Scott Rickenbach – Sports Handicapper

NFL Thursday 10* Top Play New York Giants (+) @ San Francisco 49ers @ 8:15 ET - Laying double digits in the NFL is always a scary proposition in my book and the situation becomes even tougher on a short week. That's because a lot of things have to go right to beat any NFL team by double digits. That is why you don't see many double digit lines in the NFL. Being fully prepared to blowout a team is even tougher when playing on a Thursday after a Sunday win over a divisional foe. SF has failed to cover 6 of last 7 on Thursday when coming off a SU win in their prior game. This line is a solid 10.5 at the time of this posting and I feel we have excellent value with the big road dog in this one. Everyone is still thinking about the Giants losing to Dallas 40 to 0 in Week 1 primetime but are forgetting that the Cowboys only had 265 yards of TOTAL offense in that game! To put that in proper perspective, this 49ers team (which certainly is strong and has a solid defense too) allowed 297 PASSING yards to the Rams in their win last week! So lets not bury the Giants just yet in comparison to the Niners. The Giants got caught still lamenting the embarrassing home loss to the Cowboys when they were down by 21 midway through the 3rd quarter at Arizona last week. However, the Giants rally did two things last week. It gave them a win of course, which is big, but the bigger thing it did was give them confidence. This Giants team feels much different now emotionally and mentally heading into this battle with the Niners and they have done very well as a road dog under HC Brian Daboll as they went 8-2 ATS in that role last season. I know Saquon Barkley is out for the Giants here but guess who Matt Breida started his career with? San Francisco of course! Watch Breida have a huge game against his former team and the Giants surprise in this one! I am not saying they win this one outright but I am feeling confident in a game decided by a one score margin. Give me the double digits here! Daboll will have his team ready and he was Coach of the Year last season and will not be embarrassed again on primetime like they were in that sloppy week one loss to the Cowboys. 10* NEW YORK GIANTS (+)

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play Coastal Carolina (-) vs Georgia State @ 7:30 ET - This series has been dominated by the road team recently and, in my opinion, that is keeping the line (6.5 at time of this posting) on this one lower than it should be. Coastal Carolina is really rolling under their new coach after all the changes made after last season's last collapse. I like this Chanticleers team. I am not crazy about their defense but they have enough offense to dominate in this one. Keep in mind, new head coach Tim Beck was offensive coordinator at NC State and he has this offense firing on all cylinders now. They have played the tougher schedule than Georgia State thus far. The Chanticleers had to face the Bruins at UCLA and having that one really tough game and a SU loss helps them here. Georgia State is 3-0 SU but has not really been challenged yet. The Chanticleers are 3-0 ATS this season as they did cover in that SU loss at UCLA. The Panthers have been allowing more points than Coastal Carolina and CC has the stronger offense too. Combining all that with the home field edge, the play here is the home team as laying less than a TD is a real bargain here and the current line is 6.5 on this one at time of posting. The Chanticleers are 100% ATS this season and I am happy to test that here. Look for 4-0 ATS after this one goes in the books! 10* COASTAL CAROLINA (-)

MLB Thursday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line -160 vs New York Mets @ 7:15 ET - The price on this one is a little on the high side but I do not want to get burned if the Phillies win this game by only 1 run so I am going with money line here instead of run line though I am anticipating a blowout home win. The Phillies are 28-20 against lefties and the Mets are 15-32 against lefties this season and this is a battle of southpaws. Overall, no matter the pitchers, the Phillies are the overall stronger club plus they are at home here. The Mets are 32-45 on the road this season and struggling again away from home just like last season. The Phillies are 39-24 against teams with a losing record this season. The Mets are 42-51 against teams with a winning record this season. So the situation strongly favors the Phillies and then the pitching does as well. Ranger Suarez had a 2.45 ERA last month and has a 3.31 ERA this month. He has a 3.18 ERA in night games this season. David Peterson is 1-6 with a 7.35 ERA in road games this season. Opponents are hitting .327 against him away from home. Peterson has been piling up strikeouts of late but is still getting hit hard recently as opponents are hitting .323 against him this month. The Phillies also have the bullpen edge here! 8* PHILADELPHIA -160

Rotation #224417: Europa League | Group Stage: Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 3.5 +115 in LASK vs Liverpool @ 12:45 ET - Having narrowly missed out on Champions League Football for this season, Liverpool will come to this competition ready to impose their will. They are currently in top form and that means even if they mix in some other personnel in this one they will be too much for this Austrian opponent. LASK, however, is at home and playing with confidence as they are off to a strong start in their league. They also have scored 2 goals in 4 straight matches as a host. However, Liverpool also has plenty of attacking prowess and also has the talent edge here. That said, I am looking for a 3-1 type match here. The Reds are just too strong but have been a bit leaky at the back and you know LASK is going to play aggressive on their home pitch and look to attack that weakness. That said, a 3-2 final would also not completely shock me. Either way, plenty of goals in what should be a highly entertaining affair here in this one. 10* OVER 3.5 +115 in LASK

Rotation #206929: Romania Liga 1: Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 2.5 +110 in Hermannstadt vs FCSB @ 1 ET - Hermannstadt is sure to put up a fight here at home and FCSB is rotating in some of their personnel for this one because of a shorter than usual rest cycle due to this being a rescheduled match from earlier in the season. Both these clubs will be playing again later this weekend. That said, I do look for Hermannstadt to get on the board here with making the net ripple at least once but of course FCSB is favored for a reason. Also note that FCSB is currently at the very top of the table for the 16-club league and they have not had a draw yet this season. So if each team scores and a draw is unlikely, that puts this one at least 2-1. FCSB is scoring an average of 2 goals per match this season and has scored in all 8 of their matches! Hermannstadt has both scored and conceded in 4 straight matches and in 6 of last 7. Those 6 matches have averged 3.5 goals apiece. Each of Hermannstadt's last 3 matches have totaled 4 goals! Having scored 7 goals in their last 3 matches at home, they have plenty of confidence here. 10* OVER 2.5 +110 in Hermannstadt