The NFL Heads north of the border

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The NFL Heads north of the border

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uploaded by Joe Hachem

When Pittsburgh and Buffalo meet in Week 2 of the preseason on Thursday night neither will really be the home team, as the game will be played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Of course, Buffalo and Toronto aren’t that far apart, but do the NFL betting angles favor the Bills in this one?

The Bills began the preseason last week with a 17-14 loss to Washington as a 6-point underdog on the NFL odds. The Buffalo offense had a tough time moving the ball in the loss, especially with starting quarterback Trent Edwards at the helm. Edwards was a lousy 1-of-5 passing for 18 yards in his short stint behind center. Marshawn Lynch was also underwhelming in limited action with three carries for nine yards. Former Buffalo starting QB J.P. Losman had a much better game than Edwards, completing 7-of-9 pass attempts for 73 yards with a TD strike to James Hardy. Buffalo’s main focus on Thursday should be to get Edwards off to a better start, and to get the offense to actually move the ball.

The Steelers won their preseason debut last week 16-10 over Philadelphia as a 2-point underdog on the NFL odds. Ben Roethlisberger only stayed in for one series due to a sore groin but he made the most of it, completing both of his pass attempts for 38 yards and a TD strike to Santonio Holmes. Willie Parker only had three carries for 20 yards in the game, while rookie Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 34 yards on seven carries in his debut. The Steelers may end up giving their backup quarterbacks more playing time this week, as they search for a replacement for No. 2 QB Charlie Batch. Batch broke his collarbone last week and is sidelined for four to six weeks. Pittsburgh added Byron Leftwich this week to fill in for Batch, but rookie Dennis Dixon, who was expected to be their No. 3 guy, will also need to be prepped in case something happens to the injury-prone Leftwich.

In four previous preseason meetings Pittsburgh is 4-0 ATS against Buffalo, and even though they’re supposed to be the visiting team in this week’s game they could be favored. Watch the NFL lines for the latest on this contest.