Frank Sawyer of Hollywood Sports Reviewed

FRANK’S CUTTING ROOM FLOOR FOR SUNDAY, 8/23:

My “Cutting Room Floor” plays are the situations I considered the closest to being worthy of investment but did not make the “final cut” for my official plays today for subscribers. The last play I cut for Sunday is with the Tennessee Titans minus the points versus the Seattle Seahawks. Tennessee (1-0) will be playing their starters in the second quarter tonight, according to first-year head coach Robert Saleh. The Titans come off a 19-13 upset win at San Francisco against the 49ers as a 6.5-point favorite on August 13th. Saleh has an old school mentality regarding preseason games as he wants to use these games to build momentum and positive feelings. Going back to his four-year tenure as the head coach of the New York Jets, his teams have covered the point spread in 10 of their 14 preseason games after barely failing to cover the point spread last week. Seattle (0-1) will not be playing their starters tonight after their joint scrimmage with Tennessee on Friday. The Seahawks come off a 17-7 upset loss at home against Dallas as a 2.5-point favorite last Saturday. Under head coach Mike Macdonald, Seattle has failed to cover the point spread in 4 of their 7 preseason games. Lay the points with Tennessee. Best of luck — Frank.

Frank Sawyer’s Hollywood Sports is still on a 29 of 43 (67%) NFLx preseason run, even after not winning his Arizona play last night! Now Frank furthers his 21 of 30 (70%) NFLx Preseason Game of the Year/Month mark and his 13 of 19 (68%) NFLx TOTALS TEAR in the preseason with his 25* NFLx Preseason Total of the Year with tonight’s Seattle-Tennessee O/U winner on Fox-TV at 8:00 PM ET! DO NOT MISS OUT!

At 8:00 PM ET on Sunday, we will be playing Under the Total in the game between the Seattle Seahawks (431) and the Tennessee Titans (432). THE SITUATION: Seattle (0-1) kicked off their preseason campaign with a 17-7 upset loss at home against Dallas as a 2.5-point favorite last Saturday. Tennessee (1-0) began their Robert Saleh era with a 19-13 victory at San Francisco as a 6.5-point favorite back on August 13th.

REASONS TO TAKE UNDER THE TOTAL: Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald has confirmed that he will not play his starters in this game — especially after the first-stringers got 40 to 50 quality snaps in their joint scrimmage with the Titans on Friday. Macdonald did not play his starters last week against the Cowboys either — and the results were telling. The offense looked meager when relying on the backups. They only gained 156 yards in that game. Drew Lock completed 9 of 13 passes — but those completions accounted for only 40 yards. Second-year quarterback Jalen Milroe came on to complete 5 of 8 passes but for only 36 yards. In their last four preseason games, the Seahawks are averaging only 17.5 Points-Per-Game. But the Seattle defense played well by holding the Cowboys to just 17 points and 338 yards of offense. The Seahawks have held their last four preseason opponents to only 273.0 net Yards-Per-Game which has resulted in just 19.0 PPG. Since Macdonald took over as their head coach, Seattle has held four of their seven opponents in the preseason to no more than 17 points. Tennessee will play their starters tonight for what head coach Robert Saleh has suggested will be 20 to 25 snaps. After the joint scrimmage on Friday, don’t be surprised if that number is closer to 20. That does mean that the Titans will usually have an edge since their first-stringers will be facing the Seahawks’ second-stringers, their second-stringers will be defending Seattle's third-stringers, and so on. Tennessee’s defense looked solid last week by holding the 49ers to only 13 points and 322 yards of offense. On the other side of the ball, Tennessee’s offense struggled. Starting quarterback Cam Ward only completed 5 of 12 passes for 57 yards and no touchdown passes. Will Levis completed only 3 of 8 passes for 42 yards and no touchdowns. Mitchell Trubisky is a veteran with plenty of starting experience in the league, but he only attempted three passes last week. Since he is a known quantity, Saleh may wish to give Levis and fourth-stringer Hendan Hooker more snaps, potentially to show them off as potential trade bait in this nationally televised game. Frankly, more playing time for those two quarterbacks probably helps out Under. Going back to his time as the head coach of the New York Jets, Saleh’s teams have played five of their last seven preseason games Under the Total — and his defenses have held their last six preseason opponents to 11.7 PPG.                                                 

FINAL TAKE: The Titans have played 8 of their last 10 preseason games at home Under the Total. 25* NFLx Preseason Total of the Year with Under the Total in the game between the Seattle Seahawks (431) and the Tennessee Titans (432). Best of luck for us — Frank.