Monday Night Football: The Jaguars and Dolphins kick off the first Monday night action of the preseason with a meeting tonight at Land Shark Stadium in Miami. The two squads enter the 2009 season with different expectations after going in vastly different directions last year. Miami turned things around under Head Coach Tony Sparano, going 11-5 and making the Playoffs while the Jaguars dropped to 5-11 a season after scoring a post-season win in Pittsburgh. Monday Night Football: Jacksonville Jaguars vs Miami Dolphins Odds, Picks, & Predictions at Sportsbetting.com has the Dolphins listed as a -3.5 favorite in tonight's game.
Miami Dolphins: Head Coach Tony Sparano is hoping he can duplicate last season's performance after he guided the Dolphins to an 11-5 record just a year after the team went 1-15. Miami went from 16.7 points, 288 yards, and 98 rushing yards per game in 2007 to 21.6 points, 346 yards, and 119 rushing yards per game under Sparano's leadership.
The burly Sparano is working hard during this training camp to insure that the team does not fall back into its losing ways. He is doing that by closely evaluating player performance in practice and, starting tonight, in exhibition play.
He indicated his job was "to watch, to manage, to make sure from a practice standpoint that we are getting all that we need to get ourselves prepared, and to more importantly, evaluate these players to make sure we have the right 53 players."
Jacksonville Jaguars: Jack Del Rio enters his seventh year with the Jaguars and he may be feeling a little heat after Jacksonville tanked it in a year they were expected to contend for the AFC crown. Del Rio and the front office overhauled the roster during the off-season (eight starters from the 2008 team are gone) in an attempt to get younger and better.
The key to Del Rio's success, however, probably hinges on quarterback David Garrard. Garrard was a steady hand in 2007, throwing for 2509 yards, 18 touchdowns, and just three interceptions after taking over for Byron Leftwich. Last year he threw just 15 touchdowns and 13 interceptions as the full-time starter.
Tonight's game is set to get underway at 7:30pm ET in Miami.
Jacksonville Jaguars +3.5 (-130), Over 32 (-110)
Miami Dolphins -3.5 (+110), Under 32 (-110)
Cash in with sign-up bonuses, weekly reload bonuses and free payouts at SPORTSBETTING.com, where betting is safe, secure and easy.
