I want to address a couple general perceptions.
First, the inconsistency of the TB offense. This "inconsistent" offense, with Brad Johnson at the helm, scored 20, 25, 26, 35, 20, 17, 10, 12, 38, 23, 21, 20, and 34. 7 of his 13 starts, they scored between 20-26, and 3 of the others they scored over 30. I don't call that too inconsistent. Maybe some would.
Second, Brad Johnson can't play. Well, let's look at a little QB comparison between McNabb and Johnson.
(these never space right in HTML, but you can piece it together)
Att Comp Pct Yds YPA Lg TD Int Rate
361 211 58.4 2289 6.3 59t 17 6 86.0
451 281 62.3 3049 6.8 76t 22 6 92.9
Guess who is who? If you guessed Johnson is the one with the 86 rating, you'd be wrong. Obviously, McNabb brings more to the game than his passing, but what has TB done to mobile QB's this season, shut down Vick twice, and Garcia once for starters. Sure McNabb is back and he looks healthy, but against TB? This is a different class of defense. B. Johnson was one of the highest rated QB's in the league this year. He didn't get many props, not with Vick, Brooks, Favre, McNabb and Garcia in the conference, but he had a SOLID year.
Defensively, TB gave up 4044 yds to PHI's 4754. One stat that really jumps out at you is that TB had 31 INTS to 15 for PHI over the season. If they get ahead in TO's, a PHI cover, especially at 4, could be in serious jeopardy.
Kicking game wise, you do have to give the nod to Philly. Akers this season was 30/34 with a long of 51 while Grammatica was 32/39 with a long of 53. However, Akers missed a big kick against NY in the last week of the season where he went 0/1 and missed a big one last week while going 2/3. Grammatica has had his problems (missed one last week while going 1/2), but Akers certainly isn't in top form either.
Man, Philly has been great ATS at home this year, but I'm really looking at two evenly matched teams, and I like the 3.5 or the 4. By Sunday, maybe we can find a 4.5, and I'd love that.
Gruden put together a great game at NE last year, while Reid did the same against the Rams. If I made lines, I'd give the home field '3' to PHI, but no more.
Lean : TB.
This one sits at +4 (-105) at SIA. I expect either the price to get better or the number to go up. Hold off.
First, the inconsistency of the TB offense. This "inconsistent" offense, with Brad Johnson at the helm, scored 20, 25, 26, 35, 20, 17, 10, 12, 38, 23, 21, 20, and 34. 7 of his 13 starts, they scored between 20-26, and 3 of the others they scored over 30. I don't call that too inconsistent. Maybe some would.
Second, Brad Johnson can't play. Well, let's look at a little QB comparison between McNabb and Johnson.
(these never space right in HTML, but you can piece it together)
Att Comp Pct Yds YPA Lg TD Int Rate
361 211 58.4 2289 6.3 59t 17 6 86.0
451 281 62.3 3049 6.8 76t 22 6 92.9
Guess who is who? If you guessed Johnson is the one with the 86 rating, you'd be wrong. Obviously, McNabb brings more to the game than his passing, but what has TB done to mobile QB's this season, shut down Vick twice, and Garcia once for starters. Sure McNabb is back and he looks healthy, but against TB? This is a different class of defense. B. Johnson was one of the highest rated QB's in the league this year. He didn't get many props, not with Vick, Brooks, Favre, McNabb and Garcia in the conference, but he had a SOLID year.
Defensively, TB gave up 4044 yds to PHI's 4754. One stat that really jumps out at you is that TB had 31 INTS to 15 for PHI over the season. If they get ahead in TO's, a PHI cover, especially at 4, could be in serious jeopardy.
Kicking game wise, you do have to give the nod to Philly. Akers this season was 30/34 with a long of 51 while Grammatica was 32/39 with a long of 53. However, Akers missed a big kick against NY in the last week of the season where he went 0/1 and missed a big one last week while going 2/3. Grammatica has had his problems (missed one last week while going 1/2), but Akers certainly isn't in top form either.
Man, Philly has been great ATS at home this year, but I'm really looking at two evenly matched teams, and I like the 3.5 or the 4. By Sunday, maybe we can find a 4.5, and I'd love that.
Gruden put together a great game at NE last year, while Reid did the same against the Rams. If I made lines, I'd give the home field '3' to PHI, but no more.
Lean : TB.
This one sits at +4 (-105) at SIA. I expect either the price to get better or the number to go up. Hold off.
