NFL Preseason betting is already well underway with Week 3 NFL pre-season games upon us.
With the regular season right around the corner, late August is when most teams play their starters for 3 to maybe even 4 quarters, and you can see that reflected in our Week 3 odds and picks below.
Check out the our NFL Betting Guide, full pre-season schedule and our weekly free NFL picks below before placing your bets!
Thursday, August 25th, 2016
Take some action before the weekend even starts with these two Thursday night games.
Atlanta Falcons at Miami Dolphins -2.5 (8:00 pm ET)
The Falcons are 2 and 0 in the NFL Preseason while the Dolphins are 1 and 1.
Miami let Dallas rush for 170 yards on 34 carries in their 14 to 41 Week 2 NFL Preseason loss. Unless the Dolphins solve Atlanta’s rushing attack, the Falcons could make it 3 preseason wins in a row.
Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks -5.5 (10:00 pm ET)
Close to 6 points is an awful lot to give up in an NFL Preseason game. This is particularly true since the Cowboys scored 41 points in their Week 2 NFL Preseason game. Seattle’s rushing attack looks just fine while the defense has played at a high-level. The Cowboys might lose, but it’s hard to recommend giving up the points.
Friday, August 26th, 2016
Want to see a payday this Friday? Take these pointers into consideration before picking your favourites.
New England Patriots at Carolina Panthers -3.5 (7:30 pm ET)
Talk about a tough game to handicap.
No word yet on whether or not Tom Brady will start on Friday. If he does, the Panthers could be in for some trouble.
Brady won’t see real action again until Week 5 of the regular season. My gut tells me that Brady gets the start.
If so, I have to take the 3.5 points. This is still an NFL Preseason game where the Panthers won’t do anything to get QB Cam “Franchise” Newton hurt.
Buffalo Bills at Washington Redskins -2.5 (7:30 pm ET)
Buffalo already has injuries on both sides of the ball.
LB Reggie Ragland, who was having a great camp, could be out for the season while most of the Bills’ running backs are hurt.
It’s too early in the preseason, much less the actual NFL Season, for the Bills to mess around.
I think they bench a lot of starters and just ride this game out. Washington figures to cover the spread.
Cleveland Browns at Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3.5 (8:00 pm ET)
The Browns have played well in their first 2 NFL Preseason game of the year, both losses.
They should play well enough to cover versus Tampa Bay who may not want to go all out just yet on offense. New coach Dirk Koetter and QB Jameis Winston both want to save something for the regular season.
This could be another situation where one team has players trying to impress their coach on offense, the Browns, while the other team is pretty much set on offense. In those cases, I always go with the team with players trying to impress the coach.
Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints -1 (8:00 pm ET)
New Orleans’ coach Sean Payton sure isn’t happy how the Saints performed in their last preseason game, a 9 to 16 loss to Houston. Once again, New Orleans goes into a game, into the season actually, off of a terrible tragedy in the State of the Louisiana. How will the Saints respond? They should cover the spread against a veteran Pittsburgh squad that can’t afford any injuries to their star offensive players.
Green Bay Packers pk at San Francisco 49’ers pk (8:00 pm ET)
Green Bay versus San Francisco used to be one of the great rivalries in the NFL. It might still be if SF could ever get back to prominence. So far, the 49’ers offense has looked great. Hmm, that’s exactly what Philadelphia’s offense looked like during the 2015 NFL Preseason when Chip Kelly was their coach. San Francisco’s defense hasn’t been very good. It’s given up 24 points per game in the first two preseason battles. I like Green Bay.
Saturday, August 27th, 2016
It’s not Sunday, but it’s still a pretty great day for NFL preseason betting. Take a look at the rundown for the day:
Kansas City Chiefs -1 at Chicago Bears (1:00 pm ET)
The Chiefs have played in two 1-point NFL Preseason contests so far this season. They lost 16 to 17 to Seattle in Week 1. They lost 20 to 21 to Los Angeles in Week 2. How good are the Chiefs? That’s the question, right? What’s really eerie is that the last time KC faced Chicago, in November of 2015, they lost by a single point to the Bears, 17 to 18. Weird.
Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens -3 (7:00 pm ET)
Baltimore is 2-0 in the NFL Preseason. The Ravens should keep the good times rolling.
Coach John Harbaugh knows that he needs his fellas ready to go once the regular season is upon us.
What that means is that he has to keep his guys sharp. Harbaugh and the Edgar Allan Poes are dead set on not finishing 5 and 11 again. I think they easily cover the spread on Saturday.
Philadelphia Eagles at Indianapolis Colts -3 (7:00 pm ET)
Philadelphia was all offense during last year’s preseason.
That’s because Chip Kelly was in charge. This NFL Preseason, the Eagles have been all defense. Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson has brought his rushing attack philosophy to Philly.
The Eagles have responded with a 17 to 9 win over Tampa Bay and a 17 to 0 win over Pitt. It’s hard to see the Colts doing much against an already well-tuned Eagles’ squad.
New York Giants -1 at New York Jets (7:30 pm ET)
The Giants are favored. But it’s the Jets who appear poised to win this scrum on Saturday. The Jets started QB Ryan Fitzpatrick in their last preseason game, an 18 to 22 loss to Washington. They figure to play Fitz quite a bit in this matchup versus the Giants since Fitz, and the Jets, wasted so much time during the offseason arguing about his contract. That gives J-E-T-S the advantage since the Giants can’t afford to get either Eli Manning or Odell Beckham Jr hurt.
Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders -3 (8:00 pm ET)
The Titans’ rushing attack could have a field day against Oakland’s so far porous defense. The Titans rushed for 288 yards off of 33 carries in their 27 to 10 Week 1 win over San Diego. Oakland gave up 172 rushing yards off of 35 carries to Arizona in Week 1. The Raiders allowed Green Bay to rush for 145 yards on 40 carries in Week 2. If the Titans get the rush going, and they should, they can upset Oakland on the money line.
Los Angeles Rams at Denver Broncos -4.5 (9:00 pm ET)
Los Angeles is undefeated in two NFL Preseason games, both played at the L.A. Coliseum, this season. They beat Dallas 28 to 24. They took down Kansas City 21 to 20. Denver should win this game. My problem is that the spread is just too high. This is still a preseason game. Also, points could be hard to come by for both teams since neither is going to push the envelope against eithers’ stout defense. ATS? I have to go Rams.
Sunday, August 28th, 2016
And finally, last but not least! Time to grab a beer and compare the lines for the biggest day of Preseason Week 3.
San Diego Chargers at Minnesota Vikings -4 (1:00 pm ET)
The Vikings are undefeated so far during the preseason. Minnesota beat Cincinnati 17 to 16. They beat Seattle 18 to 11. Both wins were on the road. Minnesota should be awfully tough to beat on Sunday, Aug. 28. But what about the spread? Minnesota’s rushing attack could go nuts versus the Chargers sieve-like defense. I think the Vikings cover the spread in this matchup.
Arizona Cardinals at Houston Texans -1 (4:00 pm ET)
Houston’s offense hasn’t been overly impressive. QB Brock Osweiler figures to get the start again since he has to learn an entirely new playbook. With Osweiler under center, the Texans are probably the team to back at -1. This is one tough game to handicap because Arizona and Houston are loaded on both sides of the football.
Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars -1.5 (8:00 pm ET)
The Bengals looked fantastic in their last game. They dominated Detroit 30 to 14 on the road. Jacksonville is a better team than Detroit. Unfortunately for Jaguar fans, Cincinnati figures to start QB Andy Dalton in this matchup.
If he doesn’t start and play the bulk of the game, QB A.J. McCarron will. Either way, the Bengals figure to be a straight up winner on Aug. 28.
Didn’t catch last week’s pre-season games?
We’ve got your Week 2 Recap right here with the most important highlights.