[G-men]

Ben Burns

2009 NFLX TOTAL OF THE YEAR!!

Play Selected Total: 37.5/102

I'm playing on New England and Washington to finish OVER the total. As most of you are aware, the third week of the preseason is almost always the week where the starters see the most playing time. That should certainly be the case in this evening's matchup. While that means that both the defensive and offensive starters will see extended time, I expect both teams to place a high priority on getting their offensive starters on track. The Redskins won for me last week, scoring 17 points in the process. However, 14 of those came in the second half and starter Jason Campbell was ineffective for the second straight start. Campbell is definitely hearing the negative reviews and despite saying that he's saying he's "not concerned," he should be highly motivated to deliver a stronger performance. He was quoted as saying: "...Everybody wants to talk about 1 for 7. C'mon, there have been games when I've been 20 for 23, almost. So 1 for 7 is definitely something I'm not concerned about..." As for Coach Zorn, he was quoted as saying: "I want to see a sustained drive. I want to see us push it in when we get down to the 3-yard line..." While Campbell and co. should get plenty of playing time, the Skins also have a battle at the backup QB position and a serious fight for the #3 spot with Todd Collins, Chase Daniel and Colt Brennan all in the mix. Naturally, all will be looking to make the most of whatever opportunity that they are given this evening. I successfully played against the Pats last week, so I was happy that they only managed six points. That should work in our favor here too, as they should also be a little extra motivated to score some points. Brady is still considered to be among the very best in the game and a big game here would go a long way to remind every one of that fact. Note that the Redskins gave up 47 points last in their Week 3 game last preseason. Note that this is the second of three games that the Pats will play against teams from the NFC East this preseason. The first saw 52 points scored, a 27-25 victory at Philadelphia. It's also interesting to point out that the Pats faced an NFC East team (Eagles) in Week 3 of last year's preseason. That game saw 44 combined points scored, which was New England's highest-scoring preseason game of 2008. Overall, dating back to a 41-0 victory over the Redskins in Week 3 of the 2006 preseason, the Pats have seen the OVER go 5-1 their last six preseason games against teams from the NFC East. Those games averaged 45.16 points with five of them producing a minimum of 41. I expect more of the same here with this evening's final combined score finding its way above the low number.

*10 NFLX TOY