NFL Game of the Week – Miami Dolphins vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Miami Dolphins (2-0 SU, 1-0-1 ATS) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1 SU & ATS)

Thursday, August 27

BetOnline NFL Football Betting Odds: TAMPA BAY -2, Total 37

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Here are some of the NFL pro football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• MIA has won its last five pre-season games SU
• MIA is 4-0-1 ATS in its last five pre-season games
• MIA has played six of its last seven pre-season games UNDER the total
• MIA has won and covered four of its last six pre-season road games
• MIA has played its last six pre-season road games UNDER the total
• TB has won and covered six of its last eight pre-season games
• TB has played four of its last five pre-season games OVER the total
• TB has covered three of its last four pre-season home games

This the third pre-season week, and where the Dolphins, a team that already likes to use its starters a little more extensively than others, wants to see a little extra action out of starting quarterback Chad Pennington and perhaps sort out the situation a little more at wide receiver. There are several people competing for spots on a roster that has not had a lot of depth at the wideout position. One of those players is rookie Brian Hartline, who doesn’t figure to be cut, and another is Patrick Turner, who is in his first year out of USC. Those are promising talents for the near future. One guy who did not work out was Ernest Wilford, who came in as a wide receiver, was moved to tight end, and got cut on Monday. When Pennington leaves the game, Chad Henne will go for the rest of the game. That would seem to indicate that Pat White, the rookie out of West Virginia, won’t see much action.

The Bucs barely held on for a 24-23 win over Jacksonville last week, after the Jags failed on a two-point conversion following a TD with 40 seconds left. The big battle is at quarterback, where it’s going to be either Byron Leftwich or John McCown, with the job sooner or later falling to first-round draft pick Josh Freeman, who actually ran for a 28-yard TD against Jacksonville. So you can call those guys "caretakers" until Freeman is ready. Whoever loses the quarterback, is going to be out the door, and the Bucs are reportedly entertaining trade offers for one of them.

Since neither Leftwich nor McCown has distinguished himself in training camp, I’m wondering if their "competition" really steps up the level of play for Tampa Bay in this one. I know that first-year coaches often get a pass in the pre-season, so it is not as if Raheem Morris feels any kind of pressure to win. This kind of thing sort of pushes me toward the team getting points, and that is the Dolphins, who will run better on what promises to be a wet field, and the two-point underdog in the BetOnline NFL pre-season betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: MIAMI +2 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)