Hall Of Fame Game Preseason Predictions
Preseason NFL football is back and bettors, fans and fantasy nerds alike are champing at the bit. Despite all the noise made about the league’s image, the hypocrisy of NFL justice, etc., at the end of the day everyone still loves the NFL.
2014 Hall Of Fame Game – New York vs Buffalo
Date/Time: Sunday, August 3 2014, 8 pm EST
Venue: Fawcett Stadium, Canton OH
NYG +3, Buffalo -3
Over/Under: 34
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With that in mind, let’s take a look at what our first preseason game will look like, when two teams from the Empire State – the Giants and western New York’s Bills – travel to Canton to kick off NFL play.
The Hall of Fame game will give us an opportunity to see a couple of electric young prospects; tops on that list has to be Buffalo WR Sammy Watkins. This year’s fourth overall pick out of Clemson will likely start immediately. Bills fans and brass alike believe he will be the team’s best playmaker since Eric Moulds.
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Of course, you won’t see a ton from the projected starters on either team. One nice thing about preseason football for the true fan is that you get to see performance from players further down the depth chart – perhaps someone from your favorite college that’s expected to be a third-string CB (I’m looking at you, Zack Bowman).
It’s the perfect time for a lesser-known young player to assert themselves for playing time in the regular season. You’re going to have several – perhaps a dozen or more players including both squads – playing for jobs.
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Clearly, you won’t see much of QBs Eli Manning and E.J. Manuel; or RBs C.J. Spiller and Rashad Jennings; or DEs Jason Pierre-Paul and Mario Williams. But you still get to see some solid play (not always, but often) and it is a testament to the overall talent level in the NFL.
This game marks the beginning of crucial seasons for both starting QBs of these teams. New York’s Manning – in a season which his brother Peyton lit up the league – is coming off a season where he threw the most INTs in the league.
Buffalo’s Manuel is at a critical juncture as a second-year starter, where he must prove he belongs (and now he has a threatening target in Watkins). We’ll definitely see lots of Thad Lewis and Jeff Tuel under center for the Bills, but Manuel would do well to have a couple of nice drives at the outset, for his confidence if nothing else.
Manning simply needs to show he still has elements to offer not even as an elite pivot, but as a functional starter.
Even if Manning is awful on Sunday and furthers concerns about his effectiveness, it will be a special weekend for the G-Men, as legendary, gregarious DE Michael Strahan is being enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Saturday.
If you were to shoehorn a couple of young Giants to keep your eye on in the game, watch for WR Odell Beckham, the team’s 12th overall selection out of LSU, and center Weston Richburg, a second-round pick who should see playing time this year on a worrisome offensive line.
Look for the Bills to take this opening game simply because of their high number of talented first, second and third-year players. At the very least, it will be fun to see some new faces in and around Canton.
Buffalo 28, New York 17
Take the OVER
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