Monday Night Football – Jags vs. Dolphins and Giants and Panthers

NFL betting is back, and both handicappers and square bettors couldn’t be happier. Yes, it’s only the preseason, but that doesn’t mean there’s not value to be had getting a handle on depth charts and coaching strategies in August.

Bettors are treated to the finale of Week 1 of the preseason schedule on Monday night, with the Jacksonville Jaguars tackling the Miami Dolphins before the Carolina Panthers lock up with the New York Giants.

Jacksonville at Miami

Two teams that went in opposite directions last season meet when Miami takes on Jacksonville. The Dolphins went 11-5 (8-8 ATS) in 2008 only one year after they finished 1-15, while the Jaguars were 5-11 (4-12 ATS) after making the playoffs in 2007.

Oddsmakers have Miami as 3-point home chalk for the game (7:30 PM ET), with the total listed at 31.5. Expect the line to stay right there until kickoff, with about 53% of wagers on the spread having come in on the Fish through Sunday night.

The teams met in Jacksonville in the preseason last year, and it wasn’t much of a game until late in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins (+3.5) clipped the Jags 19-14, but both of Jacksonville’s touchdowns came in the dying minutes when the third-stringers were on the field for both squads.

The loss was a foreshadowing of things to come for both teams. Miami went on to stun futures bettors by cashing the AFC East crown, while Jacksonville ended up being the least profitable team on the NFL moneylist by season’s end.

Join BetOnline Sportsbook Today!

Head coach Tony Sparano and the Dolphins’ players come into their first preseason game feeling a little disrespected, and they could take out their frustration on the Jaguars. A playoff team last season, no one expects Miami to be at the top of the heap in the AFC East now that Tom Brady is healthy and under center in New England. That should drive Chad Pennington and the Fish to make an impression in the early going on Monday night.

David Garrard also has something to prove in Jacksonville, which brought in wide receiver Torry Holt in the offseason to help the offense. After Garrard takes his requisite snaps, expect backup Cleo Lemon to see plenty of action.

Carolina at NY Giants

Futures bettors will be zeroing in on the Giants’ offense when New York hosts Carolina in the other game on Monday night (8 PM ET). The new-look Giants are now without wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, as well as second-string running back Derrick Ward.

If New York doesn’t yet know Eli Manning’s top targets, it certainly has a myriad of options. Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss appear to have the inside track based on reports out of Giants camp, but Dominik Hixon, David Tyree, and draft picks Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden are also in the mix. They’ll all get plenty of opportunities against the Panthers on Monday night.

Carolina is priced as a 3-point underdog for the matchup, with the total on the board at 32.5 points. The teams met last December in the penultimate week of the regular season, with the Giants (-3.5) coming away with a 34-28 payday in overtime. The victory was the last of the season for New York (12-4, 12-4 ATS in 2008), as it went on to fall 23-11 as 4-point home chalk to Philadelphia in the NFC Divisional Round.

The Panthers (12-4, 9-6-1 ATS in ’08) finished the regular season on a more profitable note than the Giants, but the playoff result was the same. Carolina reeled off wins in four of its last five games (4-1 ATS) to end the regular calendar, but was surprised 33-13 as 10-point home faves in the NFC Divisional Round by Super Bowl-bound Arizona.

Carolina is much more secure at wide receiver than New York, although it’ll likely be without Steve Smith (shoulder) on Monday night. Smith practiced on Saturday, but is officially listed as questionable for head coach John Fox. In the backfield, power RB Jonathan Stewart is also expected to take the night off because of pain in his Achilles’ tendon.