Carolina @ Baltimore NFL Preseason Odds and Predictions – NFL Monday Night Football on starts on Thursday night with Carolina Panthers at Baltimore Ravens 2010 NFL Preseason Picks Week 1: Head Football Coach John Harbaugh has led the Ravens to back to back playoff appearances and has a talented team for a deep run and possible Super Bowl berth this year. On the other hand the Carolina Panthers missed the playoffs in 2009 and head Coach John Fox is on the hot seat to return the team to the playoff contender it was the previous few years. The odds makers at SBG Global have the Baltimore Ravens -4 point favorites at home against the Carolina Panthers which kicks off on ESPN at 8:00 PM ET on Thursday night.
Baltimore is led by emerging star quarterback Joe Flacco, dual threat running back Ray Rice and one of the fiercest defenses in the NFL with Ray Lewis at middle linebacker. The Ravens acquired Anquan Boldin and Donte’ Stallworth during the offseason to improve a passing attack that ranked 18th in yardage in 2009. ”We just want to see where we’re at as an offense with the first unit – get out, move around, hit another team and make it out safely,” Boldin said about Thursday night’s opener. Vegas odds makers have the NFL Betting over/under odds for the total score at 34 points combined for the Ravens and Panthers.
Carolina will have a new signal caller under center as relatively inexperienced Matt Moore is slated to be this year’s starter. Through eight NFL starts Moore has posted numbers that project to 3,108 yards, 22 touchdowns and six picks over a full season and improvement over exited Jake Delhomme. We should see the debut of second-round pick and former Notre Dame Star Jimmy Clausen who is currently 3rd on the depth chart. ”It’s going to be the first time live since college, so it’s going to be fun out there,” Clausen said. ”Just have a lot of fun and make plays.” The Vegas odds makers have the Carolina Panthers listed at +500 oddss to win the 2010 NFC South.
The Panthers are the NFL’s third-youngest team and will have 11 key players out because of injuries so my NFL Predictions make it a long night against a more talented and deeper Ravens team. Take the Ravens and under as defense is usually better early than the offense in the preseason. Carolina leads the series 2-0 but the Ravens are 5-3 ATS at home recently. Visit NSAwins.com for expert predictions on all of thursday’s NFL preseason games from the net’s top 5 rated handicappers.