ASA's NFLX Thursday Night Preview

 
 Las Vegas Raiders at Houston Texans 8 p.m. ET | ESPN | NRG Stadium 

 

Lines (as of Aug. 17; subject to change):

 

RAIDERS WEEK 1 RESULTS - Lost at home 27-14 vs Arizona Cardinals.  The Raiders were favored by –2.5 & Total was 42.5.  Cards covered and the Under hit.  

GAME TIDBITS FROM LAST WEEK - Kirk Cousins started under center and was 5-of-6, 50 yards, 1 TD.  Rookie #1 pick Fernando Mendoza came in and was 10-of-16, 97 yards, 1 TD.  Raiders were outgained 369 to 317 vs Arizona but Las Vegas did put up 5.7 YPP to 5.4 YPP vs the Cardinals.  The Raiders also outrushed Arizona 5.4 YPC to 4.3 YPC.  Defensively the Raiders did allow the QB trio of Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Mishew, and Kedon Slovis to complete a whopping 87% of their pass attempts (26 for 30). 

THIS WEEK @ HOUSTON – As of this writing on Tuesday, Las Vegas new head coach Klint Kubiak, had not revealed if his starters will play or how much action they will get if they do see the field.  However, we’d expect Starting QB Cousins to get at least a series or 2 before giving way to Mendoza comes in to see extensive action.  Mendoza was under center for 4 series last week and may see more in this game.  Kubiak has a career preseason record of 0-1 both SU & ATS.

 

TEXANS WEEK 1 RESULTS - Lost at home 27-7 vs LA Chargers.  The Chargers were –1.5 favorites in that game with a total of 36.5.  Chargers covered and the game went Under the total.

GAME TIDBITS FROM LAST WEEK – Houston played mostly backups with the offensive line being the only grouping where the starters played (only 1 series). Starting QB CJ Stroud did not play in the game with Davis Mills starting at QB going 9-of-15, 82 yards, 1 TD. The Texans were dominated in the stat sheet as well getting outgained 379 to 209 and 6.0 YPP to just 4.3 YPP.  Defensively Houston did hold LAC to just 3.6 YPC (4.0 YPC for Houston’s offense) but gave up nearly 300 passing to Charger back up QB’s Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei.   

THIS WEEK vs RAIDERS – The Raiders & Texans will have a joint practice in Houston on Tuesday leading into this game. Unlike last week when Houston sat most of their starters and gave back ups and rookies extended action, head coach DeMeco Ryans has already stated that everyone whoever is healthy will play in this game.  Ryans has a career preseason record of 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS.    

 

San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Chargers 10 p.m. ET | NFL Network | SoFi Stadium 

 

Lines (as of Aug. 17; subject to change):

 

 

49ers WEEK 1 RESULTS - Lost at home 19-13 vs Tennessee Titans.  The Titans were favored by –6.5 & Total was 40.  The Niners covered and the Under hit.  

GAME TIDBITS FROM LAST WEEK – The Tians played most of their starters while SF sat most of theirs.  Tennessee starting QB Ward played 3 series and the Niners sat starting QB Purdy.  Despite that, San Fran outgained Tennessee 322 to 279 but also ran 14 more offensive snaps leaving the YPP stats nearly even.  SF went pass heavy with 44 attempts through the air and only 28 rushing attempts.  The Niners never led in the game.  QB #1 (Purdy) and #2 (Mac Jones) did not see action in the game.  

THIS WEEK @ LA CHARGERS – One of SF’s 4 QB’s and last week’s starter, Kurtis Rourke, was injured in the game and won’t play here.  That means we will have to see Mac Jones this week (didn’t play last week) otherwise Adrian Martinez would have to play the entire game.  We’d be surprised if Purdy was made available for Thursday’s game.  They continue to have injury issues with key players McCaffrey, Bosa, Kittle and others on the injury report.  The 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has been very conservative with playing his starters in the preseason so we don’t expect that to change.  Shanahan has a career preseason record of 14-12-1 SU and 15-11-1 ATS

CHARGERS WEEK 1 RESULTS – Beat Houston on the road 27-7.  The Chargers were –1.5 favorites in that game with a total of 36.5.  Chargers covered and the game went Under the total.

GAME TIDBITS FROM LAST WEEK – The Chargers dominated the stat sheet in their win over Houston last week with a +1.7 YPP differential.  LA won by 20 points despite turning the ball over twice to the Texans one giveaway.  They sat starting QB Herbert but fill ins Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei combined for 275 yards through the air on 9.5 yards per pass attempt.  It was mainly a battle of back ups and 3rd teams with both Houston and LA sitting the majority of their regulars.

 

THIS WEEK vs 49ers – Charger head coach Jim Harbaugh already laid out his plans for the preseason prior to last week’s game.  The starters would mainly sit in game 1 (which they did), they’d play 1 series in game 2 Thursday vs San Francisco, and the plan is for 2 series in their final preseason game next week vs the Rams.  Harbaugh has a career preseason record of 13-10 both SU and ATS.