Armadillo Sports

Baseball knowledge is posted every day!!!
Umpire stats, pitcher, team trends
NBA stuff is on the Golf page

The Bunker is at 2390 Western Ave, on Route 20 by Western Turnpike golf course. It is a golf simulator with a bar/TV’s where you can hang out with friends and work on your golf game, or just make fun of your friends who are working on their game. Excellent place.

Sunday’s 6-pack
Batters who did the worst vs one team in a season:
0-35— John Lowenstein vs Texas, 1974
0-33— Andruw Jones vs Philly, 1998
0-31— George Gibson vs Chicago Cubs, 1906
0-30— Casey Patten vs Detroit, 1902
0-29— John Perrine vs Boston Americans, 1907
0-29— Jo Jo White vs St Louis Browns, 1938
0-29— Marty Cordova vs Oakland, 1998

Quote of the Day.
“We’re gonna do it or die trying.”
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, talking about beating Ohio State

Sunday’s quiz
When Pete Rose won Rookie of the Year in 1963, what position did he play?

Saturday’s quiz
Yesterday’s question was a defective question, my fault.

Friday’s quiz
Vince Ferragamo was the LA Rams’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl. 

NFL trends that may come in handy, later this year:
13) Vikings are 0-7 ATS in last 7 Monday night road games.
— Minnesota covered six of last seven games vs Detroit.
— Vikings are 0-6 ATS vs opponent coming off a bye. 

12) Last three years, Giants are 18-6 ATS on road.
— Giants are 11-1 ATS as a road underdog of less than 7 points.
— Giants are 4-14 ATS in last 18 games as a home underdog.

11) Jets are 0-6 ATS in last six games vs Miami.
— Last four years, Jets are 11-21-1 ATS on the road.

10) Dolphins are 6-10-1 ATS the week after playing New England.

9)  Patriots covered five of last seven games against the Jets.
— New England is 8-1 ATS the week after playing the Jets.

8) Last three years, Eagles are 5-12-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— Philly is 2-5 ATS in last seven games vs Dallas.

7) Pittsburgh started 11-0 LY, then lost five of last six games.
— Steelers had 56 sacks last year (most)
— Steelers allowed 14 sacks last year (least)

6) Last four years, 49ers are 5-13-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— 49ers covered once in their last six games with Arizona.

5) Seattle is 10-2-1 ATS in last 13 games with San Francisco.
— Seahawks are 9-2-2 ATS in last 13 games in Eastern time zone.

4) Tampa Bay is 2-9 ATS in last 11 Thursday games.
— Last four years, Buccaneers are 8-3-1 ATS as a home underdog.

3) It has been 16 years since the NFC East champ repeated the next season; Washington win the division last year.

2) Washington is 0-7 ATS in last seven Monday home games.
— Washington is 0-5 ATS the week after playing the Eagles.

1) Tennessee is 31-21 SU under Vrabel, but was outgained all three years.
— Last three years, Titans are 6-9-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— Tennessee is 2-11 ATS the week after a Monday night game. 

13) If you bet on baseball or own a fantasy team, a reality for the rest of this season is that some teams are going to be limiting the innings of their younger pitchers, to keep them healthy.

Friday, Milwaukee led the White Sox 1-0 after four innings, but lifted Freddy Peralta after he had thrown only 51 pitches. Detroit has held Casey Mize under 60 PT in his last three starts.

There is a thing about the injury risk going way up for any pitcher who throws 20% more pitches than he did the year before, and since last year was such a short season, some teams are going to go overboard with caution. 

12) Starting next year, Cleveland Indians will be known as the Cleveland Guardians; the new name was inspired by large landmark stone edifices — referred to as traffic guardians — that flank both ends of the Hope Memorial Bridge, which connects downtown to Ohio City.

My personal preference would’ve been Cleveland Spiders, but they didn’t ask me- the Spiders were a team in the late 19th century.

11) In the the next couple of weeks, MLB will begin testing new technology that lets catchers electronically communicate signs to pitchers; this will happen at a lower minor league- the system is designed to quicken the pace of play and eliminate sign-stealing.

10) Apparently the fine folks at Texas A&M aren’t real happy about Texas/Oklahoma joining the SEC; Texas A&M bolted the Big X to join the SEC in 2012, primarily to get away from those teams, now it looks like they’ll be conference rivals again.

9) Rockies 9, Dodgers 6 (10)
— Colorado scored six runs in last three innings.
— Dodgers are 59-40, but they’re 1-10 in extra innings.

8) Reds 6, Cardinals 5:
— Two outs, no one on in last inning, Cardinals have Yadier Molina on bench but they pinch-hit pitcher Adam Wainwright instead, which was weird. Wainwright is batting .030.

7) Mets acquired 41-year old P Rich Hill from Tampa Bay, to fortify their rotation. Rays will be getting Chris Archer back soon, so they had an excess of starting pitching.

6) When the Blue Jays go back to Toronto next week, they’ll be first major league team since 1903 to have three different home fields in the same season.

5) Yermin Mercedes was back in the lineup for AAA Charlotte Friday, two days after he kind of announced his retirement on Instagram; he homered in his first at-bat last night.

4) Red Sox P Eduardo Rodriguez left Friday’s start in the second inning with a migraine headache; Boston won 6-2, is now 9-2 vs division rival New York this season.

3) MLB extended Washington Nationals’ IF Starlin Castro’s administrative leave thru July 29; doesn’t sound like he or Trevor Bauer will be on a ballfield anytime soon.

2) NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans named Willie Green their new head coach; he was an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns this past season.

1) If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Mets, Brewers, Giants. Wild Card: San Diego @ Los Angeles
AL— Red Sox, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: Oakland @ Tampa Bay

13) First domino of the baseball trade deadline season fell Thursday, with Minnesota dealing DH Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay, for a couple of AAA pitching prospects.

At age 41, Cruz has 19 homers, 50 RBI and a .370 on-base %age. He should be a big help. 

12) Cruz hit 216 home runs before his 35th birthday; he’s hit 220 homers since that birthday, which is 3rd all-time.

11) Tampa Bay/Texas are allowing the worst OPS to opposing #9 hitters; Tampa Bay is 58-39, would host the Wild Card game if it were played today. Nothing they do is normal, but they do it very well.

10) Detroit Tigers are 7-0 since the All-Star break; they’ve won their last nine home games. AJ Hinch is a damn good manager; he won the World Series in Houston, but may be doing his best work in Detroit right now.

9) Giants 5, Dodgers 3:
— Giants roughed up Kenley Jansen for 4 runs in 9th inning, after a replay reversal kept the game going.
— San Francisco leads the Dodgers by 3 games, San Diego by 5.5 in the NL West.

8) Boston 5, New York 4 (10):
— Red Sox scored twice in 9th inning, twice in the 10th.
— Hunter Renfroe walked it off with a 10th inning sac fly.
— Kike Hernandez tied the game with a 9th inning double.
— New York reliever Brooks Kriske threw four wild pitches in 10th inning– the most by one pitcher in a single extra inning in MLB history.

7) If I was advising a young person who was looking to pursue a great career, I’d suggest they become an eye doctor. Being a beer distributor would also be good, but being an eye doctor must be very cool. 

Over the last 20 months, I’ve spent too way much time in doctor’s offices getting pictures taken of my eye, which has had two operations. Those two surgeons saved the vision in my right eye; can’t imagine how great it must be to save someone’s vision.

Plus, I’m guessing eye doctors make a boatload of money.

6) Padres 3, Marlins 2:
— Blake Snell finished the 6th inning for only third time in 18 starts.
— Snell came into this game with a 9.08 ERA in ten road outings.

5) A’s 4, Seattle 1:
— Sean Manaea threw 7 great innings (107 PT) to win opener of an important series.
— Ramon Laureano knocked in two runs for the A’s.

4) Cardinals 3, Cubs 2:
— Chicago is 5-17 in its last 22 games; when do they resume dumping players?
— I mean, Kris Bryant is on my fantasy team; I’d rather he get traded now, so he gets a full week for his new team next week.

3) The Yermin Mercedes retirement story turned out to be a false alarm; he was in uniform for AAA Charlotte Thursday night, but didn’t play. Wouldn’t shock me if a contender that needed a bat off the bench traded for Mercedes in the next nine days.

2) Jets assistant coach Greg Knapp died Thursday; he passed away from injuries suffered when he was struck by a car while biking in California last week. Knapp had a 25-year coaching career and was known for working with QB’s, like Peyton Manning/Steve Young. RIP, sir.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Mets, Brewers, Giants. Wild Card: San Diego @ Los Angeles
AL— Red Sox, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: Oakland @ Tampa Bay

Dallas @ Tampa Bay
— Last 4 years, Cowboys are 5-9-1 ATS as road underdogs.
— Dallas lost three of last four road openers SU.
— Cowboys are 10-4 ATS last 14 games as a dog in road openers.
— Under is 6-3 in their last nine road openers.
— Under is 5-2 in their last seven Week 1 games.

— Defending Super Bowl champs are ATS in Week 1 the next year.
— Tampa Bay was 3-2-1 ATS LY as a home favorite.
— Buccaneers won three of last four Week 1 games.
— Bucs won/covered three of last four home openers.
— Tampa scored 27+ points in four of last five home openers.
— Four of their last five Week 1 games went over.

— Dallas won 7 of last 8 series games.
— Cowboys lost 3 of last 5 visits here, scoring 6-0-7 points in losses.
— Favorites are 5-2 ATS in last seven series games.

Sunday games
Pittsburgh @ Buffalo
— Steelers opened on road last six years (3-2-1 SU, 2-3-1 ATS) 
— Steelers are 10-3 ATS in last 13 games as road underdogs.
— Pittsburgh is 3-1-1 SU last five road openers.
— Under is 7-1 in their last eight road openers.

— Bills are 11-6 ATS in last 17 games as home favorites.
— Home team won their last six Week 1 games.
— Bills are 9-5 ATS last 14 home openers.
— Buffalo is 6-2 ATS as a favorite in home openers.

— Crowd should be mixed for this game; tough day for security guards.
— Bills beat Pittsburgh last two years, after losing previous six meetings.
— Steelers gained only 224 yards, lost 26-15 here LY; Buffalo scored on pick-6.
— Pittsburgh won four of last five visits to Orchard Park.

NJ Jets @ Carolina 
— Jets have new coach, new QB.
— Jets started 0-1 four of last five years.
— Last five years, Gang Green is 10-22-2 ATS as road dogs.
— Jets are 11-4 ATS in last 15 road openers.
— Over 5-2 last seven road openers.

— Last 2 years, Panthers lost 30-27/34-30 at home in Week 1.
— Last 5 years, Carolina is 10-16 ATS as a home favorite.
— Panthers are 6-11-1 ATS last in 18 home openers.
— Under 16-6-1 last 23 home openers.

— Sam Darnold played 3 years for the Jets, going 13-25 as their QB.
— Panthers are 3-2 in last five series games, scoring 30+ in all three wins.
— Jets lost 30-20/30-3 in last two visits to Charlotte.

Philadelphia @ Atlanta
— New coach; 2nd-year QB started four games (1-3) LY.
— Eagles won four of last five season openers.
— Last 5 years, Eagles are 12-13 ATS as road underdogs.
— Philly won 5 of last 7 Week 1 games on road.
— Over 7-4-1 in their last dozen road openers.

— New coach, new GM for Atlanta.
— Last 5 years, Falcons are 15-18 ATS as home favorites.
— Falcons lost four of last five Week 1 games.
— Atlanta is 17-5 ATS in last 22 home openers.
— Since 2004, Falcons are 8-1 ATS as a favorite in HO’s.
— Over is 4-1 in Atlanta’s last five home openers.

— Eagles are 11-5 in last 16 series games.
— Philly lost last three visits here, by 4-2-4 points.
— For what its worth, Matt Ryan is from Philadelphia

Minnesota @ Cincinnati 
— Last three years, Vikings are 6-3 ATS as road favorites.
— Minnesota won/covered four of last five Week 1 games.
— Vikings are 0-3-1 SU, 0-4 ATS last four road openers.
— This is first time in 5 years Vikings open on road.
— Under 12-5 in their last 17 road openers.

— Cincinnati started out 1-0 four of last seven years.
— Bengals are 8-7-1 ATS last 16 games as home dogs.
— Cincy won/covered once in last five home openers.
— Bengals are 3-6-1 ATS as favorite in home openers.
— Under is 9-4 in their last 13 home openers.

— Coach Zimmer was Bengals’ DC from 2008-13.
— Home side won last four series games.
— Vikings lost last two visits here, 42-14/37-8.

San Francisco @ Detroit
— Last 2 years, 49ers won road opener 31-17/31-13.
— 49ers won 8 of last 10 season openers.
— Niners are 5-3 ATS last eight games as road favorite.
— Under 6-1 last seven season openers.
— Under 7-4-1 last dozen road openers.

— New coach, new GM, new QB for Lions.
— Pretty sure Detroit will try hard to run ball a lot.
— 0-2-1 SU last three season openers (favored in all 3)
— Lost four of last six home openers.
— Over 8-3 last 11 home openers.
— Lions’ last ten season openers went over the total.

— 49ers won 8 of last 9 series games.
— Favorites are 4-0-1 ATS in last five series games.
— Niners won 2 of last 3 visits here, losing 32-15 in last visit, in 2015.

Arizona @ Tennessee
— Arizona is 1-3-1 SU in last five Week 1 games.
— Cardinals lost 4 of last 5 road openers SU, but covered 10 of last 13.
— Last 2 years, Arizona is 6-3-1 ATS as road underdogs.
— Under 10-5 last 15 road openers.

— Tennessee lost SU last three times they opened season at home.
— Titans are 2-5 SU last seven home openers (2-7 ATS last nine)
— Last five years, Tennessee is 14-11-2 ATS as home favorites.
— Under is 6-3 in last nine home openers.

— Arizona won three of last four series games.
— Titans lost last meeting 12-7 in desert in 2017.
— Redbirds split last two visits here; Tennessee gained 460-531 TY, though.

Seattle @ Indianapolis 
— Seahawks split last six season openers SU.
— Seattle is 8-4-1 ATS in last 13 games as road underdogs.
— Seattle won last 2 road openers 28-26/38-25, after losing 11 of previous 12.
— Seahawks are 3-12-1 ATS in last 16 road openers.
— Over is 5-2 in last seven road openers.

— Colts started out 0-1 the last seven years.
— First game for Carson Wentz as a Colt.
— Last three years, Indy is 9-10-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— Won last two home openers, covered 3 of last 4.
— Last five season openers went over total.

— Colts won three of last five series games.
— Seattle lost 34-28/34-17 in last two visits here.
— Seahawks won last meeting 46-18 at home, in 2017.

LA Chargers @ Washington
— New coach, new OC for Chargers. 
— Bolts are 8-4-2 ATS last 14 games as road favorites.
— Chargers are 4-0-1 ATS last five Week 1 road games.
— Bolts are 6-2-1 ATS last nine road openers
— Bolts are 10-5-1 ATS as underdogs in road openers.

— QB Fitzpatrick gets to start for another NFL team.
— Washington is 4-7 ATS in last 11 games as home underdogs.
— Washington covered last three Week 1 games.
— Washington is 1-4 ATS in last five home openers as a dog.
— Washington is 2-7 SU in last nine home openers.
— Over is 7-3 in their last ten home openers.

— Chargers won four of last five series games.
— Bolts split last two visits here, losing last visit, in 2013.

Jacksonville @ Houston 
— First NFL game for Urban Meyer figures to be interesting.
— Jaguars won season openers three of last four years.
— Last 3 years, Jacksonville is 8-12-1 ATS as road underdogs.
— Jaguars lost 11 of last 13 road openers, but covered last four.
— Under is 12-6 in their last 18 road openers.

— HC Culley is also new head coach; he’s never been a coordinator.
— Texans are 9-14-1 ATS last 24 games as home favorites.
— Texans lost three of last four home openers, scoring 14.5 ppg.
— Houston is 1-5 ATS in last six home openers.
— Under 10-6 in their last 16 home openers.

— Texans won last six series games.
— Jaguars are 6-3 ATS in last nine visits to Houston.
— Two guys who have never been NFL head coaches before.

Cleveland @ Kansas City 
— Browns are 2-19-1 SU in season openers (1-1-1 last three)
— Last 5 years, Cleveland is 12-19-1 ATS as road underdogs.
— Browns are 3-5-1 ATS last nine road openers.
— Last five road openers stayed under total.

— Chiefs won last six season openers, covered last four.
— Last five years, they scored 33-42-38-40-34 in Week 1.
— Last four years, Chiefs are 20-14 ATS as home favorites.
— KC won last five home openers, covered last four.
— Over 4-0-2 in their last six home openers.

— Chiefs beat Cleveland 22-17 here in LY’s playoffs (led 19-3 at half).
— Chiefs won last four series games, three by 6 or fewer points.
— Browns covered last four visits to Arrowhead.

Miami @ New England
— Since 1994, under is 22-5 in Miami’s road openers (12-0 last 12)
— Dolphins lost four of last six season openers.
— Dolphins are 8-4 ATS in last dozen games as road underdogs.
— Miami is 5-12 SU in last 17 road openers (5-3 ATS last 8)

— Patriots started 1-0 in 15 of last 17 seasons.
— New England won 7 of last 8 home openers (4-1 ATS last five)
— Last five years, Patriots are 27-15-1 ATS as home favorites.
— Under 7-2 last nine home openers.

— These teams split their season series the last four years.
— New England covered first meeting the last six years.
— Dolphins lost 11 of last 12 visits to Foxboro (1-8 ATS last nine).

Green Bay @ New Orleans
— Green Bay won last six season openers (5-1 ATS)
— Packers are 5-3 ATS in last eight games as road underdogs.
— Green Bay won/covered last four Week 1 road games.
— Over is 12-3 in their last 15 road openers.

— Saints have new QB for first time since 2005.
— Last 3 years, Saints are 10-14 ATS as home favorites.
— New Orleans lost five of last seven season openers.
— Saints are 1-5 ATS in last six home openers.
— Last 3 years, scored 40-30-34 points in home opener.
— Saints lost five of last seven season openers.

— Teams split last eight series games.
— Packers won 37-20 here LY, their first win in last four visits to Superdome.

Denver @ NY Giants
— Denver lost last four road openers, scoring 16.8 ppg.
— Last 5 years, Broncos are 18-22 ATS on the road.
— Broncos are 7-10 ATS last 17 road openers.

— Giants started nine of last ten seasons 0-1.
— Last four years, Giants are 9-22-1 ATS at home.
— Big Blue is 1-8 SU, 0-9 ATS last nine home openers.
— Giants scored 14.2 ppg in last five home openers.
— Under 7-0 in their last seven home openers.

— Denver won three of last five series games.
— Broncos split last two series games played here.

Chicago @ LA Rams
— Chicago is 1-6 in last seven Week 1 games.
— Bears are 2-4 ATS last six road openers.
— Last five years, Chicago is 10-16-1 ATS as road underdogs.
— Bears are 4-6 SU in last ten road openers.
— Under 16-5 in their last 21 road openers.

— First game for Stafford as Rams’ QB, after 12 years in Detroit.
— Rams also have a new defensive coordinator.
— Under McVay, Rams are 4-0 SU in Week 1.
— Rams won/covered last six home openers.
— Under McVay, LA is 14-12-1 ATS as home favorites.
— Under is 4-1 in last five home openers.

— First game with fans at SoFi Stadium.
— Bears won six of last nine series games, but lost 24-10 here LY.
— Chicago’s only TD in that game was scored by the defense.
— Bears lost three of last four road series games, losing by 14-10-21 points.

Baltimore @ Las Vegas 
— Baltimore won/covered last five season openers
— Ravens won/covered four of last five road openers.
— Baltimore is 12-5-1 ATS in last 18 games as road favorites. 
— Over is 9-4-1 in their last 14 road openers.

— Las Vegas won four of last five season openers.
— Raiders won three of last four home openers.
— Last three years, Raiders are 7-7 ATS as home underdogs.
— Las Vegas is 3-5 ATS in last eight tries as a dog in HO’s.
— Over is 5-2 in their last seven home openers.

— First game with fans at Allegiant Stadium.
— Ravens won six of last eight series games.
— Ravens split last four trips to Oakland; this is their first visit to Las Vegas.
— Underdogs won three of last four series games SU. 

13) Bucks 105, Suns 98:
— Milwaukee wins its first NBA title since 1971.
— Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points, was obviously the MVP.
— 17,000 fans inside the arena, another 65,000 outdoors in Milwaukee. 

12) Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers owns 1% of the Bucks (seriously), so he’ll get a championship ring. NFL WR Larry Fitzgerald owns 1% of the Suns.

Last time the Bucks won the NBA title, I was in 6th grade.

11) Cubs 7, Cardinals 6:
— Chicago scored six runs in last inning for the unlikely win.
— Kris Bryant left game early; next time he plays, will probably be for another team.

10) A’s 6, Angels 0— Oakland 2B Jacob Wilson got his first MLB hit in this game, in his 5th big league at-bat. Wilson is a 30-year old rookie who had 2,819 minor league at-bats before finally getting the call to The Show. Must have been quite a day for him.

Odd thing is, A’s pinch-ran for him with Tony Kemp after his hit, so he got to enjoy it, and A’s broke game open, scoring three runs that inning.

9) Very bad news for the LA Rams; RB Cam Akers tore his achilles tendon, will miss the 2021 season. Akers ran ball for 625 yards as a rookie LY, also caught 11 passes for 123 yards.

8) Umpires have a logo for a company FTX on their shirts; I read where it is a company that deals in crypto currency.

7) baseball injuries:
— Mets’ IF Jose Peraza (finger) goes on IL
— Bronx IF DJ Lemahieu (stomach flu) missed Tuesday’s game
— Royals’ P Brady Singer (shoulder) goes to IL
— Phillies put P Zach Eflin (tendonitis) on IL

— Twins’ OF Luis Arraez (knee) left Tuesday’s game
— Cubs’ 3B Kris Bryant (hamstring) left Tuesday’s game

6) Mets have used 15 starting pitchers this season, most of any team.

5) Monday night, Mets TV announcer Gary Cohen started a ruckus on social media by ripping Skyline Chili, one of the favorite foods of Cincinnati, where the Mets are this week.

He told partner Ron Darling to try it once, but then “you’ll never eat it again” Was good/funny TV, but because everyone is too sensitive these days, people in Ohio were annoyed.

4) Dodgers 8, Giants 6:
— Will Smith followed two walks with a walk-off, 3-run homer in the 9th.
— Justin Turner, Max Muncy both left this game early with injuries.
— The Trevor Bauer situation has made LA’s pitching staff really, really thin.

3) Arizona 11, Pittsburgh 6— Diamondbacks win their third game in a row, which is a big deal when your record is 29-68.

2) Thoughts/prayers to Jets’ assistant coach Greg Knapp, who was critically injured while riding a bicycle last weekend in California.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Mets, Brewers, Giants. Wild Card: San Diego @ Los Angeles
AL— Red Sox, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: Oakland @ Tampa Bay

13) Mets 15, Reds 11 (15):
— Mets made 4 errors in first two innings, trailed 7-3 early.
— Mets are 2nd team EVER to hit back/back homers in first inning, then hit back/back homers again in extra innings of same game. Last time it happened? Pirates in 1950.
— Cincinnati’s bullpen is freakin’ terrible. 

12) 136 teams have had walk-off wins this baseball season; if you wagered on those teams in their next game, you’d be 78-58 (+14 units).

11) Last week, Juan Soto said Home Run Derby would help his swing in regular games; turns out he was right. Soto homered twice Monday, has five taters in his last four games.

10) Tigers 14, Rangers 0— Texas lost its last three games by a combined 29-0.

9) Want to win a bar bet? Only one major leaguer EVER has 500+ hits for four different teams. I’ll post the answer near the end of this space.

8) Colorado Rockies P Jon Gray could be traded in the next few days; he’s had an unusual season for a Colorado pitcher:
— He has a 3.14 ERA in 10 home starts, which are at Coors Field
— He has a 4.54 ERA in seven road starts

7) Last four years, Northwestern’s football team has an 11-3 record in conference games that were decided by one score (8 or fewer points). On the other hand, Iowa Hawkeyes have a 6-11 record in one-core games over the last four years.

6) 31 states and Washington DC currently have legalized sports betting.

5) Favorites to have the fewest regular season wins in the NFL this fall:
5-2— Texans
7-2— Lions
15-2— Bengals
8-1— Jets
11-1— Raiders

4) Jets don’t have a quarterback on their roster who has thrown an NFL pass.

3) Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo turned down a 5-year, $70M contract this spring; will be curious where he winds up next season and how much money he’ll be making.

Trivia answer:
Rusty Staub was a great hitter; he had:
— 792 hits for Houston
— 709 hits for the Mets
— 582 hits for Detroit
— 531 hits for the Montreal Expos.

Only player ever with 500+ hits for four different teams.

2) When NFL teams make their final roster cuts, if there is a close decision between two players and one player is vaccinated and the other isn’t, could that be a deciding factor?

Teams that get to the 85% threshold are going to have advantages as far as how normal their day-to-day operation runs. You wonder if that will factor in at all.

1) In his first 10 starts this year, San Diego’s Joe Musgrove was 4-4, 2.59; then, on May 30, the Padres scripted that Musgrove would relieve starter Blake Snell in a day game in Houston, due to the San Diego bullpen having been overworked the few days before.

But Houston led 7-0 after three innings; Musgrove relieved Snell anyway, even though the game was a lost cause- he blanked the Astros for five innings in a 7-3 loss.

Since that day, Musgrove is 0-2, 5.06 in eight starts. Any connection? Impossible to tell, but it sure didn’t help any. 

13) Mets 7, Pirates 6:
— Michael Conforto hit the game-winning homer in the 9th inning.
— Pittsburgh scored 6 runs in first inning, never scored again.
— Travis Blankenhorn homered for the Mets, the 451st player to do that.
— Mets TV guy Gary Thorne called Conforto’s home run Sunday; back in 2004, while working for ESPN, Thorne called a home run that Conforto hit in the Little League World Series. 

12) Milwaukee Bucks try to win the NBA title at home Tuesday night, so the Brewers moved their home game with Kansas City to Tuesday afternoon.

11) If you to make a money line wager on the Super Bowl, it is AFC -130, NFC +110.

10) Only 10 of 32 NFL teams have the same head coach they had four years ago.

9) Texas Longhorns fired HC Tom Herman last winter, after he went 32-18 in four years, 22-13 in Big X games, 4-0 in bowls; Herman is now an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears.

8) White Sox P Carlos Rodon has three games this season with 10+ strikeouts and no walks; before this season, in 92 career starts, he had done that once.

7) Atlanta Braves are actually trying to compete for a playoff spot; they acquired Joc Peterson and Stephen Vogt to fortify their lineup. 12 days til the trade deadline; what else will happen?

6) Jockeys at Saratoga were telling TV guys that they think racehorses are running faster this year, with fans back in the stands. Hopefully the horses I wager on Wednesday will be thrilled by my presence and will run very, very fast.

5) Saturday, the Cubs used five pitchers in their 4-2 win at Arizona; all five pitchers walked the first batter they faced, the first time that has happened in a big league game since Texas used five pitchers who also walked their first batter in a game at Toronto in June, 1980.

4) Fantasy baseball update; over the last five weeks, the catchers who were active on my fantasy team have gone a combined 3 for 55. Thats an .055 batting average. Not good.

3) SEC football media days are on TV during the day this week; if it never stops raining here, it could provide some interesting daytime TV viewing, as coaches try to be sociable and convince people they’re not workaholic control freaks. Good luck there.

2) Odd Fact of the Day: El Paso, Texas is 746 miles from Houston, Texas; El Paso is actually closer to San Diego (725 miles) than it is to Houston. Go figure.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Brewers, Giants. Wild Card: San Diego @ Los Angeles
AL: Red Sox, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: Oakland @ Tampa Bay

13) Good news for baseball fans in Canada; Blue Jays return to Toronto July 30, their first true home game since 2019. 

12) Bucks 123, Suns 119:
— Milwaukee leads series, 3-2
— Phoenix led by 16 in the first half.
— Suns were minus-16 in 6:00 that Devin Booker was on bench. 

11) Atlanta Braves are 37-6 this season when they lead after 7 innings; that sounds good, until you realize that they were 23-0 last season, when they led after 7 innings. Atlanta is 8-20 this season in games where the winning run scores in last three innings.

When recently-acquired Stephen Vogt goes behind the plate for Atlanta  in the next few days, he’ll become the 7th catcher the Braves have used this season.

10) Cubs 4, Arizona 2— Willson Contreras hit game-winning homer in 9th inning, sending the Snakes to their 52nd loss in last 62 games.

9) Padres’ 2B Jake Cronenworth hit for cycle Friday night, first player since Brooks Robinson in 1960 to play in the All-Star Game, then hit for the cycle in his first regular season game after the All-Star Game. Those two and Joe DiMaggio are only three players to do it.

8) Who is the Houston Texans’ starting QB? It is July 18, and no one seems to know. ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote Friday that he thinks Deshaun Watson is done in Houston- if that is true, then Tyrod Taylor would likely be Houston’s starting QB in Week 1.

7) Cincinnati Bengals’ QB coach is a guy named Dan Pitcher, an unusual name for a QB coach, but it could be worse. There have been big league pitchers named:

Bob Walk, Homer Bailey, Grant Balfour.

6) Angels have a new TV play-by-play guy; Rich Waltz, who did Marlins’ game for lot of years. He is really good at his job- he also does college hoop on CBS Sports Network. Major upgrade for Angels games, fur sure.

5) Brandon Staley is the new head coach of the Chargers; five years ago, he was the defensive coordinator at John Carroll U, a D-3 program in Ohio. Life moves fast…….

4) Last three years, New Jersey Jets are 5-19 SU on road, 8-16 ATS; last two years, Jets are 0-4 ATS as a favorite. This year they have a new coach and they figure to be starting a rookie QB, so it could be another long year, but at least one that could build to a positive future.

3) Vikings play their home games in a dome now, but their last two road games this year are at Chicago December 20, at Green Bay January 2nd, both night games. Brilliant scheduling.

2) When Jacksonville Jaguars visit Seattle on Halloween, Seahawks’ last two OC’s will be in the visitors’ coaching booth. Brian Schottenheimer, Darren Bevell both work for the Jaguars now; do they have any special insight into defending Russell Wilson?

1) There are few series this weekend where teams are playing each other who also played each other the series before the All-Stsr Game: Mets-Pirates, Angels-Seattle, Reds-Brewers, Tigers-Twins. Not sure why they did it that way. Three of those four matchups are division rivalries.

Illinois
— New coach Bielema was 37-19 SU in Big 14 games at Wisconsin, from 2006-12.
— Bielema later went 11-29 SU in SEC games at Arkansas.
— Last nine years, Illinois is 14-25 ATS as a road underdog.
— Illini lost last two bowls, haven’t won one since 2011, their last winning year.

Indiana
— Hoosiers went 14-7 SU last 2 years, after going 36-62 previous eight years.
— HC Allen is 17-4 ATS if home team is favored, 8-13 if road team is favored.
— Under Allen, Indiana is 18-6 ATS coming off a win.
— Indiana lost its last six bowls; their last bowl win was 1991.

Iowa
— Last eight years, Iowa is 19-5-1 ATS as road favorites. 
— Last three years, Hawkeyes were +9/+9/+9 in turnovers.
— Iowa covered 7 of its last 8 non-conference games.
— Hawkeyes won last three bowls, scoring 34.3 ppg.

Maryland
— HC Locksley was 8-43 SU at New Mexico, is 6-17 SU here.
— Last 6 years, Maryland is 23-41 SU; their last bowl was 2016.
— Last 5 years, Terps are 5-13 ATS as a road underdog.
— Terps lost last three bowls; their last bowl win was 2010.

Michigan
— Harbaugh is 9-17 ATS as a road underdog.
— Last five years, Michigan is 4-10 ATS off a loss.
— Since 2013, Wolverines are 12-22-1 ATS out of conference.
— Michigan lost its last four bowls, giving up 34.8 ppg.

Michigan State
— 2013-15, Spartans were 36-5 SU; since then, they’re 29-29 SU.
— Last three years, MSU is 2-15 ATS at home, 1-10 as a favorite.
— Spartans are 2-7-1 ATS in last ten games as an underdog.
— Over last decade, MSU is 9-2 ATS on neutral fields.

Minnesota
— Gophers were 3-4 LY, with two losses in overtime.
— HC Fleck is 27-15-2 ATS on road, 22-23 at home.
— Last 7 years, Minnesota is 22-10 ATS coming off a loss.
— Gophers won their last four bowls, were underdog in 3 of them.

Nebraska
— Four straight losing seasons, going 16-28 SU.
— Last 8 years, Nebraska is 14-25-1 ATS as home favorites.
— Last 4 years, they’re 2-7 ATS out of conference.
— Junior QB Martinez has 27 starts; they have 3 starters back on OL. 

Northwestern
— Under Fitzgerald, Wildcats are 37-17 ATS as road underdogs.
— New QB Hilinski started 11 games at South Carolina.
— Last five years, Wildcats are 15-9-1 ATS coming off a loss.
— Northwestern won its last four bowls, scoring 30.3 ppg.

Ohio State
— This is first time since 1952 Ohio St doesn’t have QB that has thrown a college pass.
— HC Day is 14-5 ATS as a favorite.
— Last 5 years, Buckeyes are 56-7 SU, with +45 turnover ratio.
— Special teams slipped to #104 LY; previous 5 years, they were #32 or better.

Penn State
— Started 0-5 LY, giving up 36 ppg, then won last four games.
— Last 6 years, Penn State is 3-17 ATS coming off a loss.
— Nittany Lions have a junior QB with 20 career starts.
— Franklin went 24-15 SU at Vanderbilt; he’s a good coach. 

Purdue
— Last three years, Purdue is 1-7 ATS as home favorites.
— Last three years, Purdue is 7-3 ATS as home underdogs.
— HC Brohm is 19-10-1 ATS as an underdog.
— Purdue is 3-2 SU in last 5 bowls; average total 78.

Rutgers
— Rutgers hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2014.
— Last six years, Scarlet Knights are 16-43 SU.
— HC Schiano is 26-16-1 ATS as a road underdog.
— 2018-19, Rutgers was minus-27 in turnovers; LY, they were +5.

Wisconsin
— Last three years, Badgers are 5-11 ATS as home favorites.
— Last eight years, Badgers are 20-9 ATS as road favorites.
— Last two years, Wisconsin is 0-6 ATS coming off a loss.
— HC Chryst won six of his eight bowl games. 

13) MLB extended Trevor Bauer’s paid suspension until July 27; with Clayton Kershaw hurt, doesn’t that force the Dodgers to trade for at least one starting pitcher? Right now, all they have is Buehler/Urias, with Gonsolin/Price stretching out to throw 80-90 pitches. 

12) Bradley Beal is out of the Olympics, due to health/safety protocols. Big blow for the American basketball team.

11) Thursday was Opening Day at Saratoga, first time in two years they’ve had fans at the Spa oval, which is 25 miles from my house. Took me a while to find the races on TV; they don’t show the races on TVG, which is weird— FS2 has the Saratoga card.

People that were interviewed were excited to have things mostly back to normal; there were lot of people there. Saratoga is a big part of summer in this area, so it was a good day.

10) Seven NFL teams have new head coaches this season.

13 teams have new offensive coordinators, 15 have new DC’s.

9) Last two seasons, Chargers were 7-16 in games decided by 8 or fewer points; they were only 9-7 in games they led at halftime, 9-5 in games they led after three quarters, which is why they now have a new coach.

8) Since 2012, Jacksonville Jaguars are 39-105, five fewer wins than any other team (Cleveland). 

There is some hope for the Jaguars; of the last seven head coaches to jump from college to the NFL, three of them made the playoffs in their first season.

7) Las Vegas Raiders have had one winning season in last 18 years; never thought I’d see them become one of the NFL’s worst franchises. Over last four years, Raiders ranked 29-30-31-28 in defensive efficiency. Not good.

6) Will having fans back in their stadium help the Minnesota Vikings?

From 2016-19, Vikings were 21-9-3 ATS at home; last year, they were 2-6 ATS.

5) Over last three years, Eagles are 10-18 ATS as a favorite, 7-11 as an underdog. Under is 17-7 in their home games, over 14-7 in their road tilts.

4) Detroit Lions were 14-34 SU last three years; they haven’t won a playoff game since 1991. Last three years, over is 21-10 in their games. Lions are 8-15-1 ATS in last 24 home games.

3) Carolina Panthers have a +12 advantage in rest days between games this season, the most any NFL team has had since 2002.

2) Cowboys play Atlanta in Week 10; figures to be an interesting game, with former Falcons coach Dan Quinn now the defensive coordinator in Dallas. Quinn went 43-42 in 5+ years as Atlanta’s coach, winning the NFC title in 2016. Falcons lost that Super Bowl, blowing 28-3 lead.

1) Happy birthday to the great actor Harrison Ford, who turned 79 this week.  

13) Few days ago, I talked about podcasts and how finding good ones can help make you smarter, but there are a lot of podcasts, so you have to shop wisely— they’re free, but if you are spending your time listening, you want to listen to good ones. Spend wisely.

Last few weeks, I’ve been listening to a fantasy baseball podcast— the main host is very good, but there are 2-3 other guys who chime in. One guy is talking about players who might not be as good in the 2nd half of the season, and he brings up Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins.

I just traded for Mullins in my fantasy league, so I’m listening and then it becomes obvious to me; this guy has no idea whether Mullins hits lefty or righty. Mullins used to switch-hit, but gave up the right side of the plate and has excelled as a lefty. This guy had no clue, so he’s giving me advice, but he’s never seen Mullins play, and the guy is a freakin’ All-Star.

Terrific.

12) Guy I know named Jim is a knowledgeable/loyal Orioles fan; if you admit to being an Oriole fan these days, your loyalty is unquestioned. He loves Mullins, a guy who is only 5-8 and never started on his high school team until he was a senior in high school, none of which matters now because he just started in the major league All-Star Game.

Jim also touts Grayson Rodriguez, a pitcher at AA Bowie, who is supposed to be big-time, once he gets to the majors. If you’re in a dynasty league, Rodriguez would be a good guy to add.

Unfortunately for me, someone in our league had already gobbled him up by the time I went to add him.

11) American League has won the last eight All-Star games; not really sure if there is any rhyme or reason to this, sometimes stuff just happens, without any real reason. Don’t think the AL is any better than the National League.

10) Several guys who played in Denver Tuesday night are rumored to be trade bait with the trade deadline two weeks away; Adam Frazier, Kris Bryant, Kyle Gibson, guys like that.

I suggested that some oddsmaker post a number on the number of All-Stars traded before the end of the month. Will the Cubs dump their guys? Minnesota? Royals?

9) If you like the NFL, study the NFL, bet on the NFL or play fantasy football, you should go find Warren Sharp’s football guide and buy it. This is a textbook of football knowledge; there is a ton of stuff in there, and it is useful. I get it very year now, and make myself smarter— I recommend it enthusiastically.

8) If you bet the Bengals under their season win total the last five years, you would’ve won all five years, the longest such streak in the NFL.

In two years under HC Zac Taylor, Cincinnati is 2-13-1 in one-score games, games decided by 8 or fewer points.

7) Since 2000, Dallas Cowboys have come in under their season win total 14 of 21 seasons; are the Cowboys’ totals posted too high, because they’re overhyped, being America’s Team?

Quick reminder that you probably don’t need, but the NFL season is now 17 games, something to remind yourself of when you start looking at season win totals.

6) Detroit Lions recovered only 33% of the fumbles in their games last year, the worst %age of any team since 2014.

Detroit will be fascinating to me because of Jared Goff; as an avid Rams’ fan, I have nothing bad to say about Goff. Obviously I don’t know what happened behind closed doors there last year, but Goff won lot of games, got to a Super Bowl. He did fine.

That said, this will be the first time in five years he won’t have Sean McVay’s voice in his helmet before every play. Detroit seems like they’re going to want to run the ball a lot; what they get out of Goff, especially late in the season in cold weather road games, will be interesting to see.

5) 66-year old Rick Barnes gets a 2-year contract extension from Tennessee; this probably is for the benefit of potential recruits. You see older coaches like Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski retiring and Barnes is 66, so this extension puts any retirement rumors to rest.

4) Australia 108, Nigeria 69— Watched some of this game, which was ugly; three of the better Australian guys didn’t even play. Then you think, Nigeria is down 40 here and they beat the Americans the other night, scoring 90 points. Yikes!!!!

Team USA’s roster earned $219M in the NBA last year; Nigeria’s roster earned $9M, Australia’s $44M. Losing to those two teams is staggering.

3) USA 108, Argentina 80— Can’t be lot of fun to be a writer covering a team coached by Gregg Popovich; kind of a surly guy who has won a lot, so he has clout and when his team plays like dirt, you look like a jackass if you ask him tough questions.

Whether they admit it or not, people had to breathe a sigh of relief after this game. Olympics start pretty soon; the American team needs to start playing better.

2) Australians have an 18-year old kid named Josh Giddey who won’t be in Tokyo for the Olympics, but is expected to be a fairly high draft pick by the NBA in two weeks. He looked really good in this game against Nigeria. Curious to see where he lands in the NBA.

1) Australia has never won a basketball medal at the Olympics; in 2016, they lost the bronze medal game 89-88 to Spain, which got me to thinking, there is a HUGE difference between finishing 3rd and 4th in the Olympics, maybe even a bigger difference between finishing 1st/2nd. 

Those third place games have to be fiercely fought; you spend all this time prepping to play in the Olympics, you want to bring SOME MEDAL home, even a bronze one. Australians look like they have a legit shot to medal in Tokyo. 

13) Los Angeles Angels have a good lineup: Trout, Ohtani, Rendon, Walsh, Fletcher, but their pitching sucks. Looks like they finally figured that out themselves.

20 draft picks this week, 20 pitchers, 19 of them college pitchers. Help is on the way. 

12) Sounds like 7-inning doubleheaders and starting extra innings with a guy on second base are out the window after this season- common sense may be gaining ground at MLB headquarters.

Commissioner Rob Manfred also seemed that he was in favor of banning shifts, which will create more base hits and less swinging for the fences. Hopefully that will happen.

11) MLB starts the “second half” of the season with one game, Boston @ New York on ESPN; those same teams are on ESPN Sunday night.

Someone needs to tell MLB that these are also big markets:
— Houston, 4th-biggest city. Astros are pretty good.
— Philadelphia, 6th-biggest city. Phillies are NL East contenders.
— San Diego, 8th-biggest city. Padres are a good team, a fun team.

Promote your sport MLB, the whole sport, not just New York/Boston.

10) Washington Nationals drafted Dusty Baker’s son Darren in the 10th round; would be less awkward if Washington hadn’t fired Baker four years ago, after he led the Nationals to 95-67/97-65 records in his two years as Washington’s manager.

Darren Baker is a 22-year old 2B who played four years in college at Cal.

9) Arizona Cardinals were 8-8 last year; they were favored in 12 of their 16 games. No bueno.

8) NFL teams scored touchdowns on 62% of red zone drives LY, the best %age in the last 20 years. Do you think not having fans in the stands helped offenses score more points?

7) Five sets of fathers/sons have both started an All-Star Game:
— Ray/Bob Boone
— Bob/Bret Boone
— Bobby/Barry Bonds
— Cecil/Prince Fielder
— Vladimir Guerrero Sr/Vladimir Guerrero Jr

6) For me, best part of the All-Star Game is the player introductions; you see guys getting introduced as All-Stars for the first time ever and they all look like really excited kids, even though they’re adults who will soon be really, really rich.

5) Imagine how cool it must’ve been for Trey Mancini to be whacking baseballs out of Coors Field Monday night? This time last year, he was getting chemo treatments, battling cancer, now he is back on the field, and playing well too. Has to be a really great week for him and his family.

4) Three guys have won back/back Home Run Derbies:
— Pete Alonso 2019/2021
— Yoenis Cespedes 2013-14
— Ken Griffey Jr 1998-99

Alonso made more $$$ from winning the two Home Run Derbies than he did playing for the Mets in those two seasons.

3) Three guys have won the Home Run Derby on their home field:
1990— Ryne Sandberg, Cubs
2015— Todd Frazier, Reds
2018— Bryce Harper, Nationals

2) It is good to have a famous dad; two of the kids shagging balls at Home Run Derby Monday were Drew Brees’ sons.

1) This is from writer Rod Beard: Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey said in their interviews with draft prospects they ask guys whether they make their beds in the morning. He said it can indicate whether they set the tone for their day and how organized they are.

This also may help explain why Detroit has had one winning season since 2008. 

13) This week is all about Shohei Ohtani and MLB’s obsession with promoting the guy, which is their business, I guess. Hopefully Ohtani’s people (and the Angels) are making sure he doesn’t get overextended or hurt. He is doing some unique things, but he is still human and needs to take care of himself. 

Ohtani is batting leadoff and is starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. Here are his pitching stats for this year:
Ohtani: 4-1, 3.49 in 13 starts.
Kyle Gibson of Texas: 6-1, 2.29 in 17 starts

Maybe Kyle Gibson should be starting pitcher; I understand that no one outside of Arlington gives a rat’s ass about Gibson— he is 33, has been in the majors for nine years but he’s earned the right to start this All-Star Game, a big honor.

Plus, if Ohtani pitched in relief, casual fans might stick with the game a little longer, until Ohtani gets in. Lot of casual fans will change the channel as soon as he is done pitching. 

12) MLB needs to promote its product better, the actual games, not just individuals; the last four Sunday nights, there have been only three games on ESPN and two of those were 7-inning games because they were parts of doubleheaders created by rainouts.

All Sunday night games should be 9 innings, no matter what.

11) The MLB amateur draft isn’t as fun as NFL/NBA drafts because we know so much less about the players being drafted. It is also more of a crapshoot; back in 1983, Roger Clemens was the 19th player taken in the draft, the 11th pitcher.

Whoops.

10) Teams with best record in games where winning run scored in last 3 innings:
22-8— Cincinnati
19-8— Seattle
17-10— Oakland
15-9— Boston
17-11— NY Mets

9)  Teams with worst record in games where winning run scored in last 3 innings:
8-23— Arizona
8-19— Atlanta
9-17— Toronto
11-19— Texas
8-15— Baltimore, White Sox

8) There is a good website, umpscorecards.com that shows accuracy, consistency for the home plate umpire for every game.

Milwaukee beat the Reds 5-3 in a game Thursday; the home plate umpire Brian O’Nora had a rough night, missing 16% of pitches on the outside corner. Reds players were yelling at him as he left the field; ump scorecards had him 87% accurate overall— the average is 94% accurate.

7)  From Juston Ray: Padraig Harrington won the British Open in 2007 and 2008. Since then, no Open champ finished in the top-25 at The Open the year before their win.

Cink – Cut
Oosthuizen- Cut
Clarke – T44
Els – Cut
Mickelson – Cut
McIlroy – Cut
Zach Johnson – T47
Stenson – T40
Spieth – T30
Molinari – Cut
Lowry – Cut

6) Only one golfer finished in the top 10 at the British Open in both 2018/2019:

Tony Finau

5) From Jason Logan on Twitter:
NBA playoff betting stats:
— favorites 48-34 ATS
— favorites of 3 or fewer points 13-13
— favored from 3.5-6 points 25-8 ATS
— favored of 6.5+ points 10-13
— Road favorites 15-10 ATS
— Teams off a loss 31-36 ATS

3) Phillies’ rookie reliever Damon Jones is the grandson of former NBA player Darrall Imhoff. Jones has yet to make his MLB debut, but is with the Phillies.

Darrall Imhoff scored over 5,700 points in his 12-year NBA career, and was once part of the package the Lakers sent to Philadelphia when they acquired Wilt Chamberlain in 1968.

2) Major league leaders in RBI from 7th inning on:
29— Mitch Haniger, Seattle
28— Eduardo Escobar, Arizona

1) John Wooden didn’t win a national title until his 16th year at UCLA, but then he won 10 of them in 12 years; sometimes it takes a while to become an overnight success.

Ravens:
— Won/covered last five season openers
— Won last four season openers by combined 164-19.
— 11-5 ATS in last 16 home openers.
— Under 6-2 last eight home openers.
— Won/covered four of last five road openers.
— Over 9-4-1 last 14 road openers.

Bills:
— Home team won their last six Week 1 games.
— 9-5 ATS last 14 home openers.
— 6-2 ATS as a favorite in home openers.
— 11-8 ATS in last 19 road openers.
— Under 10-7 last 17 road openers.
— Were favored once in last 17 road openers (0-1 ATS)

Bengals:
— Started out 1-0 four of last seven years.
— Won/covered once in last five home openers.
— 3-6-1 ATS as favorite in home openers.
— Under 9-4 last 13 home openers.
— 6-1 ATS last seven road openers.
— Over 9-2 last 11 road openers.

Browns:
— 2-19-1 SU in season openers (1-1-1 last three)
— 5-4 ATS in last 9 home openers, after 1-12 stretch.
— 0-6 ATS all-time as favorite in home openers.
— Over 5-2 last seven home opener.
— 3-5-1 ATS last nine road openers.
— Last five road openers stayed under total.

Broncos:
— Lost last two home openers, both 16-14, after a 27-2 run.
— Last five home openers were decided by total of 11 points.
— 8-4 ATS last dozen home openers.
— Over 8-5-1 last 14 home openers.
— Lost last four road openers, scoring 16.8 ppg.
— 7-10 ATS last 17 road openers.

Texans:
— Lost three of last four home openers, scoring 14.5 ppg.
— 1-5 ATS last six home openers.
— Under 10-6 last 16 home openers.
— Lost five of last six road openers.
— Under 5-1 last six road openers.
— 3-1-1 all-time ATS as favorite in road openers.

Colts:
— Started out 0-1 the last seven years.
— Last five season openers went over total.
— Won last two home openers, covered 3 of last 4.
— Lost nine of last 11 road openers.
— Four of last five road openers went over.
— 4-12-2 ATS last 18 games as underdog in road openers. 

Jaguars:
— Won season openers three of last four years.
— Hasn’t been favored in their home opener since 2010.
— Lost seven of last nine home openers.
— Last five home openers went over total.
— Lost 11 of last 13 road openers, but covered last four.
— Under is 12-6 in last 18 road openers.

Chiefs:
— Won last six season openers, covered last four.
— Last five years, scored 33-42-38-40-34 in Week 1.
— Won last five home openers, covered last four.
— Over 4-0-2 last six home openers.
— Won/covered six of last eight road openers.
— Over 4-2 last six road openers.

Raiders:
— Won four of last five season openers.
— Won three of last four home openers.
— 3-6 ATS last 9 tries as a favorite in home openers.
— Over 5-2 last seven home openers.
— 10-3-1 ATS last 14 road openers.
— Since 1997, they’re 1-3 ATS as a favorite in road openers.

Chargers:
— 4-6 ATS last 10 tries as a favorite in home openers.
— Lost three of last four home openers SU.
— Over 14-4 last 18 home openers.
— 6-2-1 ATS last nine road openers.
— 4-0-1 ATS last five Week 1 road games.
— 10-5-1 ATS as an underdog in road openers.

Dolphins:
— Lost four of last six season openers.
— Won/covered six of last nine home openers
— Favored in only 6 of last 17 home openers.
— Over 11-1 last dozen home openers.
— 5-12 SU in last 17 road openers (5-3 ATS last 8)
— Since 1994, under is 22-5 in their road openers (12-0 last 12)

Patriots:
— Started 1-0 in 15 of last 17 seasons.
— Won 7 of last 8 home openers (4-1 ATS last five)
— Under 7-2 last nine home openers.
— Won 7 of last 10 road openers.
— 15-9 ATS last 24 road openers.
— Over 5-2 last seven road openers.

Jets:
— Started 0-1 four of last five years.
— Since 1992, 3-10-1 ATS as favorite in home opener.
— Lost four of last five home openers SU.
— Under 3-1 last four home openers.
— 11-4 ATS in last 15 road openers.
— Over 5-2 last seven road openers.

Steelers:
— Opened on road last six years (3-2-1 SU, 2-3-1 ATS) 
— Favored in 19 of last 20 home openers (W15-9, +1.5 in ’10)
— 15-3 SU last 18 home openers (0-3 ATS last three)
— Under 8-4 last dozen home openers.
— 3-1-1 SU last five road openers.
— Under is 7-1 in last eight road openers.

Titans:
— Lost SU last three times they opened season at home.
— 2-5 SU last seven home openers (2-7 ATS last nine)
— Under 6-3 last nine home openers.
— Won 7 of last 8 road openers SU
— Since 2007, 9-1 ATS as underdog in road opener.
— Over 3-1 last four road openers.