NFL gambling is expected to see a lot of backups on Friday as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Houston Texans in preseason action. Neither starting quarterback is expected to play in this NFL betting matchup. Here are some things to keep in mind as you look at the Texans and Bucs in NFL betting on Friday.
NFL has the Bucs as a 3-point favorite with a total of 34. Tampa Bay recently named Byron Leftwich as their starting quarterback to start the season but he is not expected to play on Friday. That means backups Josh McCown, Josh Johnson and Josh Freeman will see a lot of playing time. McCown could be in line for a backup job somewhere else as the Bucs are entertaining trade offers for the quarterback. Freeman and Johnson are expected to get the bulk of the playing time in this NFL matchup. Freeman is the Bucs first round draft choice and their future starting quarterback and he could end up as the primary backup to Leftwich this season.
NFL tells us that the Bucs have fired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski. It is a radical change right before the NFL season but shockingly it is the second time a team has fired their offensive coordinator before the start of the season as the Chiefs did the same thing, getting rid of Chan Gailey. Tampa Bay will now have quarterbacks coach Greg Olson running the offense. Olson has experience, although how much stock you put in his running the Lions offense in 2005 and the Rams in 2006 and 2007 is in question as NFL indicates.
Houston is not going to play their starting quarterback at all on Friday in NFL gambling. Quarterback Matt Schaub suffered a sprained ankle against the Vikings in the last NFL betting preseason game and will not play. He is expected to be ready for the NFL regular season opener. The Texans do have some capable backups though. Dan Orlovsky, Rex Grossman, and Alex Brink will share time on Friday in this NFL gambling game. Grossman has not played since getting hurt last month in a win against Kansas City in NFL.
The Bucs have dominated this NFL preseason series. They have won six of the seven all-time meetings in NFL betting including 16-6 last year.