We had a great start to football with 3 wins Thursday night (Marshall +7, Panthers -7.5 and a teaser on CAR/Total under 50)! Let’s keep it rolling as we tackle another weekend on the gridiron. Become part of the winning team and check out my premium picks here!
Troy -24 (-110), 2 units: The 2-1 Troy Trojans travel to Monroe, Louisiana to take on the 1-1 UL Monroe Warhawks. Troy started off their season with an impressive win over Southern, where they showed off a diverse amount of offensive talent in a 55-3 victory. I think this game could look a lot like that one. UL Monroe is a bottom-feeder in the Sun Belt Conference and their stats show it. Two games isn’t a huge sample size but if their performance against Kentucky was any indication of how they stack up against stiffer competition, the outlook isn’t great for their 8:00pm showdown Saturday with the Trojans. UL Monroe’s defense has been atrocious, allowing 424.5 yards per game in two contests. On the other side, their offense is only averaging 2 yards per rush and 168 total yards per game. The Trojans are in a different class– they showed a gritty defensive effort in one-score loss to Liberty and their offense is consistent and capable. The Trojans are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a losing home record – Take Troy!
Falcons +3 (-120), 2 units: The Falcons somehow started their season as favorites at home against the Eagles, but we were all over that one. After getting punked in Week 1 in Atlanta, the Falcons headed down to Tampa Bay to face the reigning Super Bowl Champions and things didn’t get much better. Personally, I took the Falcons at +12.5 since it was a divisional game and they’ve shown the moxie to hang with elite teams in the past. Not so much last Sunday. Matt Ryan sealed their loss with two straight pick-six interceptions and it was another blowout loss for the stumbling Falcons under new coach Arthur Smith. The Falcons are suffering from conservative play-calling, maybe that’s a first year coach thing, and a very shallow roster on defense. Still, Atlanta can put up points– they did against the Bucs and kept it close until the 4th quarter, which is more than we can often say for the New York Giants. My New York Giants (yes, I’m a fan, old news) started the season looking like the same old team we all knew, mustering only 13 points (and really they only scored 7, the last TD in garbage time was cheap) against the Broncos in Week 1. The Giants looked better last week against Washington but that’s nothing new for the G-Men. Danny Dimes was 4-0 against the Football Team coming into that game. For what it’s worth, Daniel Jones and the Giants’ offense looked considerably better last Thursday night. Be that as it may, I just can’t trust the Giants as a favorite, even against the Falcons. Their defense has underperformed and their offense is too inconsistent and conservative, which is indicative of a Jason Garrett led scheme (aka a snooze fest). The Falcons are 7-2 ATS vs. a team with a losing record. The Giants are 4-8 the last 4 years as a favorite and they were 0-2 ATS as a favorite last year, and as a Giants fan I can not-so-proudly attest to this pain. Take the Falcons to cover in a game they could very well win.
