The NFL preseason enters the busiest night of Week 1 on Saturday night with seven games on the schedule. The spreads in most of those games is incredibly small, so you're really just picking the outright winner.
Two games to highlight on Saturday night are Kansas City at Cleveland and Arizona at Oakland. Both games have low spreads and look like good upset picks.
The Chiefs vs. Browns battle on Saturday night might not be the game bettors envisioned when the schedule was first released. Many Cleveland fans expected to get their first real look at Brady Quinn is this game but after the rookie QB's holdout kept him out of camp for so long, Quinn likely won't see a lot of action Saturday night. With Quinn's chances of earning the starting QB job all but gone, that leaves either Charlie Frye or Derek Anderson in the hot seat in Cleveland. Whoever develops a better rapport with Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow should find himself starting in Week 1 of the regular season.
The Chiefs have their own starting quarterback decision to make heading into the preseason. After Trent Green was shipped to Miami it was expected that Damon Huard would start the season behind center. However, once Brodie Croyle started firing rocket passes in camp his name was bounced around as a possible starter. The starting quarterback won't be the only thing on Herm Edwards' mind during the preseason. With Larry Johnson holding out for a new contract, Edwards has to closely examine who could fill his role if he's still holding out once the season starts. Priest Holmes announced that he was ready and willing to take Johnson's job earlier this week, and if he shows he still has it during the preseason he could be the No. 1 back again in Kansas City.
With the QB's on both teams all fighting for a starting job, this game could actually closely resemble a real NFL game from start to finish instead of the usual half-hearted preseason tilt.
In Oakland on Saturday night the fans will have to settle for the coaching debuts of Lane Kiffin and Ken Whisenhunt instead of the debut of QB JaMarcus Russell. The first overall pick is embroiled in what could end up being a lengthy holdout. Russell won't be starting at QB for the Raiders anytime soon so Kiffin has to choose between Josh McCown, Andrew Walters and Daunte Culpepper to lead the offense. The Raiders' offense has nowhere to go but up after scoring only 12 touchdowns last year.
The Cardinals enter this season the same way they've entered almost every season in team history. That would be coming off another losing season with what appears to be a bright future. The Cardinals have plenty of offensive talent led by Matt Leinart, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Edgerrin James, but they still need a lot of help on defense.
Every coach likes to win their debut and both Kiffin and Whisenhunt will be looking to get off on the right foot. Expect both new coaches to feel out their new teams as much as possible in their first game action and to go hard for a win.
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