Frank Sawyer

FRANK’S CUTTING ROOM FLOOR FOR THURSDAY, 9/4:

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 Thursday is with the Kansas City Royals with the money-line versus the Los Angeles Angels listing both starting pitchers Noah Cameron and Kyle Hendricks. Kansas City (70-69) has lost three games in a row after their 4-3 loss at home against the Angeles last night. The Royals have still won 13 of their last 18 games against teams with a losing record. They have also won 17 of their last 27 games at home. Los Angeles (66-73) has won four of their last five games — but they have lost 10 of their last 12 games after winning four of their last five contests. The Angels have also lost 17 of their last 28 games on the road. Take Kansas City with the money-line listing both starting pitchers. Best of luck — Frank.

Frank Sawyer’s Hollywood Sports is on a 6 of 7 (86%) NFL TOTALS TEAR with featured 25*/20*/10* plays which included DELIVERING their 25* NFL Non-Conference Total of the Year with the Kansas City-Philadelphia Over in the Super Bowl to further their 7 of 9 (78%) NFL Game of the Month/Year Totals run! Now Frank UNLEASHES his 25* NFC East Total of the Month for tonight’s Dallas-Philadelphia O/U winner on NBC-TV at 8:20 PM ET! DO NOT MISS OUT!

Frank is on a 14 of 19 (74%) NFL run with featured plays to fuel his 22 of 31 (71%) NFL featured plays run! Now Frank furthers his 11 of 16 (69%) NFL sides run with featured plays and his 16 of 22 (73%) NFL prime-time TV mark with tonight’s Dallas-Philadelphia ATS winner! CA$H-IN Frank’s Thursday Discounted Deal — IT’S A STEAL!

At 8:20 PM ET on Thursday, we will be playing Over the Total in the game between the Dallas Cowboys (451) and the Philadelphia Eagles (452). THE SITUATION: Dallas (0-0) comes off a 7-10 season last year. Philadelphia (0-0) returns to the field as the reigning Super Bowl champions after their 40-22 victory against Kansas City in the Super Bowl.

REASONS TO TAKE OVER THE TOTAL: After winning the Super Bowl by beating their last two opponents by 50 combined points, it is safe to say that general manager Howie Roseman pushed the right buttons. He was responsible for the two most important moves last offseason. The first was signing Saquon Barkley as a free agent. Behind an elite offensive line, the running back led the league by averaging 3.0 yards before contact en route to his 2005 rushing yards in the regular season. In the postseason, he averaged 125 rushing Yards-Per-Game. More importantly, his ability to generate big plays even against stacked boxes allowed the offense to ask less of quarterback Jalen Hurts. In my deep dive last year, I voiced concern about Hurts’ career-high 15 interceptions, with opposing defenses too often goading him into bad decisions in the passing game against stacked boxes. With Barkley, Philly could still stick with the run against stacked boxes — he averaged 5.7 Yards-Per-Carry against stacked boxes, with that number rising to an 8.1 YPC clip in the fourth quarter. The Eagles averaged a league-low 26.3 pass attempts per game. But Hurts only threw five interceptions all season. After struggling against the blitz the previous year, Hurts was more effective when facing additional rushers last season — and he did not throw an interception against the blitz after tossing seven picks against additional rushers two years ago. He also thrived in the passing game against single safety coverage that stacked the box to slow Barkley down. Philadelphia scored 27.2 Points-Per-Game in the regular season, ranking seventh in the league, before amping that up to 36.3 PPG in their four playoff games. Yet their defense may take a step back after losing several contributors. Edge rushers Milton Williams and Josh Sweat were both lost in free agency — and they accounted for 4.5 of the six sacks of Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Cornerback Darius Slay was released in a salary cap move, and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was traded away. Much is now being asked of nose tackle Jordan Davis, who is the remaining early draft pick from Georgia who has yet to blossom. Linebacker Nakobe Dean will miss much of the season after a torn patellar injury in the playoffs. The Eagles have played 9 of their last 14 home games Over the Total with the Total set in the 42.5-49 point range. They have also played 5 of their last 7 home games against fellow NFC East rivals/ Dallas quarterback Dan Prescott experienced another season, spending significant time on the shelf due to an injury. The hope is that Prescott stays healthy and regains his form from 2023 — and that the offense will be reignited with the acquisition of wide receiver George Pickens from Pittsburgh. Talent is not the question with Pickens — but he was a malcontent with the Steelers. And the individual deputized to keep Pickens in line is first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who is going to modernize the offense with pre-snap motions and play-action passing that previous head coach Mike McCarthy eschewed. The players were strong advocates for Schottenheimer to replace McCarthy as head coach. Their defense will not be better after trading away pass rusher Micah Parsons. But the Cowboys' defense was not very good, even with Parsons. They surrendered 355.2 Yards-Per-Game last season, which resulted in 27.5 PPG, ranking 28th and 31st in the NFL last year. Now they are on their third defensive coordinator in the last three seasons, with Matt Eberflus taking over calling plays for that unit. Without Parsons, Dallas will not rank third in the league with 52 sacks as it did last year. The Cowboys have played 5 of their last 8 games Over the Total on the road — and they have played 7 of their last 11 road games Over the Total as an underdog. They have also played 5 of their last 8 games Over the Total as an underdog getting 3.5 to 9.5 points. And in their last 10 games played on grass, Dallas has played 8 of those games Over the Total.

FINAL TAKE: The Cowboys have played 16 of their last 24 games Over the Total against fellow NFC rivals — and the Eagles have played 9 of their last 14 home games Over the Total against NFC opponents. 25* NFC East Total of the Month with Over the Total in the game between the Dallas Cowboys (451) and the Philadelphia Eagles (452). Best of luck for us — Frank.

At 8:20 PM ET on Thursday, we will be playing the Dallas Cowboys (451) plus the points versus the Philadelphia Eagles (452). THE SITUATION: Dallas (0-0) comes off a 7-10 season last year. Philadelphia (0-0) returns to the field as the reigning Super Bowl champions after their 40-22 victory against Kansas City in the Super Bowl.

REASONS TO TAKE THE COWBOYS PLUS THE POINTS: From their 82-year-old owner/President/General Manager to the seemingly hours of daily coverage in the Sports Hot Take Industrial Complex, the Cowboys have devolved into a franchise that is high on its own supply. Winning games seems to be besides the point, a worthy pursuit only if it will generate more clicks somewhere. But this has become such a conventional wisdom talking point that relying on this argument is assessing the point spread in most likely counter-productive. The seemingly near-unanimous opinion that Dallas just got crushed in the Micah Parsons trade only confounds this perception. Quarterback Dan Prescott experienced another season spending significant time on the shelf due to an injury. But when he is healthy, the Cowboys are a competitive team, as evidenced by their 36-15 record in the previous three seasons before last year. The hope then is that Prescott stays healthy and regains his form from 2023 — and that the offense will be reignited with the acquisition of wide receiver George Pickens from Pittsburgh. Talent is not the question with Pickens — but he was a malcontent with the Steelers. And the individual deputized to keep Pickens in line is first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who is going to modernize the offense with pre-snap motions and play-action passing that previous head coach Mike McCarthy eschewed. The players were strong advocates for Schottenheimer to replace McCarthy as head coach. Now they have to put their money where they were mouths were by playing hard for him. Favorites in the opening game of the NFL season have failed to cover the point spread in 7 of those last 10 games going to 2015. With Philadelphia being the public’s overwhelming side for this game, how they are being overrated (while the Cowboys are being discounted) is fairly apparent. The defense lost several contributors. Edge rushers Milton Williams and Josh Sweat were both lost in free agency — and they accounted for 4.5 of the six sacks of Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Cornerback Darius Slay was released in a salary cap move, and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was traded away. Much is now being asked of nose tackle Jordan Davis, who is the remaining early draft pick from Georgia who has yet to blossom. Linebacker Nakobe Dean will miss much of the season after a torn patellar injury in the playoffs. Hurts has his fourth offensive coordinator in four years, with passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo taking over for Moore, who took the head coaching job in New Orleans. While Hurts posted the sixth-lowest interception rate in the league, his 3.6% turnover-worthy throw rate was 23rd and very close to the 3.7% turnover-worthy throw rate the previous year when he tossed 15 interceptions. Patullo is a Sirianni guy — and his promotion may result in returning to some of the principles that Moore successfully moved away from (like not using motion as much or relying on RPOs as the main mesh between the rushing and passing schemes). It was just two years ago that Sirianni led this team to the Super Bowl for the first time in his tenure. When he promoted from within by choosing Brian Johnson as their next offensive coordinator, the Eagles lost six of their last seven games, leading to that debacle against the Buccaneers. One wonders if this team wins because of Sirianni in the CEO head coaching role — or in spite of him?

FINAL TAKE: The Cowboys have covered the point spread in 8 of their last 11 games against fellow NFC East rivals. 10* NFL Thursday Night Discounted Deal with the Dallas Cowboys (451) plus the points versus the Philadelphia Eagles (452). Best of luck for us — Frank.