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The New York Giants vs. New York Jets Monday Night Football betting line is up. Sportsbooks have the Jets at -3. The total is 33.5.

Free MLB picks from top sports handicappers are also up, but the big story is on ESPN. Look for thunderstorms in the second half of this game. Wind will not be a factor.

Here is the official betting preview. The Giants have a new defensive coordinator in Perry Fewell. He has installed a much more aggressive defense than they played last year.

Emotions will likely be much higher than for most preseason openers. There has been significant trash talk about the opening of New Meadowlands Stadium and who “owns this town” now that the Jets no longer play at “Giants Stadium.”

Jets starters will play one quarter, plus a series, though minus their best defensive player Darrelle Revis, a holdout. Rookie Kyle Wilson starts at left corner. WR Santonio Holmes will likely play longer than the rest of the starters. 

It’s the first game for Jets QB Mark Sanchez following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

According to ESPN.com, out are: “WR Tim Brown (groin), OG Chris Snee (knee), S Michael Johnson (back), WR Steve Smith (groin), S Kenny Phillips (knee), LB Keith Bulluck (knee), OG Rich Seubert (hand), TE Kevin Boss (hamstring) and WR Sinorice Moss (groin).”

The report continues, “There are a few maybes, including TE Jake Ballard (hamstring), TE Travis Beckum (hamstring), CB Terrell Thomas (knee), CB Corey Webster (glute) and TE Scott Chandler (hip).”

Their starters will play 15-18 snaps. 

With a total of four TEs sidelined, the Giants have been limited in practice.

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While most preseason games are generally just a chance for the starters to go through the motions and for rookies and younger players to do their best to impress their coaches, tonight’s Jets-Giants game has a distinctly different feel to it.

It might be because of the new attitude that Rex Ryan has brought to the Jets, or possibly because both teams have been doing an inordinate amount of jawing leading up to the game, but for whatever reason this feels more like a regular season game than an exhibition. 

At the end of the day, this game doesn’t impact the standings, and regardless of who emerges with the win, it’s not going to drastically change either team’s situation heading into the regular season.

But there is one thing that both teams are playing for tonight—pride. 

It’s accepted throughout New York that the Giants have been the main draw and the Jets have played the little brother role for the majority of their existence. 

However, New Yorkers and NFL junkies alike saw a slight shift in this dynamic last season, as the Giants played some of their worst games toward the end of the season and missed out on the playoffs, while the Jets made an inspiring run to the AFC Championship game and nearly made the Super Bowl.     

Because of the Jets history of playing second fiddle to the Giants for most of their existence as well as the Giants embarrassing play down the stretch in 2009, both teams enter tonight’s game—as well as the 2010 regular season—with a chip on their shoulder.

Of course anyone who cares about this game will be looking at the usual story lines such as how rookies Jason Pierre-Paul, Linval Joseph, Kyle Wilson, Vladimir Ducasse, Matt Slauson, Phillip Dillard, and Joe McKnight will fare in their professional debuts.

But let’s take a look at the other story lines that will be in play when the Giants and Jets take the field tonight. 

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The last thing to ever take from an NFL preseason game is the final score.  While winning is a nice consolation, the real grit is sorting the cream of the crop from the expendable underachievers and fielding a roster that gives your team the best chance at competing with the best that the league has to offer.

Pete Carroll’s first command in a game situation of the Seattle Seahawks played out about as well as he could have expected.  Carroll should be proud of how his circus of offseason transactions translated to what could a fine looking roster with quality depth.

Here are just a few observations from the first game action of the year:

The defensive line is enormous.  A huge departure from what the previous regime had built in years prior.  This line, that includes three of four down linemen weighing over 300 lbs, should be rather good at clogging running lanes and forcing runners outside. 

The pass rush remains a question mark.  Chris Clemons played well at the end spot, as did a surprisingly swift Red Bryant on the other end.  The emphasis on size up front should aid in freeing the linebackers to make plays free of advancing blockers.  

The defense as a whole looked pretty good, though appeared to play rather conservatively when the first team was on the field, allowing Vince Young to pass for 78 yards on an opening drive score.  The corners played 10 yards deep on most of the plays allowing Young to complete five of six attempts in his only game action of the night. 

Although they did allow the touchdown run from the one-yard-line, the defense held their ground for two plays on short yardage, a weakness of the team last season.

Josh Wilson’s interception showed why he should be playing opposite Marcus Trufant in a starting capacity.  Playing press coverage on a comeback route that should favor the receiver, Wilson flashed his speed and hands to make the easy grab along the sideline.  It was a curious why Kelly Jennings ran on with the first team defense, but Wilson should have the edge in that competition.  

On the offensive side of the ball, the Seahawks displayed a variety of looks as well as showing off what figures to be a heated battle for roster spots at the wide receiver position.  Charlie Whitehurst showed flashes, making many good passes while showing the intelligence to play the position. 

The 51-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams was an audible called after identifying the blitz coming from an eight man rush by the Titans.  In single coverage, where Williams had an obvious size advantage, a play that was simply designed to check down facing the blitz turned into a long touchdown.

The feel good story of Mike Williams’ second chance to have an NFL career could become a reality.  His size is something the team has lacked for years, and if he can stay in shape and continue his growth and command of the new offense, he could find himself in position to make the final 53-man roster.  While the current depth chart doesn’t reflect anything significant, he is currently listed as the number four wide receiver on the roster.  

All in all, it was a decent outing for the team in their first game action since the season finale against this same Titans team last January.  While a lot still remains to be seen during the remainder of the preseason, The Seahawks have a lot of talent to sort through and should be proud of the performance they put forth.

*Note: MLB Lofa Tatupu, LB Leroy Hill, DE Lawrence Jackson, OG Chester Pitts, CB Josh Pinkard, and LB Joe Pawelek all sat out this game for various reasons.

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The first preseason game is in the books with the Atlanta Falcons besting the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-10, at the Georgia Dome last night. Although there were plenty of positives for the Falcons in the first game of the season, some inconsistent play and uncharacteristic penalties seemed to stall the team at times.

The Falcon first team offense played fairly well when it was on the field, and the defense had some bright spots against a overmatched Chiefs team.

The no-huddle attack was out in full form. Is this the coaching staff just working out the plays or a sign of things to come in the regular season?

Michael Turner is in Week 6 form, displaying superior vision and hitting holes with purpose and power. Preseason game or not, Falcon fans have to be pleased to see him running with such fervor and finishing with power.

Click here for the season preview on Michael Turner.

Matt Ryan played commendably but didn’t have much time to operate in the pocket as the Chiefs did succeed in bringing pressure from the outside.

Two Montana Grizzlies had some bright moments as Biermann continued to display a tenacity for rushing the passer and rookie Shann Schillinger took a interception back 29 yards.

The big story of the game, however, has to be the play of Jamal Anderson, often targeted by experts, fans, and critics for his play. We’ve all heard the rumors and reports of Anderson doing well in training camp, but Falcon fans had heard this before with little to no results during the season.

If this first preseason game is any indication, the Falcon pass rush seems to be in good hands, further validating the front office’s stance this past offseason.

A breakdown of players and positions below.

The Good: The Falcon Defense

Jamal Anderson was close many times and played well along the line wherever he was, either at the end or inside. He continued to show stout ability in the run support and showed bursts off the line rushing the passer. Great showing by him and hopefully he can continue to build on his play. The Falcons pass rush needs all the help they can get.

Kroy Biermann’s performance was terrific, spanking Ryan O’Callaghan and stripping Cassel for a John Abraham recovery. His added bulk did not seem to slow him down as his high motor style of play continued to play a huge role in the game.

Secondary Play

Up and down the Falcon roster, players in the secondary were playing lights out. Flying to the ball, intercepting, breaking up passes, and playing with desire filled out the night for the Falcons.

Even with Dunta not playing, our corners and safeties set the tone all night by punishing the ball carrier repeatedly. Christopher Owens continues to impress the more I watch him, Decoud looks ready to take the next step, and some promising play by Schillinger and Jackson late provided more positives.

Sidbury had a terrific play in the second period where he launched right off the ball and bulled his way past the guard the fullback and tackled Jamal Charles for a loss. Great hustle and effort by the kid.

Midway through the second period, our rookies entered the game for the offensive line. Hawley and Reynolds were both solid in providing a pocket for both Redman and Wilson, but the push on running plays dropped off significantly.

Dimitri Nance from Arizona State was a pleasant surprise, running with determination and decent vision as he scored two touchdowns.

The Bad

Sam Baker

Baker either seemed to be hurt or not focused as he had a sloppy game against the Chiefs. He struggled against Tamba Hali quite a bit and struggled when Hali went wide. The false start penalty in the first period was an indication of Baker struggling against Hali’s speed rush.

The second drive of the game featured a Baker false start, followed right up by a Hali speed rush that collapsed the pocket on his side. Baker needs to step it up.

The 3-4 seemed to give the Falcons trouble last year, and both Clabo and Baker seem to struggle when forced to move laterally against quicker linebackers rushing on the edge. Last night was no different as Baker had a poor showing against Hali.

Inconsistencies

The first team offense outside of the running game seemed to shoot itself in the foot at every turn. Being the first preseason game, there are wrinkles to iron out of course.

The first drive itself shows a perfect example of the problems that need addressing and no doubt are already being reviewed by the coaching staff:

• The first play of the game was a power run to the right side of the Falcon line as Turner toted the rock up the middle for a gain of eight

• Turner displays excellent vision and cuts back to the left side behind Blalock for a gain of nine for a first down and then some.

• Vrabel then just flat out embarrasses Clabo, forcing Ryan to check down to Turner for a gain of six.

• Turner takes the ball and follows Mughelli behind Dahl for another gain of nine. Turner running with power and authority and the O-line carving out some impressive holes against the front seven for the Chiefs.

• Snelling plunges ahead for two, missing a huge gaping hole along the right side of the line.

• Snelling takes another handoff and hits the hole hard again on the right side, the O-line continues to muscle the Chiefs around on straight power running plays.

• Snelling takes a stretch play to the left and manages to eek out a solid four yards on a play that looked to be strung out by the Chiefs’ linebackers.

• Roddy White whiffs on a block on Vrabel on a 3rd-and-2 from the 11-yard line, tackling Snelling on the sweep and ends the drive with a Matt Bryant 30-yard field goal.

Domination by the Falcon running attack and offensive line sprinkled with a few bad plays of miscommunication and mistakes. While the mistakes and bad plays can be attributed to the first-game jitters, the offensive line chemistry and rushing attack early was a terrific building block moving forward.

The Falcons did not fare as well when trying to bounce runs to the outside.

Clabo and Baker struggled with the speedier linebackers rushing to the outside, lateral movement was not in Baker’s vocabulary last night at all.

Weatherspoon did not have a good showing, outside of some theatrics in the first quarter. He might be better served by toning down the bluster a little and focusing at the task at hand.

He would whiff on running back Moore in the flat early in the second period, and was slow to react to the pass the following play. Looks to be playing with his head too much and overthinking instead of reacting.

Spoon will work these kinks out with the coaching staff.

The Falcon defense, who continued to have starters in there long into the second period, had a very solid showing against admittedly a weaker opponent. It is the preseason, so not much can really be gleaned from a stripped-down playbook, and the coaches making substitutions on the fly.

What we can learn from the first preseason game is that while the Falcons do have a lot of work to do, there are some very nice performances that fans look to. Naysayers may just point to the fact that it is the preseason, but this was a great performance for the youngsters on this team.

It is easy for anyone to say that the talent level of this team has risen, as well as the depth. It is now up to the team to put in the work and effort to continue building and gelling as a unit

The defensive line with Peters, Jerry, and Babineaux had very solid performances and Biermann, Sidbury, and Anderson showed what they could do. All this in front of a secondary that was playing with a lot of passion. Will they be able to put it all together during the regular season?

I have good reason to believe so, and if you are a Falcon fan, you should too.

Click here for my Falcon defensive unit preview, in which the details are outlined for a top 10 defense in the making this year.

Next up? the New England Patriots

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