Get ready for a mix of football and baseball action this Thursday night. Week 3 of the 2016 NFL season officially kicks off, when a pair of undefeated teams—New England Patriots and Houston Texans—go head-to-head at Gillete Stadium. Later on, the San Francisco Giants pay the San Diego Padres a visit at Petco Park, marking the first clash of a long four-game series. Read on below for a brief look at both games.
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Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots (8:30 PM ET)
Line: Houston Texans (-1) at New England Patriots (+1); total: 40.5 – view all NFL lines
New England’s offense is in the hands of a rookie quarterback tonight—Jacoby Brissett. He’s set to make his first career start in the league, so it won’t be really surprising to see the Pats struggle, or even worse, lose this one despite playing at home, where they are 9-1 SU and 6-13 ATS in their last 10 games. If Brissett does disappoint, expect the team to give RB LeGarrette Blount a heavier workload. He had 29 carries for 123 yards and a score during the win against the Dolphins last week.
The Texans, meanwhile, will keep pushing the ball downfield. QB Brock Osweiler has looked pretty comfortable thus far, completing nearly 60 percent of his passes in the first two weeks. Talented receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller have really made life easier for the former Bronco. Osweiler, however, is still quite far from fully adjusting to his new team, a fact shown by his three interceptions this season. It’s going to be interesting to see how accurate he’ll be against a New England defense that’s allowing just 339.4 yards of total offense, the ninth-lowest in the NFL.
Writer’s Prediction
The Pats (+1) survive, squeaking out a 23-20 win over Houston.
San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres (10:10 PM ET)
Line: San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres– view all MLB lines
Throwing for the Giants will be Jeff Samardzija (11-10, 3.97 ERA). Solid would be a good description of his previous start against St. Louis last Saturday. He logged in 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and added four strikeouts despite getting the no-decision. A repeat of that performance is quite possible tonight, as Samardzija is 6-2 with a 3.56 ERA through 11 career games (nine starts) versus the Padres.
Speaking of the Padres, they are placing the ball in the hands of Christian Friedrich (5-10, 4.78 ERA). He took the no-decision after yielding six hits and four earned runs against the Rockies last week. Prior to that start though, the lefty was very impressive versus the same team, registering seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts. Friedrich is 3-4 with a 4.73 ERA at home this season.
Writer’s Prediction
Giants win it, 6-3.
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