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Dallas Cowboys vs. San Diego Chargers 10:00 ET-Saturday August 9th/2008
The National Football League continues its first week of the preseason this weekend allowing NFL bettors the opportunity to sink their teeth into some action other than baseball. On Saturday night, two of the better franchises in the league face off when the Dallas Cowboys travel to Qualcomm Stadium to take on the San Diego Chargers. Both teams have been stellar in recent years in the preseason, as Dallas is 5-2-1 SU and 5-3 ATS the past two seasons, while San Diego has gone 5-3 SU and ATS during that same stretch.

2007 ended on a sour note for the visiting Cowboys, as they crashed out of the playoffs with a disappointing 21-17 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Tony Romo is back for his third season as the head Cowpoke. It’s put up or shut up time for Romo in ’08, as wins in the regular season and gaudy numbers are all fine and dandy, but another playoff blunder will tarnish his career. Don’t expect to see much of Romo in this game, though. Instead, the focus will be on Brad Johnson and Richard Bartel to keep the offense moving. Expect rookie running backs Tashard Choice and Felix Jones to carry a heavy load this preseason. Keep an eye on the Cowboys starting secondary on Saturday as Terence Newman, Anthony Henry, Adam Jones, and 1st round draft pick Mike Jenkins could be a very dangerous unit.

The Chargers pulled off a minor miracle in the playoffs, marching into Indianapolis and knocking out the Colts by the count of 28-24. Their magical playoff run ended when they ran into the unbeaten Patriots, but HC Norv Turner has justified the firing of old HC Marty Schottenheimer with his playoff push last year. With 17 returning starters from 2007, expect Turner to get a look at some of his young backups in San Diego’s four exhibitions. Look for former LSU RB Jacob Hester to have a big impact on these preseason games as he fights to earn a spot in a backfield that already includes LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles.

Betting trends in preseason games are always a little awkward, but if used properly, they can earn football bettors some nice coin to go into the regular season with. Take a look at San Diego in this game, as they are 16-12 ATS as home favorites since 1993, while the Cowboys are just 6-17 SU and 8-14 ATS on the road in that same stretch. More recently, the Bolts are 5-1 SU in preseason games they’re favored in. Last season, San Diego went 1-1 ATS and SU in their preseason home games, while the Cowboys were outscored 51-30 in a pair of defeats away from home.

Oddsmakers have installed the hosts as three-point home favorites in this preseason showdown, and the ‘total’ in this game now sits at a relatively high 35.5. These two teams both lit up the scoreboard in the ’07 exhibition season, as the average Chargers game reached 44 points, while the average Cowboys game accumulated 41.3 PPG.