The Raiders and Vikings conclude Week 1 of the NFL preseason with the debut of ESPN on MNF tonight in Minnesota at 8:00 ET. Home teams went 11-4 SU but only 8-6-1 this first week and in a stat that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, 11 of 15 games fell behind (I’m counting Saturday’s Saints/Titans game that fell 19-16 in the lower category, as the game opened 37 but closed at 34 1/2 in places). Throw an under in the HOF game and his 12 unders in 16 games.
My bye for Monday is against the NY Mets over the Phi Phillies at 7:05 ET. After completing my second consecutive 3-1 Saturday and Sunday in MLB, I open the new week with my 15* NL Favorite of the Month. Although I lost my game total in last night’s game, I have opened the NFLX season by winning THREE of four sides. Don’t miss my 15* MNF Game of the Month tonight.
Brad Childress makes his coaching debut for the Vikings in this, the last of 10 new head coaches this year to do so. Art Shell is also new to Oakland this year, but he made his debut in 2006 at the HOF game on Aug. 6. Teams with new head coaches this year have gone 5-4 SU and ATS so far, barely giving any leads. The current lineup for tonight’s game is Minnesota favored by three points with a total of 36.
The Jags scored the most points in the highest scoring game of Week 1 (31-26 over the Dolphins). Four teams totaled more than 400 yards of offense in Week 1, led by Atlanta’s 423 yards in the Falcons’ 26-23 win over the Patriots. New England also gained more than 400 yards in that game (407), joining the Rams (404 against the Colts in a 19-17 win on Thursday) and the Saints, who just surpassed the 400-yard mark with 401 in its 19-16. beat the Titans on Saturday.
The Jets, Packers, Redskins and Seahawks tied for Week 1 lows, all scoring just three points. Three teams did not gain 200 yards in their Week 1 games. The Chiefs gained just 172 yards in their 24-14 loss to the Texans (Saturday), the Browns gained just 179 in their 20-7 loss to the Eagles ( Thursday) and the Jets had just 185 yards in their 16-3 loss. loss to the Bucs.
Detroit’s 20-13 victory on Friday ended Denver’s four-game preseason winning streak. That modest streak was actually the longest active preseason winning streak of any team. The longest active ATS winning streak also ended in Week 1, when the Browns saw their seven-game ATS streak end with a 20-7 loss at Philadelphia on Thursday. The 49ers, who beat the Bears 28-14 on Friday, now own the longest active ATS streak with five consecutive coverages.
The Colts saw their preseason losing streak extended to seven with Thursday’s 19-17 loss at St Louis and Kansas City matched the Colts’ seven-game losing streak on Saturday when they lost at Houston to the Texans, 24-14. . However, the Colts covered their loss, making them 2-5 ATS during their slide. As for the Chiefs, their SU loss on Saturday was also their seventh consecutive ATS loss, the longest active preseason streak.
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The Dodgers don’t have the longest active winning streak in MLB, but it’s hard not to recognize the team’s incredible 15-1 run since July 28. Of course, what makes his current streak even more incredible is that it was directly preceded by a post-All. Star break slide from 1-13! LA owns a 2.42 team ERA over the last 16 games with their starting pitchers throwing at least six innings all but twice. Since their 11-game winning streak was snapped last Wednesday, LA has won four straight one-run games.
Surprisingly, the 53-64 Cleveland Indians open the new week with the longest active streak in the MLB, having won six straight games. The Rangers are just behind the Indians with five straight wins (neither team plays tonight). The Indians’ surge has pushed them out of the basement in MLB’s “money line” rankings, as at minus $1,908 for the year (at $100 per game), they are $89 better than the (Pirates (minus $1,997), who by the way, swept the Cardinals over the weekend.
MLB’s longest active losing streak is owned by the Devil Rays, who lost all six games this week in Seattle and Oakland, respectively. Tampa has now lost 17 of its last 18 road games, including going 1-15 since halftime. The Giants have lost five straight, 16 of their last 19 and 13 of their last 14 on the road. Joining the Giants with five straight losses are the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers were 76-36 before their losing streak, which is now the second longest in the last 30 years (since 1977) by a team that was at least 40 games over .500 at the start of the streak. . The 1993 Giants were 89-48 before losing their next eight games. Detroit’s lead in the AL Central has now shrunk to just 5 1/2 games over the White Sox, a team that was a season-high 10 games behind the Tigers last Monday.
Things don’t get any easier for Detroit tonight, as the Tigers open a three-game series at Fenway against the Red Sox (7:05 ET) as part of MLB’s 11-game Monday schedule. The Red Sox swept the Orioles over the weekend, ending a five-game winning streak and opening the week just one game behind the Yankees in the AL East.
Speaking of the Yankees, they will conclude their four-game series with the Angels at Yankee Stadium tonight at 7:05 ET (Lackey vs. Johnson). The Angels have taken two of the first three games, including a 5-3 win on Sunday. The Angels, now 53-50 against New York since 1996, are the only team in the Joe Torre era to have a winning record against the Yankees.
Jered Weaver improved his career record to 8-0 in the win and became just the third pitcher in the past 100 years to go undefeated in his first 11 major league starts and win at least eight of those games.
Whitey Ford (1950) and Livan Hernandez (1997) were both 8-0 at that point in their careers. No pitcher has posted a better mark in his first 11 major league starts since Hooks Wiltse, who won each of his first 12 for the 1904 Giants.
While Jered was making history this weekend, his older brother, Jeff, posted his 100th career loss (just 83 wins) in the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the Pirates on Saturday.
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