Let the football betting commence

It’s only a meaningless NFL preseason contest, but who cares, the NFL is back on TV, which means the regular season is fast approaching. Buffalo and Tennessee will play in the annual Hall of Fame game from Canton, OH. On Saturday, a six-man class was enshrined, with wide receiver Bob Hayes, guard Randall McDaniel, defensive end Bruce Smith, linebacker Derrick Thomas, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson, and defensive back Rod Woodson being honored.

Later on NBC starting at 8 Eastern, the Bills and Titans will commence to cracking shoulder pads and trading helmet paint.

Buffalo made a splashy move in signing flamboyant wide receiver Terrell Owens. The Bills want to break streak of three consecutive 7-9 seasons (26-21-1 ATS) and try to make leap to at least be wild card team. Owens should fit nicely with Lee Evans on the other side and make Buffalo difficult to stop in the red zone, with four receiver sets that include Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish.

Quarterback Trent Edwards should see limited minutes at best, with backups Ryan Fitzpatrick and Gibran Hamdan seeing the bulk of the work.

Coach Dick Jauron is 5-7 and 7-5 ATS in the preseason in Buffalo and will coach squad that is 6-0 ATS in first exhibition game since 2003. With the Bills a three-point underdog at DiamondSportsbook.com, Jauron is 7-0 against the oddsmakers as underdog.

Tennessee’s tremendous 13-3 season came to disappointing end with first playoff game ouster by Baltimore, 13-10 at home as three-point favorites. Kerry Collins returns for 15th season as quarterback and is the clear number one man in Tennessee. Vince Young is the primary backup and has a lot of work to do this August to restore dwindling NFL career.

The Titans will again feature a strong rushing attack with Chris Johnson and LenDale White, but the receiving core is still a weakness. Maybe free agent acquisition Nate Washington from Pittsburgh and top draft choice Kenny Britt can add some life.

Defensively, a gaping hole was left when Albert Haynesworth left for Washington via free agency. For most teams, this would be devastating loss; however with Jeff Fisher as coach, he usually finds a way to mask deficiencies. Fisher is 29-26 SU and 28-25-2 ATS in the preseason and 18-8 ATS in games where the line is +3 to -3.

Except for 1966, there has been a Hall of Fame game every year since 1962 and neither Buffalo nor Tennessee has won here in two previous tries.