New York Jets vs. Carolina Panthers
NFL Preseason Pick: Carolina Panthers +1.5 -110 odds
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Both these teams lost their opening preseason game. The Ravens beat the Panthers by five points. The Jets lost by double-digits vs. the Giants. Most expected the Panthers to get beaten. After all, they were on the road against a tough Baltimore team. However, the majority of bettors backed the Jets to take care of the rival Giants.

With the Jets being an early fan favorite this season and a popular pick to win the AFC East or even contend for the Super Bowl, many will assume that they can’t possibly get off to an 0-2 start in the preseason. In my opinion, that perception has provided us with solid value on the home team.

In addition to playing on their homefield, the Panthers have a significant scheduling advantage in this one. Their game against the Ravens occurred on Thursday. On the other hand, the Jets and Giants played on Monday night. New York coach Rex Ryan played his starters more than normal (for a Week 1 game) in the Giants game. That will have most expecting him to do the same for Week 2. However, he initially indicated that, as a result of playing on the short week, his starters would see less than normal playing time (for a Week 2 game) vs. in this one.

Note: we already saw a strong Dallas team lose outright to the Raiders this season, when the Cowboys were playing on a short week.

True, the Panthers will be without star receiver Steve Smith. They’ve got four players competing for the #2 spot though, all of whom should be motivated for a big performance. Matt Moore is a capable starter. He should see a lot more time than he did last week and will be anxious to win over the hometown fans. Jimmy Clausen should also see plenty of playing time. He’s viewed as the “future” for the Panthers and I feel that he’ll also prove capable.

Overall, I expect a fairly motivated effort from Carolina. The Panthers were 0-4 in the preseason last year. That wouldn’t have been considered a problem if they had played well when the regular season began. That wasn’t the case though, as they were 0-3 in their September regular season games. Looking to avoid a similar fate and having already dropped their opener, the Panthers should treat this year’s remaining games somewhat more seriously, particularly today’s “home opener.” Note that the Panthers may also be looking for some payback from a loss in last year’s regular season. Get more football betting picks from Ben Burns at Touthouse.com

In my opinion, the wrong team is favored here. Consider CAROLINA

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