There are six games on the National Football League's Friday schedule tonight. The action begins at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time when four of the games kickoff and concludes tonight in a 7:00 p.m. matchup between the homestanding Arizona Cardinals and visiting Denver Broncos.
In the nightcap, Sean Payton will be making his debut as head coach of the Broncos. His arrival in the Mile High City is one of the headlines that came out of the NFL offseason. Last year, Denver came into the season with hopes as high as their stadium when the acquisition of quarterback Russell Wilson was expected to be the final piece in an otherwise highly thought of Broncos squad.
Didn’t work out that way.
Their first-year head coach, Nathaniel Hackett, had one of the worst runs as a head man on record. His mistakes were easy to spot, his team lost confidence early, and Wilson struggled to right a ship that sunk to the bottom of the AFC West Division standings.
He was fired before the season expired.
The Broncos go from that disappointment at the coaching position to one that appears a sure thing. Payton was highly successful in his tenure as head coach of the New Orleans Saints which included a Super Bowl win to complete the 2009 season.
So, the Broncos fans had high hopes last year with the addition of Wilson and now high hopes with the addition of Payton. In fact, this week the Broncos are one of the most bet-on teams and are now posted as a six point favorite for their game in Arizona.
While Payton may be the answer for the Denver coaching needs, this is too much public opinion for me to lay that many points this early in the preseason. I prefer moves on teams not generated by the public, but rather by the books. We get that tonight in Miami where the Dolphins host the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons have not recovered the swagger they carried into the second half seven years ago before they blew a 28-3 lead and lost to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. All the keys to that near success are gone including head coach Dan Quinn, quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones.
Can you name the quarterback likely to start this season at quarterback for the Falcons?
No?
It’s Desmond Ridder.
Arthur Smith begins his third season as head coach in Atlanta and the 41 year-old mentor has first established stability in the position and now may be on the cusp of leading the Falcons back to the playoffs.
Not too many people in the media are talking up this Falcons flock, but the books numbers clearly show they think much more highly of this team than public opinion has yet caught up with.
Tonight, the Falcons are favored in Miami. The point spread is not public driven and those are the advantages we look to seize. For our first preseason rated game, we look for the Falcons to fly into Miami and emerge with a satisfying win.
Qoxhi Picks: Atlanta Falcons (-1½) over Miami Dolphins