[Tommy]

Alex Davis' weekly football betting column gives you the low-down on some upcoming NFL pre-season games.

Chew on this one for a bit: The Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles won the same number of games last season. At the beginning of 2005 few would have predicted that result. The Eagles were expected to be a top Super Bowl contender, while the Browns were expected to be in the running for last overall.

Neither team lived up to those expectations. The Browns, though bad, finished with more wins than five other teams in their conference alone, and the Eagles went through a rough campaign that saw them finish in the NFC East basement.

So when the Browns and Eagles meet in preseason action in Philadelphia on Thursday it’ll be a battle between teams desperately looking to improve in 2006. And oddsmakers see the Eagles as having the slight edge - they’re currently listed as 3.5-point home favorites in this game, with a total pegged at 33.5 points.

While this is the exhibition opener for Cleveland, the Eagles played against the Oakland Raiders in the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday night. The result? A 16-10 Raiders victory. Philadelphia took a 10-7 lead into halftime in the contest, but a trio of Sebastian Janikowski field goals in the second half gave Oakland the win.

The good news for the Eagles, though, was the fact that Donovan McNabb looked up to the task in his brief stint in the game. McNabb went a perfect 3-for-3 for 29 yards passing. Brian Westbrook scored Philly’s only touchdown off a one-yard run in the first quarter, and picked up a game-high 32 yards on the ground.

Westbrook, though, sat out some practices this week with a foot injury, and isn’t likely to see much action on Thursday. McNabb should get a bit more work, but the team isn’t going to push him too much in the preseason; the injury McNabb suffered last year (combined with the T.O. saga) pretty much doomed the team.

McNabb’s Cleveland counterpart, Charlie Frye, is entering his first training camp as the team’s starting quarterback. Frye emerged as the team’s top QB option midway through last season, throwing for 1,002 yards at a completion rate of 59.8 percent, with four touchdown passes and five interceptions in seven games.

Modest numbers, to be certain, but the Browns are hoping those statistics will improve with additional weapons at Frye’s disposal. Confident tight end Kellen Winslow is finally back from injury, and he should be the focus of the team’s offense. Meanwhile, wide receiver Braylon Edwards is still recovering from knee surgery, but it’s possible he could be back with the team for the start of the year.

The Browns’ optimism on offense, though, has been slightly curbed by LeCharles Bentley’s knee injury. A huge pickup by Cleveland, the center has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the entire 2006 season. That leaves a huge hole on the team’s offensive line that will have to be filled with a stopgap this season.

The Eagles will get a bit more rest before their next preseason contest - they take on the Ravens in Baltimore in Week 2 action on August 17. The Browns’ second exhibition game takes place in Cleveland versus the Detroit Lions on August 18.

A second exhibition game takes place on Thursday night, this one pitting the Indianapolis Colts against the St. Louis Rams. Oddsmakers have the Rams pegged as generous 5-point favorites at home in this contest, with a total of 38.

Neither Indianapolis nor St. Louis has anything to prove at quarterback - both Peyton Manning and Marc Bulger are entrenched as their team’s starters for the 2006 campaign. Manning has little reason to play much in the preseason, while Bulger might need a little more time to test how well his shoulder has recovered.

Change is afoot for each team at the running back position, however. Dominic Rhodes is expected to start the exhibition opener for Indy, but rookie Joseph Addai will get a shot at the top RB job as well. Neither can afford poor outings if they hope to win that competition. For the Rams, Marshall Faulk is out for the year, which means Steven Jackson won’t have to worry about sharing touches.

Manning and the Colts play their second preseason game at home against the Seattle Seahawks on August 20, while Bulger, Jackson, and the Rams play host to the upstart Houston Texans in their Week 2 exhibition matchup on August 19.

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