Patriots QB Tom Brady is reportedly close to signing a contract extension.
The New England Patriots try to build on an impressive opening preseason performance when they meet the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night.
Bookmaker.com has Atlanta as 2 ½-point favorites with a total of 37-points. The only other Thursday game is Indianapolis (plus 3 ½) versus Buffalo from Toronto's Rogers Centre.
New England got a 27-24 win as 1 ½-point home favorites over New Orleans last Thursday. The Saints traveled north a couple of days early for joint practices and the Patriots have done the same this week in Atlanta. This will be done more frequently around the NFL as teams prepare for a future 18-game regular season.
Quarterback Tom Brady was solid against the Saints, 5-of-8 for 67 yards. He engineered a 14-play, 93-yard touchdown drive, and left the game in the first quarter with a 10-0 lead.
Brady should see about the same amount of time on Thursday. He’s been very demonstrative in training camp, even calling his offensive linemen ‘fat cows’ at one point. He’s reportedly close to signing a contract extension, which would be great news for sports betting fans.
Brian Hoyer will sub in next for New England. The second-year quarterback was solid once again (8-of-13, 106 yards) last week. Rookie Zac Robinson from Oklahoma State looked overmatched much of the time, and he’ll need to impress if he has any hope of making the roster.
New England has a bunch of young and talented defensive players, but has already lost 3-4 end Ty Warren (hip injury) for the season. Leigh Bodden, Tully Banta-Cain, Gary Guyton, Jermaine Cunningham and Damione Lewis were not spotted at either of the Tuesday practices. That means the Patriots defensive depth could be tested.
Receiver Wes Welker could play his first live action since tearing his ACL in the last game of the regular season. His recovery has been remarkable and New England’s offense should again be top-5 in the league in total yards this season.
The Patriots were a respectable 11th in total yards allowed last year (320.2). Their continued improvement will determine if they have value at plus 575 to win the AFC.
Atlanta has been a trendy pick at plus 875 to win the NFC. The Giants, Cardinals and Saints have all surprised winning the conference recently and there’s no dominant team for 2010.
The Falcons’ success is predicated a lot on health. Quarterback Matt Ryan (turf toe) and running back Michael Turner (ankle) both missed games last year and were banged up in others.
Turner had 29 yards on four carries in the exhibition opener against Kansas City. The Falcons won 20-10 as 2 ½-point home favorites. Ryan only played two series (3-of-6, 34 yards), but twice got them into field goal range. Atlanta was out-gained in total yards (273-244), but won the turnover battle 3-0.
Atlanta’s two backup quarterbacks are veteran Chris Redman and second-year John Parker Wilson out of Alabama. Parker Wilson played almost the entire second half versus the Chiefs.
The Falcons are looking for receiving targets besides wide-out Roddy White and tight end Anthony Gonzalez. Michael Jenkins (shoulder) is out for the preseason. Harry Douglas (knee) is scheduled to make his preseason debut after missing all of last season.
The defense ranked 21st in total yards last year (348.9) and 14th in points (20.3). Cornerback Dunta Robinson was signed to give the secondary a boost, but he should miss Thursday (hamstring) along with cornerback Brian Williams (knee) and defensive tackle Peria Jerry (knee).
These teams met in the regular season last year with New England winning 26-10 as 4 ½-point home ‘chalk.’ The Patriots out-rushed the Falcons 168-58. New England won both of its road preseason games last year (1-1 ATS).
FOX will have the national broadcast at 5 p.m. (PT). Weather is not a factor in the Georgia Dome.