Today's picks: Why to take over total in Cowboys-Steelers, plus more NFL preseason, MLB and 2020 Tokyo Olympics picks for Thursday, August 5

Jonathan Coachman is joined by top sports betting experts Allan Bell and Matt Severance on the Early Edge podcast, powered by SportsLine. Get the best plays for NFL preseason football, Major League Baseball and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Thursday, August 5.

As the crew delights in the the start of the NFL preseason, the Coach informs us of a new Fantasy Football podcast. Matt then talks about how coaching approaches will affect preseason results. Allan looks ahead to Week 1 of the regular season and talks about trends involving high scores and kicking struggles. 

The Coach serves up the SportsLine Plays of the Day from the site models and experts, including France Women's Basketball -3 over Japan in the Tokyo Olympics at 7 a.m. ET on Friday. Looking at common opponents has revealed the advantages for France. 

Matt is taking the Steelers -1.5 over the Cowboys in the NFL Hall of Fame Game at 8 p.m. ET. The Steelers' QB competition and Mike Tomlin's strong preseason record will boost Pittsburgh over Dallas. In MLB, he is going with the Rockies -160 over the Cubs at 3:10 p.m. ET. Jake Arrieta is in for another rough outing, and Coors Field has always been a site of disaster for him. 

Allan is all in on the Over of 32.5 in Cowboys-Steelers. "You look at what the Steelers are going to do tonight, the first half will be Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins at quarterback, but the second half will be Joshua Dobbs," he says, "He is going to make everyone pay on the ground, because you talk about a QB competition, don't leave Dobbs out of this one as well. He has something to prove." Matt agrees on the Over. 

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