{"id":23435,"date":"2022-08-17T18:43:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T22:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=23435"},"modified":"2022-08-17T18:43:39","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T22:43:39","slug":"nfl-preseason-week-2-thursday-friday-previews-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nfl\/nfl-preseason-week-2-thursday-friday-previews-picks\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL PRESEASON WEEK 2: THURSDAY & FRIDAY PREVIEWS & PICKS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY ADAM GREENE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the first week of the preseason behind us, we might actually see some real action in Week 2. I\u2019m still in the scientific exploration phase of figuring out how teams are handling the three-game preseason, but if there is a week where starters will get some significant time, this is the one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure how much it will affect the games on Thursday and Friday, but we have odds and totals so let\u2019s do what we do<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THURSDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHICAGO BEARS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (-3, O\/U: 39)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bears broke the seal on their preseason win column with a victory 19-14 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs a week ago. Seattle was burned late in their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers by every back up on the team. The news got worse heading into this game. After playing Geno Smith a shockingly long time against the Steelers, he might once again be called to go longer than anyone would expect with news that Drew Lock has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Thursday\u2019s game<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is going to be a long season for the Seahawks and seeing head coach Pete Carroll roll so long with Smith tells me he might be seeing the writing on the wall. Either way, I\u2019m comfortable with Chicago here. Bears 17, Seahawks 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FRIDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAROLINA PANTHERS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (+2, O\/U: 40.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently there have been some real scuffles, slap fights and pugilistic displays as the Panthers and Patriots have enjoyed their joint practices this week. If you think that might lead to an especially entertaining preseason game, think again. Carolina boasts one of the worst rosters in the league and the only entertaining thing about this year\u2019s Pats squad is the schedenfruede we\u2019ll get to enjoy when they finish below .500 and miss the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess the Panthers do need to figure out who their starting QB is in this one, so let\u2019s go with them. Panthers 20, Patriots 16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (-3, O\/U: 39.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Jameis Winston officially listed as questionable, there\u2019s no reason for us to expect anything less than another classic Andy Dalton vs Jordan Love quarterback duel that we will regale our grandchildren with for years to come. Right before they realize we\u2019re completely mentally gone and toss us in the home for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do feel like the Packers, with Love here, should be a little more invested. And they need to knock the dust off that receiver corps, but the preseason is a dangerous time. Zach Wilson messing up his knee and all but guaranteeing Robert Saleh\u2019s unemployment last week shows that. Better be careful. Saints 23, Packers 14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOUSTON TEXANS AT LOS ANGELES RAMS (+3, O\/U: 38.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something odd happened last week. For just the second time in Sean McVay\u2019s tenure as the Rams\u2019 head coach, the team won its preseason opener. McVay changed nothing that he regularly does. Not a single starter got anywhere near the field, yet LA put up 29 points. While I\u2019m tempted to think they\u2019ll throttle it down against the Texans who, even back ups vs back ups, have a distinct disadvantage, Los Angeles\u2019 QB bench is really battling this one out and all three of these guys, Luis Perez, Bryce Perkins and John Wolford, have been in the offense before. Could we see a Rams preseason win streak? Such a thing should be unthinkable. And yet, Rams 24, Texans 19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Straight up<\/strong>: 9-7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the spread:<\/strong> 8-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preseason:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Straight up:<\/strong> 10-7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the spread:<\/strong> 9-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter <\/em>@TheFirstMan<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect with us our socials on <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> for the latest sports news, viral moments, betting odds and the occasional memes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ADAM GREENE With the first week of the preseason behind us, we might actually see some real action in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":13117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23436,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23435\/revisions\/23436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}