Sean Murphy Handicapper Review & Free Sports Picks

My selection is on Chicago over Texas at 7:10 pm et on Saturday.

The White Sox are surging right now and I believe they're being undervalued considerably on Saturday night against Texas. Kolby Allard will take the ball for the Rangers. This will be his fourth consecutive start and he has labored through his first three, giving up 14 hits and 11 earned runs while walking eight in 15 innings of work. He has yet to work a full six innings. Veteran Ivan Nova will counter for Chicago. He has recorded wins in each of his last three starts. Nova's ERA sat around six at the end of June but he has steadily improved since, with that number now at 4.47. You would have to go back seven starts to find the last time he gave up more than two earned runs in an outing. Take Chicago (10*).

My selection is on the 'over' between Detroit and Minnesota at 7:10 pm et on Saturday.

We saw a high-scoring contest between these two teams last night with the Tigers pulling out an improbable 9-6 win. I expect another offensive onslaught on Saturday evening at Target Field. Edwin Jackson takes the ball for the Tigers. He's at the tail-end of his career and really not able to get out big league hitters consistently at this point. Last time out he gave up five runs, four of them earned, on seven hits while walking four over five innings against the Astros. I don't see him faring much better here. Kyle Gibson will counter for Minnesota. While he does own a solid 11-6 record this season he has posted a less than impressive 4.40 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. The 'over' has gone 14-9-2 in his 25 starts to date and in his last three outings he has given up 13 earned runs in 16 innings of work. Take the over (10*).

Saturday CFB Free play. My selection is on Miami plus the points over Florida at 7 pm et on Saturday.

I simply feel that it's way too early in the season for the Gators to be laying this many points against a capable, highly-motivated opponent in the Hurricanes, on a neutral field in Orlando no less.

Yes, the Hurricanes have a redshirt freshman starting at quarterback in Jarren Williams but he won the job at camp and I'm confident he can do a good job of taking care of the football and moving the chains for Miami on Saturday night. The Gators defense should be among the best in the nation this season, but the Hurricanes know that, and I'm confident they'll come up with a gameplan that won't have Williams being thrown to the wolves to to speak.

Keep in mind, Miami returns plenty of talent from a defense that was elite a year ago. Even if the Canes offense can be marginally better this season they'll have an excellent shot at improving on their 2018 campaign. Were it not for the wheels coming off late in the season we might be dealing with a lot more hype around this Miami squad.

I'm not sure there's as much separating these two in-state rivals as the pointspread would seem to indicate. I'll grab all the points I can get with the Hurricanes in the 2019 opener and count on a tightly-contested affair. Take Miami (8*).

Sean is ready for a MASSIVE football weekend across the board with FIVE 10* NFLX winners, the Miami-Florida CFB total (77-59 CFB last season) and THREE 10* CFL winners (18-8 CFL run)! Now is the time to hop on board as Murph heats up heading into September!

CFL Game of the Week. My selection is on B.C. plus the points over Hamilton at 10 pm et on Saturday.

We won with the Lions in the first matchup between these two teams this season and I won't hesitate to go back to the well with the same play as the scene shifts to Vancouver on Saturday night. There's no question the Lions have had this rematch circled after blowing a huge fourth quarter lead in that narrow 35-34 loss in Hamilton two weeks ago. The Lions were in a tough spot last week, playing on limited rest, and ultimately fell in blowout fashion, but not before putting up a fight for a half. B.C. gave up an early first quarter touchdown in that game but actually held the Bombers out of the end zone until late in the third quarter after that. Here, they'll face a Ti-Cats offense that is still without its best player in QB Jeremiah Masoli. Backup Dane Evans has done an admirable job filling in for Masoli, but has also been turnover prone, tossing four interceptions compared to five touchdowns. Hamilton has played it fairly close to the vest with Evans under center and that doesn't work particularly well here in a road favorite role traveling across the country off an easy win in Ottawa. Take B.C. (10*).

My selection is on Minnesota minus the points over Arizona at 1 pm et on Saturday.

While I do expect the Cardinals offense and rookie QB Kyler Murray in particular to perform better than they did in last week’s loss to the Raiders, I’m not convinced their defense can do anything to slow down the Vikings on Saturday afternoon in Minnesota. The Vikings have a tremendous preseason track record under head coach Mike Zimmer, having gone a perfect 2-0 SU and ATS this August and 16-7 ATS since he took over the job. As I’ve mentioned in my analysis of ‘over’ plays on the Vikings first two preseason affairs, they have a sneaky-good preseason QB rotation with Kyle Sloter and Sean Mannion following Kirk Cousins. Both Sloter and Mannion have excelled through two games and in Sloter’s case he’s been a bonafide preseason stud going back to last year as well. I don’t believe there’s any reason to expect a letdown from the Vikings here as they stay home for a second straight game before closing things out in Buffalo next week. This is a lofty pointspread by preseason standards, but it’s warranted in my opinion. Take Minnesota (10*).

My selection is on the ‘over’ between Arizona and Minnesota at 1 pm et on Sunday.

The Cardinals defense is already injury-ravaged and after watching the Raiders mediocre offense absolutely shred them last week, I don’t have much faith in Arizona stepping up with a big defensive effort against what has been one of the best offenses in the league in the preseason in Minnesota on Saturday afternoon. We’ve already won with the ‘over’ in each of the Vikings first two games this August. In my analysis of those two plays I noted that Minnesota boasts a terrific preseason QB rotation. I saw nothing to stray from that notion last Sunday night as both Kyle Sloter and Sean Mannion threw for touchdowns and combined to complete 22-of-27 passes for over 200 yards. Kirk Cousins will likely see extended action this week, but that’s by no means a bad thing against a porous Cardinals defense. From an offensive standpoint, Arizona needs to be sharper this week as rookie QB Kyler Murray gets what will likely be his last taste of game action before the regular season kicks off in September. The offense couldn’t get anything going until late in the game against Oakland last week but things can only improve this week in Minnesota. Penalties were a big factor in the Cards awful start against Oakland, something they can clean up in advance of Saturday’s contest. Minnesota is an excellent defensive team but not necessarily in the preseason as it has allowed 44 points through two games, both victories. Take the over (10*).

My selection is on the 'under' between Florida and Miami at 7 pm et on Saturday.

This total has dropped considerably since opening and it's the right move in my opinion. Miami will be turning to redshirt freshman Jarren Williams to take over as starting quarterback. While I do feel going with Williams was the right move, I'm not certain we'll see him come out all guns blazing against an elite Florida defense on Saturday. Turnovers were the Hurricanes downfall last year and as a result I'm not expecting to see them really open up the playbook for Williams here, especially considering they're in transition on the offensive line after losing their right and left tackles from last season. The Gators offense has the potential to be electric this season but this is a tough opening week matchup against a talented and experienced Hurricanes defense that will be highly-motivated to play well for new head coach and former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. Florida's offense only really got rolling in its last four games last season, scoring 35+ points in all four of those contests. Of course, there's a big difference between taking advantage of worn down opposing defenses late in the season and going up against a fresh unit in late August. Keep in mind, like the Canes, the Gators have also suffered big losses on their offensive line, even worse in fact as they lose four starters from last year's team. Both of these teams have everything to play for on Saturday night and I'm anticipating a tightly-contested affair. Take the under (10*).