Football is football. So we're going to bet it.
Thursday is when Week 1 of the NFL preseason officially gets underway with a pair of games featuring coaches who have generally thrived in their preseason careers. One of them has his franchise on a record-setting run in practice games.
First, Brian Daboll's Giants will head north to take on the Patriots. Bill Belichick has a strong preseason record as head coach in New England, although it's unknown how much of the first team we'll see tonight.
Then we go to Baltimore, where the Ravens will look to continue their NFL-record 20-game preseason winning streak. They will host the Titans, whose fans will be tuning into preseason action intently to see rookie quarterback Malik Willis.
Two of our betting analysts have bets on these games. Here's where our action is on Thursday night in the NFL.
NFL Odds & Picks
Sam Farley: As with everything preseason, there’s an element on uncertainty to every matchup. One thing we can be certain of when the Giants face the Patriots at the Gillette Stadium is that it’ll be Matt Patricia and Mike Kafka calling the plays for the Patriots and Giants, respectively.
We know from Giants head coach Brian Daboll’s own mouth that he’ll play his starters, at least for a while, so we’ll see Daniel Jones under center. We aren’t sure about how much Mac Jones we’ll see, though, but Patriots starters did play two series in their preseason opener last year.
One thing we know about any Bill Belichick team is that it will be well-drilled, even in preseason and regardless of whether it’s the first stringers or the backups. Belichick has gone 49-36 in preseason during his NFL coaching career, and he’s more importantly 9-2 in the past three preseasons.
Both teams have things they need to figure out, but we can rely on Belichick to keep his team honest and working hard.
Simon Hunter: I’m not going to make this too complicated. The Ravens have won 20 straight preseason games, and they’ve even gone 17-2-1 against the spread during that time.
Baltimore isn’t going to play many noteworthy players against the Titans, who should give Malik Willis plenty of time to shine. That’s not going to deter me from backing the preseason juggernaut that John Harbaugh has created.
Sam Farley: It’s not often that you can say a preseason trip will be difficult, but the Titans’ face a tough trek to M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday evening. The Ravens’ legendary preseason streak is legit.
Jim Harbaugh has ruled out some a number of vets for Thursday’s game with Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, Marcus Williams and Marlon Humphrey among those missing out. It’s no surprise they’re wearing kid gloves with their stars after J.K. Dobbins’ season-ending injury in preseason action last year.
We don’t know if the likes of Ryan Tannehill or Derrick Henry will play, but it’s expected we won’t see much, if any, action from them. Even if they do play a series or two, it won’t matter. You have to be confident in the Ravens’ ability to get it done in preseason.
With Jackson out, we know that Tyler Huntley is one of the league’s better backups and Brett Hundley is also capable behind him.
Combine the strong backup QB play with a team that is fantastic in preseason, and you have a winning combination.
John Harbaugh is 40-12 in preseason across his career and he should add another victory to that here. As of Wednesday night, the Ravens moneyline was -180 at Caesars.
