NFL Betting: Broncos The Best Bet In Hall Of Fame Game

The 2019 NFL season is right around the corner, but before the regular season action kicks off, we’ll see a month’s worth of preseason games. It all starts on Thursday with the Hall of Fame Game where the Denver Broncos will take on the Atlanta Falcons. Although it is an exhibition contest, it looks like there’s value on the board for one of these teams. Let’s take a closer look.

Sign up now at PointsBet and get up to $1,000 back on your first two bets! >>

Denver Broncos vs Atlanta Falcons

Odds: Broncos -2.5 at PointsBet Sportsbook

Preseason Coaching Records

When you take a look at the preseason coaching records, it looks like we have a clear-cut edge in this game. Dan Quinn has been the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons for four seasons now and the Falcons are just 5-11 in preseason games under him. As a matter of fact, they’ve lost eight straight in the preseason. It’s fairly clear that he doesn’t put much weight into these contests.

On the other hand, we have Vic Fangio, who is a first-time head coach. That means we have no intel on how he’ll perform in the preseason, and how much he actually cares about these games. However, he is a new head coach and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he wanted his team to put forth a quality effort given that this is a first impression.

Edge: Broncos

Rotations At Key Positions

Taking a look at the rotations at the key positions, I would give a slight edge to the Broncos here.

At quarterback, we probably don’t see starters Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan much – if at all. Behind Ryan, the Falcons have Matt Schaub and Kurt Benkert. Schaub is a seasoned vet, but the Falcons didn’t ask him to do much last preseason as he was just 20-of-26 for 194 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions through three games. He was mostly asked to hand off the ball and move the chains, so that’ll probably be the same.

On the other hand, the Broncos have an intriguing rotation as we should get our first look at Drew Lock and Brett Rypien. We’ll also see Kevin Hogan, who is a journeyman that’s made starts in the NFL, and he’s probably fighting for a roster spot here. Lock apparently hasn’t looked very good, but at least we know we should see some effort from him and the Broncos trio.

At running back, I also like the Broncos situation much more as they have Phillip Lindsay, Devontae Booker, and Royce Freeman. Lindsay is the starter, but all three will vie for carries this season so that pecking order will be decided in the preseason. The Falcons don’t have the same depth here as we’re looking at Ito Smith and Kenjon Barner behind Devonta Freeman, who probably won’t see the field.

Edge: Broncos

Outlook

The Broncos are laying just under a field goal here, but I think it’s worth it. It’s clear that Quinn doesn’t care about these games as he merely tries to keep his team healthy. The Falcons have already suffered a couple of key injuries with safety J.J. Wilcox and lineman Michael Bennett, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if they’re extra conservative here. Take a shot with the Broncos.

Pick: Broncos -2.5 at PointsBet

Check out our PointsBet review and promo codes >>

Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.