It’s Friday and it’s Week 1, so that means the return of Football Friday on Guys & Bets!
Joe Osborne, Andrew Avery and Iain MacMillan tackle a slate of games for Sportsbook weekend in the NFL as well as a little college football.
In the NFL, bizarre scenes with Tom Brady, as a Buccaneer, squaring off against Drew Brees and the Saints. The Dallas Cowboys have Super Bowl aspirations and will open SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles against the Rams. Plus there are some bets on the totals and a 6-point teaser.
We start the show off with Joe picking the biggest game of the week. Tom Brady is playing his first NFL game not wearing a Patriots uniform. Still feels weird, but this matchup is anything but weird. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to the Bayou to play the New Orleans Saints. The Bucs loaded up their offense, also acquiring Rob Gronkowski and Leonard Fournette. The time is now for the Bucs, and it starts on Sunday.
One of the classic rivalries is next on the docket as the Green Bay Packers take on the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings traded away Stefon Diggs during the offseason, in a cost-saving move, and added wide receiver Justin Jefferson with their first-round pick in the NFL draft. The team traded for Yannick Ngakoue, in what looks brilliant now since Danielle Hunter’s season is over before it started. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are coming off a 13-3 season and expectations are always high in Title Town, but it seems to be a tall order for Green Bay to repeat last season’s success. The bet here is on the total.
It’s teaser time! Joe is looking at a 6-point teaser involving a couple of NFC teams. There is plenty of hype surrounding the Arizona Cardinals after the addition of DeAndre Hopkins to pair with Kyler Murray. Now, the Cardinals square off with the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in what should be a tough matchup. The dreaded Niners defense that carried them last season is still intact and will be coming for Murray.
The brand new spectacular stadium in Los Angeles is set for its first game as the Dallas Cowboys face the Rams. The Cowboys have one of the best offenses in the NFL with weapons everywhere. Dak Prescott is once again in a contract year and the price tag could be going up even higher after this season. Sean McVay and the Rams will have their hands full with this attack. The bet here is on the point total for the Dallas Cowboys.
Ninja is looking at an NCAA game in what seems to be a major mismatch. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are making their ACC debut this weekend against the Duke Blue Devils. After an 11-2 finish last season, Notre Dame comes into the season as the 10th-ranked team. Senior quarterback Ian Book leads the Irish on offense and is looking to improve upon his 34 touchdown passes a year ago. Notre Dame is a fast team and that could cause problems for Duke.
Iain’s first of two picks is a bet on the total between the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags have certainly stripped it down since their appearance in the AFC championship game two seasons ago. This team is clearly looking at the future, while the Colts went out and picked up Philip Rivers and drafted highly touted running back Jonathan Taylor to play behind arguably the best offensive line in football. Don’t sleep on the Colts defense either. Darius Leonard leads an underrated bunch of guys who should be able to have their way with the Jaguars offense. It’s shaping up as a rough home opener for the Jaguars.
Finally, it’s the debut of Joe Burrow in Cincinnati and that’s where Iain is going with his next pick. The Los Angeles Chargers also have a new signal-caller at the helm in Tyrod Taylor. The Chargers have already been bitten by the injury bug. They lost starting safety (and Defensive Player of the Year candidate) Derwin James for the season and wide receiver Mike Williams is banged up. That seems to be how it goes for the Chargers. As for the Bengals, AJ Green is back from injury, Joe Mixon turned it on the last six games of last season, they’ve made improvements on defense, and their offensive line is improved from a year ago. Oh yeah, they also had the top pick in the draft and snagged LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. The Chargers are the favorites in this game, but Iain isn’t looking at points, it’s a moneyline bet.
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