NFL Preseason Week 1 Betting Preview

NFL betting returns this week with the kickoff of Week 1 of the preseason. The preseason delivers its usual small spreads and unpredictable lineups, but it can be a good way for football bettors to pad their bankroll before the real season begins.

One interesting matchup in Week 1 goes Thursday night when the Chicago Bears host the Denver Broncos. On both sides quarterback will be the position to watch.

At the Bovada Sportsbook the Broncos are a 1.5-point road favorite. For Chicago this will be the first game action for quarterback and first-round pick Mitchell Trubinsky. He won’t start though. In fact, if all goes to plan he may not start a game all season, as he begins his NFL career third in line in the Windy City behind Mike Glennon and Mark Sanchez.

For Denver the preseason is expected to be a quarterback battle between incumbent Trevor Siemien and Denver’s 2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch. Reportedly the Broncos want Lynch to step up and take the job, but camp reports on his progress aren’t promising right now.

Last season the Broncos were 2-2 straight up and against the spread in the preseason, but in their last nine they’re a solid 6-3 SU and ATS. Chicago was 1-3 SU and 2-2 ATS in last year’s preseason and in their last 10 boast a lame 4-6 record SU and 5-5 mark ATS.

Coincidentally the Broncos and Bears also met up in the preseason last year. The result was a blowout, as Denver rolled to a 22-0 win as a pick’em.

Also on tap this week on Friday night is the Pittsburgh Steelers at the New York Giants. The early odds at the Bovada Sportsbook have the Giants pegged as a 3-point favorite.

To put it bluntly, the Steelers are plain horrible in the preseason. In their last six preseason contests the Steelers are 1-5 SU and ATS. In their last 11 they’re 2-9 SU and ATS, and in their last 17 they’re 3-14 SU and ATS. Basically, if you had been betting against Pittsburgh in the preseason the last few years you’d be looking at a tidy profit right now.

While the Steelers have been stumbling in the preseason the Giants have been a money maker. In New York’s last 13 preseason games they’ve gone 9-4 SU and 8-4-1 ATS.