PHOTO USA Today Sports Images The Hall of Fame game has come and gone, and the first full week of the preseason is all-inclusive.
Football is back in full force. At least one NFL game will be played Thursday through Sunday.
We walk you through the best bets to consider this week.
Let’s dive in.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Jaguars will be at home in a Week 1 preseason game, and head coach Doug Pederson has already said that the starters will play at least one series.
While it’s unclear if we’ll see Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes or any other starters suit up. If not, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence will have a crack or two at the backups, which could be enough to put the Jaguars ahead by a score.
Even if the Chiefs match and play the starters for a series, the Jaguars have more reliable backups with performance metrics in play.
Behind Lawrence on the depth chart are former New England Patriots quarterbacks Mac Jones and C.J. Beathard. The Chiefs have Carson Wentz, but they also have Chris Oladokun and Ian Book for games such as this.
I’d expect to see more of Oladokun/Book and Beathard in this first preseason game than Wentz/Jones.
Advantage, Jacksonville.
Beathard started 13 games in his NFL career. While he might hold a 3-10 record, he also holds a 19:14 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He’s far from a full-time starter in the NFL, but he is more than serviceable.
Look for his dependability, a solid running back depth chart behind Travis Etienne, and the potential threat of Devin Duvernay returning a kick with the new rules to set the Jaguars up for success here.
Best Bet: Jaguars -2.5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook
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Atlanta Falcons vs. Miami Dolphins
On the road, the Falcons sport a quarterback’s cast, including Kirk Cousins, Michael Penix Jr., Taylor Heinicke and Nathan Rourke.
Cousins won’t play this month, leaving us with a mix of Penix Jr., Heinicke and Rourke. The Dolphins have Mike White and Skylar Thompson.
Considering Penix Jr.’s expected career arc early in his career, conventional wisdom is that he’ll play a lot, but there’s also something to be said about him being the “acting starter” during the preseason with Cousins out.
Heinicke has proven he can be a competent NFL quarterback. The same can be said for White and even Thompson to an extent (he started a playoff game a couple of seasons ago), but Heinicke went 5-3-1 in 2022 with Washington and 1-3 with the Falcons last season. Since 2021, he’s thrown 37 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
He saw a stark dip in play last season, completing just 54.4% of his passes, but White and Thompson haven’t done much lately either.
I’m rolling with the Falcons, strictly because of the backup quarterback options.
Best Bet: Falcons -2.5 (-110) at bet365 Sportsbook
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Las Vegas Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings
Here’s our pick for the most exciting game of the week.
The Raiders and Vikings are teams with quarterback competitions (more so for the Raiders), so expect to see Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy for the Vikings and Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew for the Raiders.
The Vikings will likely begin the season with Darnold, but McCarthy’s snaps will be interesting. Do they let him throw a bit? Will it be more conservative? Either way, these guys are going to want to make an impression.
These preseason appearances will likely determine the Raiders’ starting quarterback: veteran Minshew is seemingly slightly ahead in the race with second-year option O’Connell, who showed flashes as a rookie in 2023.
Expect some points to be scored.
Best Bet: Over 38.5 Points (-115) at FanDuel Sportsbook
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