not to consider it a success after how the season started. Green Bay is the favorite to win the NFC North once again in 2017, but Rodgers needs help if this team is going to go further.... 

Although the Atlanta Falcons made it to the Super Bowl last season, oddsmakers have three other NFC teams favored ahead of them to make it to Minneapolis in 2018. Super Bowl losers tend to do poorly the following year and no team has returned to challenge for the Vince Lombardi Trophy since the Buffalo Bills lost four straight. Atlanta brings back virtually all of its talent from last year’s roster, but loses offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. Can the Falcons be the team that breaks the streak?... 

Welcome home Los Angeles Chargers! The Chargers franchise began in Los Angeles in 1960 and moved to San Diego immediately after the end of the season. After 56 seasons in San Diego, the Chargers moved back to the City of Angels this season. For the next three years, the Chargers will be calling quaint StubHub Center home until the new stadium that will host both the Chargers and Rams is built. They will welcome their first team when they face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Sunday, August 13, 2017,at 8 p.m. ET at StubHub Center in Carson, California. The game will be broadcast live on NFL Network.... 

We are going to have to wait at least one more week before seeing Andrew Luck make his 2017 debut. Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano announced that Luck would not be playing in the team’s preseason opener against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. In his stead, Scott Tolzien will get the start. Tolzien got his first start since 2013 against Pittsburgh last season with Luck banged up, but didn’t perform well there. He does know how to perform in preseason though and is the veteran of the quarterbacks with Luck still rehabbing from offseason surgery.This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Sunday, August 13, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on NFL Network.... 

The Arizona Cardinals’ second-team had a fantastic performance against the Dallas Cowboys in the Hall of Fame Game. Blaine Gabbert led the team on two long touchdown drives in the first two series of the game and the Cardinals raced out to a 15-0 lead over the Cowboys. Although Arizona only scored three points over the last 50 minutes of action and lost, the game indicated that the second-team is talented and Blaine Gabbert might be able to succeed in this offense. He will get another chance against the Oakland Raiders this week.... 

The Dallas Cowboys are ready to get back on the field and get the taste of last season’s playoff defeat out of their mouths. Dallas was a juggernaut in the regular season last year, ripping off 11 straight wins at one point to cruise to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Aaron Rodgers cruelly bounced them from the playoffs in one of the most excited postseason games in recent memory, but the Cowboys are the favorites in the NFC once again. On Saturday, they will play their second road game of the preseason, this time against the Los Angeles Rams.... 

Only four road teams are favored in Week 1 of the NFL Preseason and the biggest favorite of those four is the Tennessee Titans. It’s not much of a surprise to see Tennessee so heavily favored given their opponent, the hapless New York Jets. The Jets have a win total of just 3.5 this season and are widely expected to be the worst team in the NFL in 2017. Their roster has been panned as entirely bereft of talent and it would be a bigger miracle to see them make the playoffs this season than it was for them to win Super Bowl III. If they want to prove the naysayers wrong, some players on their roster need to separate themselves starting with this game.... 

The San Francisco 49ers are being picked by many to be the worst team in the NFC. San Francisco is rolling the dice with journeyman Brian Hoyer as its starting quarterback, but he is certainly not a long-term solution. The 49ers selected CJ Beathard from Iowa in the third-round of this year’s draft and he might move into the starting role by the end of the season. We will see Beathard for the first time when San Francisco plays the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night. However, he is certainly not the rookie quarterback that most people are excited to see.... 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have all the talent in the world on the offensive side of the ball. Jameis Winston can’t complain about a lack of support as the front office has clearly tried to give him everything he could possibly want. Now it’s time for Winston to produce results. The Bucs will get their first chance to show off their new weapons on Friday night when they take on another team that figures to have an explosive offense this season, the Cincinnati Bengals.... 

The New York Giants are clearly trying to make one last run with Eli Manning getting older. The front office made some moves to give him as much help as possible after last year’s 11-5 finish and Big Blue Nation is optimistic that the Giants could have one of the best offenses in the NFL this season. The receiving corps should be one of the best in the NFL with Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard in his second season, and Brandon Marshall joining in free agency. They will play their first game together on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.... 

This is probably Kirk Cousins’ last season in Washington. The Redskins signal caller failed to come to terms with the team in the offseason on a long-term deal and he is free to go wherever he pleases after this season. It’s just another sign of how owner Dan Snyder continues to mismanage the Washington Redskins after all these years. There are no quarterbacks waiting in the wings either so after this season, the Redskins will be flying by the seat of their pants. They open their preseason on the road against the Baltimore Ravens.... 

Poor Teddy Bridgewater. The former Louisville star seemed all set to take a huge step forward with the Minnesota Vikings last season. Optimism was running high in the Twin Cities, but in their last preseason practice, Bridgewater tore his ACL and dislocated his knee in a non-contact drill. His season was lost and the Vikes were left to scramble, sending a first-round pick to Philadelphia in order to get Sam Bradford. Bradford made this team competitive, but failed to lead them to a winning record. Bridgewater is still recovering from the injury and may not be able to play this preseason either. That means Bradford, Case Keenum, and Taylor Heinicke will be the available quarterbacks when Minnesota faces the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.... 

The Miami Dolphins have decided on a replacement for the injured Ryan Tannehill. The Dolphins signed Jay Cutler to a one-year, $10 million contract and it looks like he will get the starting job ahead of Matt Moore. Head coach Adam Gase has a relationship with Cutler, having coached him both in Denver and Chicago and knows that the veteran signal caller is familiar with his offense. Cutler won’t see the field on Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons, but should see repetitions in Miami’s next preseason game.This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Thursday, August 10, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium.... 

After missing out on the postseason following a Super Bowl win the year before, the Denver Broncos are eager to return to the playoffs. Denver has an all-star caliber defense, but questions at quarterback linger after neither Trevor Siemian nor Paxton Lynch were able to separate themselves last year. The question now is whether or not one of them can emerge as a legitimate option this season. The first chance for one to prove themselves as the better quarterback comes this Thursday against the Chicago Bears.... 

It’s been 10 years since the Cleveland Browns have had a winning record. The Browns are coming off of their worst year in franchise history and that’s saying something considering how bad this team has been since returning to Cleveland. The Browns have posted just two winning seasons since being reincarnated and have made the playoffs only once in that same amount of time. Cleveland is desperate for a winner, but this team has some major questions all along the offensive side of the ball. Hue Jackson and company will look for answers in their first preseason game against the New Orleans Saints.This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Thursday, August 10, 2017,at 8 p.m. ET at FirstEnergy Stadium.... 

Bettors love the New England Patriots, even in the preseason. New England is the biggest favorite of the first full week of NFL preseason action and its game against the Jacksonville Jaguars is also the only one all week with a total over 40. Money is slowly starting to come in on the Jaguars though and the spread should narrow by a half-point or so by kickoff on Thursday as sharps take advantage of a slightly inflated line. Will the public cash their tickets on Friday morning or will the sharps rule the day in this game?This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Thursday, August 10, 2017,at 7:30 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium.... 

The Philadelphia Eagles have had a relatively busy offseason. Rather than sit tight with their young guys and hope that they mature, the Eagles brass decided to go out and get some playmakers for youngster Carson Wentz. Philly certainly thinks it has the talent to be able to win now if it can put the right roster around the North Dakota State product, but we’ll have to wait and see some results before we can judge it a success or failure. The Eagles will kick off the 2017 campaign against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Thursday, August 10, 2017,at 8 p.m. ET at Lambeau Field.... 

The NFL is back baby! Who cares if its only preseason? America’s favorite sport is here and that means it’s time to bet on third-stringers and players that will be cut in two weeks’ time. The opening game on the first full docket of action will pit the Houston Texans against the Carolina Panthers. Houston is antsy to get a look at new quarterback Deshaun Watson and see how JJ Watt looks in game action after missing all of last season. Meanwhile, Carolina is happy to just be back on the field after a very disappointing 2016 campaign.This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Wednesday, August 9, 2017,at 7:30 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium on NFL Network.... 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have won six Super Bowl titles in franchise history and they have a legitimate chance at getting back to big game in 2017. One of the league’s most skilled offenses will welcome back the return of yet another weapon in Martavis Bryant, who rejoins a veteran core of players whose talent and versatility are a challenge for even the NFL’s top defenses.... 

The Miami Dolphins surprised a lot of people last season, winning ten games and reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2008. This year, however, with the health of quarterback Ryan Tannehill now in question and one of the tougher schedules in the NFL, things could be a whole lot harder for the Dolphins. Until it’s known for sure just how much time Tannehill will miss after suffering a knee injury in training camp on Thursday, it’s unclear whether 7.5 wins are achievable for the Dolphins this year.... 

Despite making the playoffs last season, the Miami Dolphins find themselves behind 10 other teams in terms of betting odds to win the AFC. The next-closest longshot in terms of teams that made the postseason last year are the Houston Texans at 12-1. Yes, Miami overachieved by going 10-6 despite having a negative point differential, but head coach Adam Gase is seen as a guru for a reason. This offense should be better in its second year under Gase.... 

The Kansas City Chiefs must be feeling a little bit like Rodney Dangerfield. Since Andy Reid became the coach, the Chiefs have won at least 11 games in three of his four seasons. The Chiefs won the division with a 12-4 record last season, but are considered only the second-favorite to win the AFC West this season. Despite bringing essentially everyone back from last season except Dontari Poe and Jamaal Charles, you can still get this team at +200.... 

The Houston Texans have been remarkably consistent under Bill O’Brien, winning nine games in each of his three seasons on the job. So it isn’t surprising that their win total for 2017 came in where it did. And like previous seasons, the Texans are again embroiled in a quarterback situation. Eight different players have started a game over the past three seasons and Houston is banking on first round pick Deshaun Watson to be the guy at some point this year. He is the key to the Texans surpassing the 9 win plateau.... 

It was a season the Oakland Raiders waited 14 years for, but it ended with a big “what if.” With their collection of young talent and the emergence of Derek Carr, Oakland was predicted to finally put together a winning season and get to the playoffs last season. Check and check. They exceeded expectations and won 12 games, but lost Carr late in the year. They tiptoed into and out of the playoffs leaving many wondering what might have been. Maybe we’ll get a chance to see what happens in 2017....