AMERICAN Football encyclopaedia Tom Selwyn (@Tom_Selwyn) makes his return to WLB, sharing his best bets from Monday night’s two NFL showdowns.
Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons | Tuesday 01.10 | Sky Sports 1
I see this game being quite a close one. Both teams have what could be potent offenses combined with some questions on defence. So instead of looking at the teams, I’m going to start this season by looking at a new addition to the Atlanta offense; Rookie RB Tevin Coleman, who I will be backing to go Over 46.5 yards on the ground (5/6 Paddy Power).
Banking on a rookie is always a bit of a risk but I do feel 47 yards should be more than attainable for the Indiana product that beat out the incumbent Devonta Freeman for the starting RB role in Atlanta. In his final season at Indiana, he averaged 7.5 yards a carry and just less than 170 yards a game. He only saw limited action in pre-season, but the eight carries for 56 yards against Baltimore in the final game stood out.
I also think that giving Coleman a heavy workload will be part of the Falcons game plan against the Eagles. It’s well known that Philadelphia’s head coach Chip Kelly likes to run an extremely fast offense and I believe Atlanta will be doing everything they can to limit their time of possession – running the ball will be a big part of this.
Finally, with the aforementioned Freeman also recovering from an injury, Coleman shouldn’t see a large portion of his carries taken away. Taking all these things into account, Coleman going over the line is the bet for me.
Minnesota Vikings @ San Francisco 49ers | Tuesday 03.20 | Sky Sports 1
I don’t think I’ve seen an offseason quite as bad as the 49ers have had to endure, losing so many players to retirement, free agency and plain stupidity. Now, a lot of this was on the defensive side of the ball and even with LB Navarro Bowman back from injury, I think the emphasis will shift towards their offense where they still have some good weapons to utilise. It’s with this in mind that I’ll be taking Over 41.5 points here (20/21 BetVictor).
The offense starts with QB Colin Kaepernick and he needs to start showing the talent that he displayed when they had their Super Bowl run in the 2012/13 season – he certainly has the skillset. RB Frank Gore and WR Michael Crabtree are gone, but WR Torrey Smith comes in to give them a deep threat and RB Carlos Hyde is a powerful, young runner. These two, along with veterans TE Vernon Davis and WR Anquan Boldin should give Kaepernick some nice targets to aim at in this game.
Minnesota could be big contributors to points totals this year too. QB Teddy Bridgewater is showing very nice development and they’ve also added WR Mike Wallace to provide him with a speedy receiver on the outside. However, the biggest thing has to be the return of RB Adrian Peterson. I still believe him to be the best RB in the game and he’ll be extremely motivated after missing last year. He should be very happy about going up against a much-changed 49ers front seven in his first game back.
I do like the look of both of these offenses and the matchups they have against the opposing defences. Going Overs here in what should hopefully be an entertaining game.
Best Bets
Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons – Tevin Coleman Over 46.5 Rushing Yards (5/6 PaddyPower)
Minnesota Vikings @ San Francisco 49ers – Over 41.5 Points (20/21 BetVictor)
