NFL Preseason Week 2 Betting Picks: Best Values Friday Night, Aug. 16
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Yesterday we saw 10 teams take the field for the first five games of NFL preseason week 2. As we learned last night, keeping up with the news to the very last second is especially crucial in NFL preseason betting.
Despite early reports that Aaron Rodgers and the starters would play a full quarter, news broke 30 minutes before kickoff that the Rodgers was inactive due to a sore back.
That would have thrown a wrench in our plans considering we had bet Packers +4.5 early, but online sports betting sites were slow to adjust to the news, and we were able to add two first half bets to our betting card (Baltimore moneyline and Under 20).
Be sure to follow us on Twitter; Thursday’s article was updated with the news and tweeted out as soon as Rodgers was ruled inactive.
Tonight we get three more games as teams take the field in New York, Tampa Bay and Carolina.
Remember, you can expect starters to have a larger role in NFL preseason Week 2, as Chris Gimino points out in his Introduction to NFL Preseason DFS and Strategy:
Week 2: Starters play a more substantial volume, but still give way to the deeper roster positions somewhere between one quarter and one half into the game.
Now, let’s take a look at the NFL preseason Week 2 betting picks for Friday night.
Be sure to read our NFL preseason betting strategy guide to find out why betting during the preseason differs from traditional NFL betting and how to take advantage of the house.
NFL Preseason Week 1 Betting Picks — Buffalo Bills vs Carolina Panthers -2.5, O/U 40.5
7 p.m. ET
The Buffalo Bills put up 24 points in Week 1 of the preseason against the Indianapolis Colts. Matt Barkley led the Bills with 126 passing yards and a touchdown, and the Bills added two touchdowns on the ground. One of those came from a 65-yard run by Christian Wade. The Bills running game combined for 163 yards in the 24-16 win.
A win won’t be as easy to come across Friday night, as Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera plans to give starters reps Friday night. NFL preseason bettors can’t depend on Rivera quite like they can John Harbaugh, but Rivera is 18-14-1 ATS in preseason action throughout his career.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott, on the other hand, is just 4-5.
While some Panthers starters will see the field, it’s unlikely Cam Newton will. Newton is recovering from a shoulder injury, but it appears he’s getting close to full strength.
“It’s like night and day,” Bills cornerback Captian Munnerlyn said, via the Charlotte Observer. “His arm looks a whole lot better. You can tell he’s been working. I’m expecting big things.”
Before signing with the Bills, Munnerlyn was teammates with Newton for the last two seasons. The two teams have held a series of joint practices leading up to Friday’s preseason game.
Still, as competitive as Rivera is during the preseason, I don’t see the Panthers taking any unnecessary risks with their franchise quarterback.
That means it will be rookie Will Grier and Kyle Allen taking the bulk of the snaps as they battle for the backup job, and fourth-stringer Tayler Heinicke playing towards the end of the game. The quarterbacks will likely be without their top two TE options, Greg Olsen and Ian Thomas.
Best Pick
Admittedly, I don’t have a great feel for this one yet. Even if Josh Allen plays the first quarter, he’ll be focused on improving his passing game rather than using his legs, which was one of his biggest assets last season. As it currently stands, I lean towards backing the more established preseason coach.
My Pick: Carolina moneyline -137 (use our BetStars promo code to get these odds)
NFL Preseason Week 1 Betting Picks — Chicago Bears vs. New York Giants -2.5, O/U 42
7:30 p.m. ET
There’s been a lot of chatter surrounding Daniel Jones following his impressive performance in Week 1 of the NFL preseason. Jones didn’t play a lot, but he did complete all five of his passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, shutting up the Giants fans who hassled him during training camp.
After one pass from Eli Manning and five from Jones, backups Alex Tanney and Kyle Lauletta fared well against the Jets, albeit against many players who won’t be on an NFL team in a few weeks. Tanney and Lauletta combined to complete 23-of-31 passes for over 300 yards and 2 touchdowns.
While Jones looked good last week, the biggest storyline is with the Giants receiving corps. On top of injuries to Corey Coleman and Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate is now officially suspended through the first four weeks of the season.
Mitch Trubisky didn’t throw a pass against the Panthers. Instead, he handed the ball off three times to Mike Davis. Don’t count on Bears head coach Matt Nagy giving Trubisky much action against the Giants.
As the Chicago Tribune reports, Nagy is plenty comfortable with Trubisky’s next pass coming in Week 1 of the regular season.
Trubisky only saw 40 snaps last preseason and passed the ball 18 times. Worth noting is that 30 of those snaps came in Week 2 of the 2018 preseason, so it’s still tough to know just what to expect from the Bears this go-around. As always, use our list of beat writers to follow all of the breaking news leading up to kickoff.
Both head coaches are .500 ATS in NFL preseason betting.
Best Pick
I fully expect Daniel Jones to see the majority of snaps this week. Even Eli Manning could see a decent amount of action in the first quarter as the Giants try form chemistry with several inexperienced receivers that will be thrust into starting roles during the first month of the regular season.
With Nagy and the Bears comfortable where they are, Giants moneyline will be my biggest bet of the night. Additionally, I think both teams will struggle to score against each other so I’ll also have some money on Under 42.
My Picks: New York Giants moneyline -125; Under 42 (use our FanDuel Sportsbook promo code to get these odds).
NFL Preseason Week 1 Betting Picks — Miami Dolphins vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3, O/U 42.5
The Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are two other teams that have met in joint practices this week. In most cases, this means starters will play less since they’ve already received some meaningful snaps during the week. You can expect that general rule to hold true Friday night in Tampa Bay.
Jameis Winston will likely start the game, and he could very well move the ball down the field in the opening drive, but his playing time won’t go far beyond that. The main storyline for the night is the quarterback competition for the Dolphins.
Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen are both taking first-team reps. Fitzpatrick leads the race but neither quarterback has established themselves as a heavy favorite for the job. Fitzpatrick only threw the ball five times against Atlanta, while Rosen saw extended time, throwing for 191 on 13-of-20 pass attempts. Both quarterbacks should see a healthy dose of action against Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers defense, which is far from impressive, gave up 30 points to the Steelers last week.
Best Pick
With the QB battle heating up I like taking the points with Miami +3 and Over 19.5 team points. (use our PointsBet promo code to get these odds)
I’ll also hope for early offensive action on behalf of both teams with a small bet on Over 9.5 points in the 1Q and
My Picks: Miami +3; Miami Over 19.5 points; Over 9.5 points 1Q.
Remember to check back throughout the weekend as we break down more NFL preseason Week 2 betting picks for Saturday and Sunday!
Image Credit: USA Today Sports Images
Remember to check back throughout the weekend as we break down more NFL preseason Week 2 betting picks for Saturday and Sunday!