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**InsiderEdge** · 08-31-2004, 01:56 PM

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**InsiderEdge** · 09-01-2004, 02:01 PM

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**InsiderEdge** · 09-02-2004, 09:27 AM

Added freebie for Thursday:

Kansas City Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys 8:00 PM ET

Under 40 Kansas City/Dallas -101 (2 Units)

This total is a little higher than expected seeing that the Kansas City starting offense won’t see much of the playing field in this one. On the other side of the ball, the defense is starting to get the new system down but their main weakness on that side falls right into what the Cowboys will be looking to accomplish.

The Cowboys need work in their rushing game and the Chiefs are a good way to get the ball moving. Kansas city is dead last in the league, allowing 5.5 ypc. Dallas is averaging just 3.8 ypc and they try to get that number up by keeping the ball on ground for the better part of this game. Dallas is playing on a very short week coming off a Monday night game against Tennessee. These are the situations where the offense comes in without much of a plan so expect the Cowboys to play a generic game on that side of the ball. The Chiefs knew their defense would be a work in progress, particularly with five starters not dressed last Saturday because of injuries. But they still played decent as they allowed just 7 points in the first 56 minutes and 20 seconds. New defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham does not have many new players, but he's worked hard to install a new scheme and a different style by emphasizing aggressiveness rather than the read-and-react scheme of his predecessor, Greg Robinson.

For Kansas City, even when the first team offense was on the field against Cleveland, among untimely penalties, dropped passes and other assorted sins, the starters managed just two field goals in seven possessions. It is still undetermined how long the starting offense will go but with their receivers being so thin right now, they aren’t going to take many chances. The Dallas defense is still their strong suit and they have played well in the preseason allowing 20 points only once thus far.

The clock shouldn’t be stopping a whole lot in this game, as both teams will be working on last minute adjustments as they end their respective exhibition seasons.

Get the rest of tonight’s football card and the remainder of the weekend for FREE. Simply send us an email and we will send the link for all of the weekend action. All plays are posted for Thursday through Monday.

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**InsiderEdge** · 09-02-2004, 01:53 PM

The rest of the Thursday football card for those of you who didn’t get these yet:

NFL

Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions 8:00 PM ET

Buffalo Bills +5.5 -103 (2 Units)

Mike Mularkey will look to finish the preseason on a high note with a win to even his first exhibition season at 2-2. The Bills are coming off a sloppy performance at Indianapolis, most notably by their special teams, in the 30-17 loss. The defense played very respectable against the potent Colts attack, allowing just 291 total yards. Peyton Manning was picked off twice and the Colts fumbled the ball three times, losing it twice. The starting offense, which played until midway through the third quarter, managed only one legitimate scoring drive. It was the special teams and the offense that lost this game as they fumbled seven times, losing three. Bills quarterbacks also threw two interceptions and were sacked three times.

The injury situation in Buffalo is not good as the Bills lost another backup quarterback. With Drew Bledsoe expected to play very little in this game, Buffalo will highlight their running game against Detroit, who is ranked 29th in the league, giving up 4.8 ypc and 160 ypg, the second highest amount allowed per game this preseason. The Bills have gained 139.7 ypg in their three games, 6th best in the league at this point. The Lions are no juggernaut on offense either. Baltimore's defense was missing four potential starters -- defensive end Anthony Weaver, defensive tackle Marques Douglas, linebacker Peter Boulware and cornerback Chris McAlister -- yet it stifled the Lions, holding them to 139 yards of total offense in the first half (41 rushing). Head coach Steve Mariucci was upset by the turnovers, even if they were from the reserves. Expect a lot more of that here as the reserves will be getting the bulk of the playing time.

Buffalo fits into very solid preseason systems that are a combined 82-32 (71.9%) since 1984. One of these is a coaching system for the Bills why the other is a rushing system against Detroit. When starters are going to be in the game for a very limited amount of time, systems such as these are very important come the final week of the preseason. Getting more than a field goal in a game expected to be a low scoring affair is too good to pass up.

Arizona Cardinals at Denver Broncos 9:00 PM ET

Arizona Cardinals +7.5 -110 (2 Units)

This is a lot of points for a team in search of their only win on the preseason. Head coach Dennis Green has always been a believer of winning in the preseason and he would like nothing better to do it here as they head into the regular season next weekend. They are coming off their best game of the exhibition season and a lot of positives can be carried into this game.

There were signs of progress. QB Josh McCown was efficient and made plays with his legs and his arm. He gained 35 yards on three carries and completed 16 of 23 passes for 187 yards - and has yet to be intercepted this preseason. "I think the guys know we have to have that kind of effort every week," Green said. "We probably had closer to our best rhythm (offensively)." While the Denver offense continued to improve, the defense struggled at times in the first half against Houston after three strong performances. The Texans had two long scoring drives that featured several tackle-breaking runs by running backs Domanick Davis and Tony Hollings. After surrendering only nine first downs, four of those by penalty, and 172 yards rushing in the first three preseason games, the Broncos allowed the Texans to rush 15 times for 110 yards in the first half, an average of 7.3 yards a carry. Of course, the first teamers won’t be out there much so the Cardinals will have a shot at the reserves to get it done.

Favorites of more than a touchdown win these games at a 76.7% clip but they cover just 30% of the time. This will be the first occurrence this preseason.

NCAA FB

Texas A&M Aggies at Utah Utes 8:00 PM ET

Texas A&M Aggies +8 +101 (2 Units)

Utah will be looking for revenge, as the Aggies were one of only two teams to defeat the Utes last season. Grabbing revenge against a much-improved Texas A&M team will be a very difficult task however.

The Texas A&M win over the Utes was one of the few bright spots for new head coach Dennis Franchione and he will use that in preparation for this contest. In that matchup last season, Texas A&M ran for 223 yards on 38 carries (5.9 ypc) and the Aggies will be able to do it again Thursday. The running game will be their strong suit on offense behind a huge line while Utah will once again have trouble against the bigger teams at the line. Courtney Lewis rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and he will be the man once again. He led the team with a solid 5.5 ypc average and behind a bigger and more experienced line, his numbers could increase even more. The return of 355-pound Jami Hightower, who missed all of last season, is the big reason of the expected improvement. The Utes have the potential of having one of the better defensive lines in the country but the size differential will cause problems right out of the gate.

Obviously, it was the A&M defense that was the weakest link on this team a season ago. The run defense plummeted to 112th in the nation allowing an un-Aggie like 225.1 ypg and 4.8 ypc. The good news is that they don’t have to start over. They return 8 players from the defense and while that may not seem like a good thing based on last year’s numbers, the experience is huge coming into 2004. Carl Torbush is still one of the best at defense and he should have this unit ready to go. One key factor from last season was the fact that this defense was on the field a lot more than necessary, due to a turnover margin that ranked them 105th in the country. A fresh defense is a better defense. While they were outyarded by nearly 50 yards per game, they were pretty even at yards per play (5.8 to 5.9). Utah brings a lot of experience back on offense and their spread attack will be one of the best in the country this season. The Aggies won’t be able to stop them by any means but they should be able to hold their own. As long as the running game flourishes as expected, the Utah offense will be kept off the field.

It’s not often you see a Mountain West Conference team favored over a Big 12 team, especially by this many points. A lot of this is based on last year’s records and the recent difficulties of Texas A&M away from home. We are definitely getting some value here since the Aggies have been road killers in recent years. They have dropped their last 8 ATS away from home when getting points and they are 1-12 ATS as a road dog since 1999. However, Utah has not exactly shined in this spot either. They are 3-10 ATS since 1999 as a single digit home favorite.

Northwestern Wildcats at TCU Horned Frogs 8:00 PM ET

Northwestern Wildcats +7 -110 (2 Units)

Take a look around and hardly anyone is giving the Wildcats any chance in this game. TCU is considered the top of the CUSA crop this season and therefore should have no problems against a Big Ten below average team. It took Northwestern about half a season last year to learn how to win but they found it and that will help immensely going into 2004. For the first time since Northwestern was predicted to win the title in 2001, there are legitimate reasons to be excited about the football team.

Nineteen starters, including eight on offense and nine on defense, return to a team that finished 6-7 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten. However, in assessing Northwestern's chances of moving up the league ladder, the starters who count the most are the ones on the offensive and defensive lines. Fortunately for the Wildcats, every offensive and defensive line starter returns, along with every key reserve. Led by all-conference honorable mention selection Zach Strief, all five starters plus their backups return to an offensive line that paved the way for the Big Ten's second-leading ground game at 212 yards per game and 4.7 yards carry. Noah Herron played second fiddle to Jason Wright last season but averaged more yards per carry (6.2 to 5.2) and caught more passes (19 to 18) than the second-team all-conference pick. He racked up 996 all-purpose yards as Wright's backup last year. Junior quarterback Brett Basanez completed just 53% of his passes and had four touchdowns vs. 12 interceptions last season but part of his problem was a lack of receivers. At the end of the season, three of the team's top four receivers were sidelined. Senior Ashton Aikens and junior Mark Philmore - who missed seven and five games, respectively, because of knee injures - are healthy and should make life easier for Basanez.

On defense, the Wildcats' line, which made great strides in 2003, returns intact. Three starters, including Castillo and junior end Loren Howard, have started 22 or more games, and two other players have at least 12 starts. Northwestern’s emphasis a year ago was stopping the run, and the numbers proved that the Wildcats became a much stingier unit to run on. The Wildcats held eight of their 13 opponents to less than 150 yards rushing. Three of those foes were held to less than 100 yards, including Bowling Green, which came into the 2003 bowl game with the country’s 21st best rushing attack. The Wildcats made strides on defense in 2003, allowing 85 fewer yards per game than they did the year before. A year of additional maturity could help in this regard. "We'd give up 100 yards on 70 plays and give up 200 yards on 10 plays," senior defensive tackle Luis Castillo said. "Pretty much the whole year went like that, every game. Just tiny mistakes."

TCU returns 8 on offense but only 5 on their defense, which might be a cause of concern in the beginning of the season. The defense and special teams were the main reasons the Horned Frogs won five games by exactly three points and seven games by a touchdown or less last season. Those close games may not go their way this year, especially early on. Mike Wynn has the most pressured job on this team, replacing All-American Nick Browne. Wynn won’t play however because of a groin injury so sophomore kicker Peter LoCoco will get the start. Last season, field goal attempts were pretty much a given but not so this year. TCU is on a 3-7 ATS run since 2002 when favored by a touchdown or more at home. That includes a 1-3 ATS record against non-conference foes. Northwestern meanwhile is 8-2-1 ATS their last 11 when getting up to a touchdown on the road (winning all 8 of those games straight up by the way).

**InsiderEdge** · 09-03-2004, 07:42 AM

3-2 for Thursday football on day 1 of the promo. Friday plays below:

Philadelphia Eagles at NY Jets 7:00 PM ET

NY Jets -3 -105 (2 Units)

The Jets will look to wrap up a successful preseason against the Eagles who will be playing with reserves throughout the whole game. That used to be the case for the Jets when game 4 rolled around but that won’t happen Friday. For the final preseason game vs. the Eagles, head coach Herm Edwards said of his veterans, "Ninety-eight percent of them are going to play." In last year's exhibition finale, about 98 percent of them didn't play - only Dewayne Robertson, the first-round pick who needed the work, started at Philadelphia.

QB Chad Pennington will get at least one series in against the Eagles 2nd team defense. Quincy Carter, who will get the bulk of the snaps, has been arriving for work at 6 a.m. and staying until 10 p.m. to learn the playbook. Yesterday, he called offensive coordinator Paul Hackett "the godson of the West Coast offense" The veteran brings in some good starting experience and should be able to handle the role.

The starters are off Friday for Philadelphia. Koy Detmer, the backup quarterback and kick holder who’s just getting started after missing the bulk of training camp after an arthroscopy procedure on his right knee will start and play the first half. He has not played much as he returned to practice full-time Saturday.

Green Bay Packers at Tennessee Titans 8:00 PM ET

Green Bay Packers +6.5 -107 (2 Units)

The Packers will be using their first team for the first half on Friday to try and get some rhythm going heading into the regular season. Even though the Packers would like to give Tim Couch and rookie Scott McBrien extensive playing time in their tight battle for the No. 3 quarterback job behind Doug Pederson, head coach Mike Sherman is planning on playing Brett Favre probably for a half Friday night. He left open the possibility of playing Couch with the starters as well.

Unlikely to risk worsening running back Ahman Green's bruised left knee, the Packers will split the running duties among Najeh Davenport, Tony Fisher and Walter Williams. Davenport has gained 17 yards in 14 carries for a miserable 1.2-yard average in two games, but he has been forced to run behind the Packers' No. 2 offensive line and there have been few holes to run through. The No. 1 offensive line, with center Mike Flanagan back on the field this week for the first time in camp, will play the entire first half and perhaps early into the second half, Sherman said. "There has not been a lot of running room for anybody who has played after the first unit," running backs coach ****** Roland said. "There's a certain amount of frustration. They're young kids and we're trying to make them football players and sometimes they're overwhelmed."

Tennessee plans to use their starters more than usual as well but not the same length of time as Green Bay, mostly due to their long list of injuries. We look for Green Bay to be able to move the ball on offense against the banged up Tennessee defense. The Titans did allow some big plays by Cowboys quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who completed 17-of-24 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown in one half last Monday. This is a ton of points to be laying a team that will be using their starters for a full half.

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