There are six National Football League preseason games on today’s schedule beginning with a pair of contests that start at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Qoxhi offers a rated play on one of these games, and that selection is now posted on this site.
In one of the early games, the Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills, the visitors will be under the direction of first-year head coach Shane Steichen and the Bills defense will feature the return to action of defensive back Damar Hamlin. In a story that superseded the game itself, Hamlin suffered a near fatal cardiac arrest on the field last January. The incident highlighted the NFL’s readiness with top flight medical care.
One could only wish that the league took officiating the games as seriously. How we can have refs in this billion dollar game that are not full time remains one of the glaring weaknesses of the NFL.
In addition to Steichen making his first appearance as an NFL head coach, the man he replaced as a full time head coach in Indianapolis, Frank Reich, will be on the sidelines with his new team, the Carolina Panthers. The New York Jets visit Carolina today in a contest set to start at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
A number of years ago, a first-year Qoxhi Picks client asked why we couldn’t deliver him an easier game? Even though our picks were winning, he thought our selections were too hard and often included a seemingly overmatched team against a more highly regarded opponent.
I assured him then that our only goal in making our picks was to beat the point spread, and often those selections are in opposition to conventional public thinking. He might be crying the same way today when our only pick is headed right into the Baltimore Ravens 23 game preseason winning streak.
That’s right. The Baltimore Ravens have not lost a preseason game since 2015 and today we are backing the Philadelphia Eagles plus the five points over John Harbaugh’s summer juggernaut.
Why?
When a team or situation is a consistent winner for the public the guys in control of setting the point spreads bend the advantage away from the popular play. The Ravens 23 game winning streak includes a point spread record of 20-2-1. But those stats were not built while everyone knew the Ravens were invincible in the preseason, they had point spreads set without a dramatic lean for or against Baltimore.
Now, with the public backing the Ravens like they are a sure thing, the books have shaded the line to offer a gaping advantage for their opponents.
Once again, I’m only making this play because I’m dedicated to winning and utilizing the edge of looking to win with the books … who are darn right tired of losing while the public backs the Ravens.
Qoxhi Picks: Philadelphia Eagles (+5) over Baltimore Ravens