We got our first taste of preseason football last Thursday when the Jaguars and Raiders faced off in the annual Hall of Fame game, and boy was it good to see… for about 15 minutes.
Preseason football is preseason football. Sometimes its great, most of the time it’s crappy, but ultimately – it’s the perfect meal to wet the palate ahead of yet another outstanding NFL season.
The New York Giants will travel to Foxboro this Thursday to take on the Patriots in what is the second exhibition game of the preseason. The game will kickoff at 7pm and can be watched locally on WBZ Channel 4 and nationally on NFL Network.
Here are the odds for Thursday night’s game from our exclusive wagering partners at BetOnline.ag:
Odds – Patriots vs. Giants
Spread: Giants -2.5
Total: 33.5
Moneyline: Giants -148/Patriots +128
Storylines
The Patriots get to unveil their new “streamlined” offense against live action on Thursday. I’m not terribly sure if we should be excited or terrified by this. To put it lightly, the implementation of said offense has not gone well at all over the first few weeks of camp. The New England offensive line has been abysmal. They are false starting, letting second level defenders run wild, and can’t get Harris or Stevenson holes to run through.
Mac and his weapons have been fine in 1-on-1’s and 7-on-7’s, but when they try to put it all together it’s a cluster. Though they did put together a respectable performance in Tuesday’s practice, there is still plenty of work to do before week one.
Brian Daboll will make his head coaching debut for the Giants on Thursday. The former Patriots assistant coach had plenty of success as Josh Allen’s offensive coordinator in Buffalo, and how has a chance to run his own show.
Moving from Josh Allen to Daniel Jones will be an adjustment to say the least. There have been rumors of New York trading for Jimmy Garoppolo, who Daboll coached in New England, but I think he’ll be able to get the most out of Jones. Call me crazy, but Jones has a similar skillset to Allen (a gazelle-like runner and prone to mistakes), so I think the head coach knows what he’s in for.
Patriots Players to Watch
DeVante Parker
Wide receiver DeVante Parker is the Patriots flashy new toy that they get to officially unveil in game action on Thursday. The former Miami Dolphin came out of the gates flying during camp – making flashy catches and becoming an early down target for Mac Jones. He’s since panned off a bit, but I look forward to seeing a glimpse of how they’ll use the big-bodied receiver in this offense.
Update: Parker will not play tonight.
Cole Strange
Paying attention to offensive line plan can be boring, but when you spend a first round pick on a guard from UT-Chattanooga, then that’s what you have to look forward to. Strange is a plug-and-play draft pick for New England and is somebody who is going to have to make an impact fast as the team lost both Ted Karras and Shaq Mason this offseason on the interior OL.
Tyquan Thornton
Another rookie, this speedy WR from Baylor should get plenty of run on Thursday. Thornton is the fastest player on the team having run a 4.28 at the NFL Combine, and I’m looking to see that stand out against the Giants.
Thornton has been handed the ball on end-arounds a few times at practice. I would be shocked if they pulled something like this out in the preseason, but I do want to see them get him the ball in space.
Marcus Jones
I’ve been very pessimistic about the Pats defensive backfield over the last several weeks, so I’m looking for rookie CB Marcus Jones from Houston to make some plays. Though he’s just 5-foot-8, Jones was a stud in college and will look to make an immediate impact in New England system. The Pats moved long-time slot corner Jonathan Jones to boundary corner back and gave Marcus some run with the 1’s in the slot – so I’m interested to see what he can do in a game-like setting.
Jack Jones
The same goes for their other rookie cornerback Jack Jones. Drafted out of Arizona State, Jack Jones was a five-star recruit who originally went to USC before being dismissed for academic struggles. There’s plenty of talent to work with in Jones, it’s just a matter of putting it all together.
Prediction/Pick
With Daboll announcing that the Giants will play starters on Thursday, it looks like they’ll be ready to bring it – at least early on. And with New England still trying to get this system under their belt, we’re in for a serious learning curve offensively.
The total is low, so I think it goes over. The Giants win and cover the spread.
Prediction: Giants 21 – Patriots 17
Side: Giants -2.5
Total: OVER 33.5
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