NFL
Preseason Preview: Detroit Lions & Jacksonville Jaguars
Written
By David Hess (Follow me on Twitter @DavidHess311)
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday,
August 28, 2015
Where: EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida
Televised: CBS
Where: EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida
Televised: CBS
Odds: The Line opened up as Jacksonville being a 1 point favorite and has been bet up slightly as they are now 2 point favorites in most shops. Money has come in on the Under as it has been bet down from 41.5 to 41.
The Detroit Lions come in at 1-1 in the preseason so far, winning their home game vs the Jets (23-3), while losing on the road last week to Washington 21-17. In their home game they looked very good in outgaining the Jets by 305 yards, putting up 428 yards and 26 FDs in the game. The Problem though was the fact that they scored just 23 points. Last week their offense didn't look great as they put up just 241 yards of total offense and 17 points. That was vs what should be a bad Washington defense this year. Matthew Stafford hasn't played much, but has gone 8-10 for 135 yards and a TD so far and he should get more time as teams tend to play their starters more in the 3rd game. Behind him is Dan Orlovsky and he didn't have a good game vs the Jets, but did last week vs Washington, hitting 13 of 17 passes for 118 yards and 2 TDs. All Detroit's starters should play more in this one.
The Jaguars have also gone 1-1 in the preseason, winning their home game 23-21 over Pittsburgh, while losing on the road last week by a 22-12 score vs the Giants. Not a lot is expected of Jacksonville this year, but they should be a bit more competitive in their games. Their offense will still be pretty weak, but that is nothing new as they have averaged 16 ppg or less in each of their last 4 years. It should be better than that with Bortles now having a year under his belt and with the addition of Julius Thomas at TE. He shouldn't play in this game as he suffered a fracture in his hand, but will be ready for opening day. Still the have work to do on offense as they put up 290 ypg last year and just 284.5 ypg in 2 preseason games this year. The Defense for the Jags has played good in the preseason, allowing just 332 yards of total offense, compared to allowing 371 ypg last year.
OU Lines are a bit higher in week 3 of the preseason and I feel this one is a bit to high, as just one team has a shot at scoring many points. The Jags offense should be improved this year, but it will still be bad and it has shown that in the preseason, putting up just 284 ypg worth of offense, while the Lions have allowed just 232 ypg on defense. Detroit on offense has looked solid, but hasn't scored a bunch, while the Jags defense has looked good, plus the Grass at everBank Field should slow Detroit's offense down even more. This game will pit a mediocre offense vs a good defense and a bad offense vs a defense that looks like it is picking up where it left off last year when it led the league. Add is all up, plus with the game being on grass and we should get no more than 35 points in this one.
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