{"id":24188,"date":"2023-08-25T17:46:06","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T21:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=24188"},"modified":"2023-08-25T17:46:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T21:46:08","slug":"nfl-preseason-week-3-saturday-sunday-previews-picks-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nfl\/nfl-preseason-week-3-saturday-sunday-previews-picks-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL PRESEASON WEEK 3: SATURDAY & SUNDAY PREVIEWS & PICKS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

We\u2019re officially there, the final week of the NFL Preseason. It\u2019s the last chance NFL teams have to screw up your fantasy football teams if you were crazy enough to hold your draft before this weekend. I mean, how many times do you need to see a key starter go down with an injury in the exhibition schedule, a guy taken in the first or second round in your snake draft, before you learn not to hold your draft meeting until after the final starter leaves the field in August?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Don from Accounting can\u2019t make it to the draft when you hold it Monday night after Week 3, that\u2019s just tough. You can\u2019t let him screw up everyone else\u2019s fantasy football experience because his kid has some ridiculous youth soccer game. This is America, for God\u2019s sake. Toss your kid a video game controller and be done with it, Don.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s still plenty of NFL action for us to pay attention to besides keeping our fingers crossed before our fantasy football draft clocks start ticking Monday night. We wrap up the final full slate of games on Saturday and Sunday with the odds, lines and totals<\/a> with which to make watching every down of these games worth our precious time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SATURDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (-3, O\/U: 40)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the final preseason game so you\u2019d think that the Seahawks would pack Geno Smith in foam peanuts for two more weeks considering their postseason hopes rest on his shoulders, but Pete Carroll is the definition of old school, probably because he\u2019s incredibly old. Anyway, expect to see a little Geno at least for a series or two before Drew Lock and Holton Ahlers, who I didn\u2019t know existed as a human three weeks ago, put cleat to turf. Honestly, I\u2019m still not 100 percent Ahlers isn\u2019t some AI creation, possibly connected to all these alien UFOs the government has decided it\u2019s OK for us to know about now. Matt LaFleur, being of the Sean McVay coaching tree, usually doesn\u2019t play starters himself, but decided to kick the tires on Jordan Love in the preseason. Love has looked good enough that maybe he\u2019ll just get to play on his Microsoft Surface Tablet in this one. If LaFleur wants to prove he can win without Rodgers, he\u2019s sure as hell not going to do it with Sean Clifford and Alex McGough. Seahawks 23, Packers 16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARIZONA CARDINALS AT MINNESOTA VIKINGS (-1.5, 36.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way I roll with these preseason picks, if it\u2019s not making sense by now, is by focusing entirely on the strength of a team\u2019s quarterback room. The Cardinals\u2019 quarterback room is already a mess, with Kyler Murray sidelined with nothing but his Playstation 5 to keep him company. Colt McCoy, who\u2019s a fine back up, will be starting the majority, if not all, the season so we\u2019re getting a solid dose of Clayton Tune and David Blough in the preseason, which is why Arizona managed just 10 points a week ago. Minnesota, coached by Kevin O\u2019Connell, will not let everyone\u2019s favorite Quarterback<\/em> TV show quarterback, Kirk Cousins, look twice at the field. The Vikes\u2019 backups are Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall, and while Mullens has started, and even won, real NFL games, Hall is probably a camp arm at best. This could turn out to be the ugliest game on the schedule, but I\u2019ll go with the Tune-Blough connection here. Cardinals 16, Vikings 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CLEVELAND BROWNS AT KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (+3.5, O\/U: 41.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of backup quarterbacks, the Browns look like they\u2019ve nailed their late round selection in UCLA\u2019s Dorian Thompson-Robinson. DTR has been pretty fantastic for Cleveland so far and I\u2019m expecting he will again. I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ll see Deshaun Watson and whatever Charlie horses he\u2019s been dealing with over the last few years. Last week, Andy Reid left Patrick Mahomes in for a frighteningly long time and I\u2019m nervous even looking at his stats a week later. Coaching Santa may once again put his prized reindeer at risk, but no one listens to me. Blaine Gabbert and his backups will take most of the snaps, but I\u2019m confident Thompson-Robinson and Joshua Dobbs have more than enough to wrap this one up. Browns 27, Chiefs 20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BUFFALO BILLS AT CHICAGO BEARS (-1.5, O\/U: 39)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the Andy Ried with the Chiefs, Sean McDermott continues to toss Josh Allen out in the preseason in spite of the fact that I, figuratively, toss myself in front of him like I\u2019m trying to catch a bullet for the president. Chicago, on the other hand, decided Justin Fields had no reason to set foot onto the field last week and, again, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus and I are in perfect agreement. I have no idea what McDermott will do this week, but Eberflus will surely continue keeping Fields in bubble wrap for another week. Bills 23, Bears 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW YORK JETS AT NEW YORK GIANTS (+4.5, O\/U: 39.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently there\u2019s an idea that Aaron Rodgers is going to suit up and play in this game for the Jets. It\u2019s caused a tad of controversy in the team\u2019s fanbase, who is rightly concerned that the future first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer they\u2019ve landed on their roster could get his clock thoroughly cleaned behind their lackluster offensive line. Of course, that doesn\u2019t help A-Rodge in the actual season, but at least those games count. The Giants should probably keep Daniel Jones clear of the field, but Tyrod Tayler can do enough to win this one, especially against Zach Wilson and Tim Boyle. Giants 24, Jets 17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MIAMI DOLPHINS AT JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (-7, O\/U: 40.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dolphins and Jaguars took entirely different approaches last week, as Miami pushed Tua Tagovailoa onto the field for some reason while the Jags hid Trevor Lawrence\u2019s helmet from him. I\u2019m going to believe that Tua will be kept out of harm\u2019s way in this one, but I\u2019m not digging this spread at all. I\u2019d take Mike White and Skylar Thompson, who nearly knocked off the Bills in the playoffs last season, over CJ Bethard and Nathan Rourke any day. Dolphins 27, Jaguars 17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS AT DALLAS COWBOYS (+4.5, O\/U: 38)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vegas\u2019 acquisition of Jimmy Garoppolo has already worked out OK. After worries in the offseason that his foot wasn\u2019t fully healed, even to the point of amending his contract, the Raiders tossed Jimmy G out there a week ago and watched him go 4-for-4 against the Los Angeles Rams, a team he\u2019s lost a total of one time to in his entire career. Of course, that loss was in the 2021-22 NFC Championship so that\u2019s gotta sting, but his regular season (and now preseason) domination of the Rams has to mean something, right? I suspect Garoppolo won\u2019t play much, if at all in this one. Dallas has smartly, and I\u2019m as shocked as anyone since Mike McCarthy is their head coach, held out Dak Prescott and hopefully will continue to do so. Raiders 20, Cowboys 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOS ANGELES RAMS AT DENVER BRONCOS (-6, O\/U: 37)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of the Rams, no team in the league\u2019s history has put less stock in the preseason than Sean McVay\u2019s crew. That being said, should we be concerned about how poorly their defense has played in the exhibition season? I\u2019m not expecting an elite D unit to be fielded in LA, but I\u2019m pretty sure Aaron Donald alone can change the outcome of plenty of what we seen. Of course, Donald won\u2019t play a down in this one. Denver is still breaking guys into Sean Payton\u2019s system and that includes Russell Wilson, who played a series last week. I have no clue if he\u2019ll go or not in this one, but one of these winless preseason teams will finally break the seal here. I\u2019m going with the Rams. Rams 20, Broncos 19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SUNDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOUSTON TEXANS AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (-3.5, O\/U: 38.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week ago, the Texans got absolutely nothing out of either of their quarterbacks, scoring just three points against the Miami Dolphins. No. 2 overall pick CJ Stroud did look better in Week 2, going 7 of 12 for 60 yards, but there wasn\u2019t a lot of big time throws even attempted and averaging 5.0 yards per completion isn\u2019t getting anyone excited. While no one expects the Texans to do anything but post a losing record this year, it\u2019s a different story in New Orleans. The NFC South should be theirs for the taking after Tom Brady\u2019s legitimate retirement and, if they don\u2019t do it, it will likely cost head coach Dennis Allen his job. Regardless, Jameis Winston will certainly have enough to take NoLa across the finish line here, even in just a half of work. Saints 23, Texans 16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Straight up:<\/strong> 9-5-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the spread:<\/strong> 9-7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Straight up:<\/strong> 18-13-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the spread:<\/strong> 17-16<\/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 We\u2019re officially there, the final week of the NFL Preseason. It\u2019s the last chance NFL teams have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":24189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[146],"class_list":["post-24188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24188","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\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24190,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24188\/revisions\/24190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}