The Dogs Are Out, By Big Al McMordie
It’s not your imagination: The Dogs have been barking loudly this NFL preseason. In Week 1 the dogs were 9-5-2 against the number, which is not unusual with the first look at all the teams. But Week 2 was even more extreme, with the underdogs going 11-4 ATS (with one game lined at PK’em).
Two of the biggest surprises were the Raiders and Dolphins covering (though not to me, as I had Miami as a big play). Oakland had to travel 3,000 miles to play at Tennessee and play the Titans, who have done well in the preseason under Jeff Fisher. Don’t be fooled by the Raiders rolling up 380 yards, as most of it was on the ground (224 yards). One plus is that young quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s mobility allowed him to use his feet to escape trouble and allow his receivers to break their routes to come back to the ball. That’s a plus in preseason against second stringers, but could be less so in the regular season against onrushing NFL linemen.
