Top NFL Week 2 Preseason Betting Picks: Sunday (8/22)
Football is here! Preseason is in full force, and everyone is ready to see what players will make the most of their opportunities on the field. Teams are using this time to find their identity and work out the kinks before the regular season. I never suggest putting multiple units on preseason games due to time restrictions. Sometimes you will get a starter that plays half the snaps. Other times they play two plays. Week 1-4 are the best weeks to bet on the NFL. If you are ready to get started, here are my NFL top betting plays for Sunday.
Check out our consensus odds for this week’s preseason games >>
(Odds courtesy DraftKings Sportsbook)
Cleveland Browns -5.5 (-110)
The Cleveland Browns look to be a great team this year. They strengthened their secondary and linebackers during the offseason. Not only did they get stronger they also added a lot of depth. Kyle Lauletta and Case Keenum looked great in week 1. Together they averaged a 70% completion percentage. Any quarterback that lines up behind center in Week 2 can guide the offense into the endzone.
Expect to see some players with potential breakout seasons play for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and D’ernest Johnson had decent numbers last year and are a couple of plays or an injury away from having a shot to be a starter for Cleveland. These guys will all get quality repetitions.
Let us not forget who Cleveland is playing. The New York Giants are coming off a 6-10 season, With 4 of those wins coming against NFC East teams that together had an average winning percentage of .367. The Giants need to use this game to figure out what rookies have a chance to start and allow some of them to get on the field before they play in the regular season. I doubt that we see much of Giants young stars Daniel Jones or Saquan Barkley. Both players coming off injuries last season will limit anytime they might see in this game.
The Cleveland Browns have the offense to score points in this game. They have the offense, defense, and depth to cover 5.5 points.
San Francisco 49ers/Los Angeles Chargers Under 34 (-110)
Both of these teams are going to be much better this year than they were last. Justin Herbert made great strides towards the end of last season. Trey Lance is looking to get his opportunities behind the center to try and get a shot at the starting position for San Francisco. With all the injuries for San Francisco last year, they will test the waters with a couple of the players here in Week 2.
These teams shine on the defensive side of the ball. Both teams have great depth, especially on the defensive line. Last week San Francisco elected not to play their starting offensive line while Trey Lance was playing. The back-ups gave up two sacks for twenty yards. With the Charger’s depth at the defensive end position, we can see this in Week 2 as well. San Francisco gave up some points in Week 1 due to the two offensive turnovers. The defense had four sacks and an interception in Week 1.
The preseason is typically low-scoring. Teams are testing out new schemes, plays, and players that will not see the field in the regular season. Pair this with the defensive depth of both of these teams and, we will see a low-scoring game. Bet the defense to shine during this game.
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Cameron Lynch is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Cameron, check out his archive and follow him @captron26.