Andrew Ortenberg
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We’ve already had some great preseason games, but the real action will get started on Saturday with our first full slate. We had five games spread between Thursday and Friday, and now we’ll get 10 more here on Saturday. Here at Pickswise we will be bringing you great NFL content all season, with free picks on sides and totals, parlays, mega parlays etc.
It’s also not too late to wager on our NFL futures, which you can find alongside our NFL picks. But right now we’re talking preseason, and specifically these weekend games. Let’s break down our three best bets from this large slate, with a little note on their parlay odds if you want to pool them together.
Denver Broncos -2.5
New York Jets -2.5
Los Angeles Chargers -3.5
Parlay odds: +595
Let’s break down each of the three one by one.
Denver Broncos -2.5 over Minnesota Vikings
We’ve got pretty good reason to believe that the Broncos will be trying a lot harder on offense here. Minnesota’s main concern in this game will be getting a look at rookie quarterback Kellen Mond, who will be making his professional debut here. His first career game against a Broncos defense that is very deep and has talent at all three levels? I think things could be pretty rough for the Texas A&M product.
On the other hand, the Broncos will have Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater under center. Denver is having a quarterback competition, so both those guys need to play their best. To fully evaluate them, I think the Broncos will let their offensive starters play a bit more than usual. Both Lock and Bridgewater also have far more starting experience than the quarterbacks you usually see getting significant run in Week 1 of the preseason.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Denver Broncos vs Minnesota Vikings
New York Jets -2.5 over New York Giants
Reading the tea leaves is everything when it comes to preseason betting. And the tea leaves in New York tell me that the team isn’t fully bought-in on what Giants head coach Joe Judge is selling. Judge’s old-school schtick seems to be wearing a bit thin, and so I wouldn’t expect maximum effort here in Week 1 of the preseason.
Conversely it sounds like Jets players love first-time coach Robert Saleh, and I think they’ll be motivated to get him a win in his head coaching debut. I’m not a Daniel Jones fan at all, and after him on the quarterback depth chart the Giants only have Mike Glennon and Clayton Thorson.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for New York Jets vs New York Giants
Los Angeles Chargers -3.5 over Los Angeles Rams
In the battle for Los Angeles, I lean heavily toward the Chargers. Each year, Rams coach Sean McVay seems to take his aversion to preseason risk to a new level. It started with only playing the starters a little, then not at all. Now he’s graduated to resting pretty much everybody. I’m surprised they’re still even able to field enough players for this one. That’s because McVay just recently unveiled a list of *35* players who won’t take the field here against the Chargers.
That’s not just every single starter, it’s most of the second-string guys as well. Meanwhile, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley just announced a much more reasonable list of *eight* players who won’t be partaking in preseason action. The Chargers will start Chase Daniel at quarterback, a long-time veteran who is more than capable of moving a preseason offense against a bunch of third and fourth-string defenders.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Los Angeles Chargers vs Los Angeles Rams
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