New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019
nypost.com
ACTIONACTION
In association
withBy MATT YOUMANSL
AS VEGAS — If there is a
time to buy into Jon
Gruden’s sales pitch, this is
it. But ignore Gruden’s bluster
when he talks about the Oak-
land Raiders rebuilding for a
Super Bowl run because that’s
not the point in August.
Which coaches put a priority
on winning in the NFL pre-
season? The answers to that
question are the keys to cashing
tickets. Gruden is one correct
answer.
Only the handicappers who
truly love to put in work on bet-
ting exhibition games know
Gruden is 8-0 in Week 1 of the
preseason since 2002 (5-2-1
against the spread). In the big
picture, that record means abso-
lutely nothing, yet it’s a fact that
matters this week.
“The super-competitive, crazy
guys care more about winning,
and Gruden is a good preseason
coach,” said Chuck Edel, a pro-
fessional sports bettor from Las
Vegas. “Some coaches are trying
to instill a winning attitude and
change things.”
Gruden’s enthusiasm is conta-
gious and his optimism can be
intoxicating. All of it will be on
display while the Raiders’ train-
ing camp is featured on HBO’s
“Hard Knocks” this month. Bet-
tors are advised to tune out the
Super Bowl hype and focus on
the next game on the schedule.
The Raiders open the pre-
season by hosting the Rams on
Saturday, and the William Hill
line already has moved up 2½
points to Oakland -5½. Gruden
is motivated to win and has vet-
eran quarterbacks to run his of-
fense. Rams coach Sean McVay,
who’s off of a Super Bowl loss,
has depth concerns on his of-
fensive line and seems indiffer-
ent to winning in August.
“The sharps definitely bet the
preseason,” William Hill sports-
book director Nick Bogdanovich
said. “There’s no question. All
you have to do is look at the
[line] volatility. But you can’t
show up with a wheelbarrow. It’s
smaller money.”
No game is meaningless when
there’s money on the line. Edel
is a bettor who spends an ex-
traordinary amount of time dig-
ging for nuggets of information.
“The preseason is totally dif-
ferent. It’s all about the informa-
tion and any edge you can get,”
Edel said. “I watch every press
conference and read all the lo-
cal newspapers. There might be
one sentence that I pick up on
that maybe gives me an advan-
tage. You want to see how long
the starters might be playing.
You don’t get much game-plan-
ning in the preseason, but if a
team is game-planning against a
team that’s not game-planning,that’s a huge edge. You have to
kind of feel it out.
“The biggest advantage we
have as bettors is they put the
line out Sunday or Monday
without having the information.
Once you do get the informa-
tion, you have to move fast.
Other people are betting this
and you’re obviously looking to
get the best number.”
The Rams-Raiders line is the
biggest mover so far in Week 1.
Here’s a two-minute drill on
some other games to watch
(William Hill lines):
Jets (-1½) at Giants: Adam
Gase and defensive coordinator
Gregg Williams, the Jets’ new
coaches, figure to be more ag-
gressive while implementing
their system. The experienced
quarterbacks behind Sam Dar-
nold — Trevor Siemian, Davis
Webb and Luke Falk — should
give the Jets an edge over the
Giants and rookie Daniel Jones.
Colts (+1) at Bills: In his first
year, Colts coach Frank Reich
went 3-1 in the preseason with a
one-point loss to Baltimore.Reich has a positive backup QB
situation with Jacoby Brissett,
Phillip Walker and Chad Kelly.
Buffalo can move the ball with
No. 2 Matt Barkley, but rookie
Tyree Jackson is likely to strug-
gle.
Redskins (-1) at Browns:
Cleveland opened -1½ before
sharp money showed on Wash-
ington, which has a competitive
quarterback rotation with veter-
ans Colt McCoy and Case
Keenum trying to fend off
rookie Dwayne Haskins.
Falcons at Dolphins (-3½):
After losing the Hall of Fame
Game last week, Atlanta coach
Dan Quinn is 0-9 in the past
three preseasons. New Miami
coach Brian Flores is talking up
the quarterback competition
between Ryan Fitzpatrick and
Josh Rosen.
Jaguars at Ravens (-4¹/₂):
This line opened high because
there are no secrets with Balti-
more coach John Harbaugh,
who’s 13-0 in the past three pre-
seasons and 18-3 since 2014. The
Ravens have veteran RobertGriffin III and rookie Trace Mc-
Sorley behind starter Lamar
Jackson.
Panthers at Bears (-3): Vet-
eran backups Chase Daniel and
Tyler Bray know Chicago coach
Matt Nagy’s offense, and Daniel
is one of the top No. 2 QBs in
the league.
Chargers at Cardinals (-2):
Arizona is a mystery team.
First-year coach Kliff Kingsbury
might want to play No. 1 pick
Kyler Murray more than usual
in the preseason. Tyrod Taylor,
a former starter, is the Chargers’
capable backup to Philip Rivers.
Cowboys at 49ers (-4): Dal-
las coach Jason Garrett, 0-4 last
year, is a popular preseason
fade. Backup QBs Nick Mullens
and C.J. Beathard started a total
of 13 games for San Francisco
last season after Jimmy Garop-
polo’s injury.VSiN senior editor Matt
Youmans co-hosts The Edge,
weekdays 3-6 p.m. on Siri-
usXM 204, fuboTV, AppleTV
and VSiN.com.HE’S GAME: Sharps bet the NFL preseason and like to back coaches such as the Raiders’ Jon
Gruden, who has won his past eight exhibition openers. AP