As the NFL 2015 Preseason Schedule moves on to week 2 we preview 2 games, with the 1st being the Packers of Green Bay playing the Steelers of Pittsburgh, and the 2nd encounter sees the Raiders of Oakland playing the Vikings of Minnesota.
The 1st game with the Packers of Green Bay playing at the Steelers of Pittsburgh is scheduled for Sunday the 23rd of August with kick-off at 1 PM ET and the played at the Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The opening Vegas odds has the Steelers favored and – 2 ½ -120 with the underdog Packers at +2 ½ Even and the Over/under for the game a 41 with no ML available at this time.
Amazingly that even in this preseason, everyone wants to beat the Packers who are presently at +550 as favorite to win Super Bowl 50 this season! The Steelers are slight favorites but can the really beat the Packers? In week 1 the Packers beat the Patriots 22-11 while amassing some 410 offensive yards, and with no turnovers.
QB Rodgers for the Packers came into the preseason looking good as he made 11 of his 19 pass attempts and for 118 yards on Thursday the 13th of August. Meanwhile his back-up S. Tolzien also completed 10 of 16 pass attempts for 108 yards and a TD on a 28 yard pass J. Janis in the 2nd quarter of the game.
Green Bay appears ready to begin the regular season, but the Steelers are still trying to make changes after their 1st game loss to the Jaguars of Jacksonville. QB Roethlisberger played only 1 series and completed 3 passes of 3 attempts for 60 yards of which 44 of those yards was on a TD pass to M. Bryant within the 1st 4 minutes of the preseason game 1. Their rookie WR S. Coates out of Auburn had a food day with 5 receptions for some 54 yards and led the Steelers receivers in the game. The 1st time FG kicker S. Suisham made both of his FG attempts, on for 48 yards.
This Sunday game with 2 potential playoff teams will provide fans with a lot of action, as both teams want to prove they are ready for regular season action.
For those that Bet on NFL football at SBGGlobal.com or like sites, the prediction is that this game will be a shootout with the Packers of Green Bay beating the Steelers in an exciting game at 31-28!
The 2nd game of this preview has the Raiders of Oakland visiting the Vikings of Minnesota with the game scheduled for Saturday the 22nd of August with kick-off at 8 PM ET and the game to be played in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the TCF Bank Stadium. The early odds favor the Vikings at -5 -110 with the underdog Raiders at +5 -110 and the Over/under at 39 and not money line available.
The starting QB D. Carr and WR A. Cooper started well in their 1st game as the connected on 3 passes for some 24 yards that resulted in a FB, and that was on the Raiders 1st drive of the game. In this game the Raiders QB Carr will be facing a strong Vikings pass defense as he attempts to connect with veterans Cooper and Crabtree rookie C. Wolford. Rookie LB B. Heeney had 8 tackles and 2 QB sacks in their game.
Vikings rookie LB E. Kendricks seeking a starting position made his case as he made 2 tackles and sacked Tampa rookie QB Winston in the Vikings win 26-16 over the Buccaneers in that 1st preseason game. On offense the Vikings QB in his playing time completed 7 of his 8 passes for 88 yards, and then back-up QB S. Hill finished the game and completed 8 of his 9 attempts for 106 yards and 2 TD’s. Their star RB A. Peterson who missed 15 games in 2014, has yet to play, and is not expected to play this preseason as he recovers from a bruised thigh, but is expected to be ready for the regular season games.
We predict that in this game the Vikings defense will prove to be a bit much for the Raiders and will win this game and cover their -5 odds.