2023 NFL Preseason Week 1 Spreads, Moneylines and Totals
Handicapping NFL Preseason football comes with challenges that you don’t see in the regular season. Motivation from both players and coaches is a big factor, and its important to try to figure out the goals of each team both over the course of the preseason and in certain games. While some teams simply coast through the preseason and use it as a dress rehearsal, others are spending serious time installing new citizens or trying to get a rhythm down before the games matter in September.
Along those lines, one of the most important things to watch is coaches. The biggest favorite per the Week 1 Preseason betting odds is Baltimore as the Ravens care more about preseason than almost any other team under Jim Harbaugh. He is 43-12 in the preseason over 15 years, and Baltimore hasn’t lost a preseason game since 2015. That’s why the Ravens are six-point favorites over the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.
New coaches have proven to be solid betting options too, explaining why the second- and third-biggest favorites this week are the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. Shane Steichen is the new head coach of the Colts and will be spending a lot of time installing a package for No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson, while Sean Payton is ready to rejuvenate Russell Wilson’s career after a dismal season in Denver in 2022.
NFL Betting Odds
NFL Preseason Week 1 Betting Lines
*Odds as of Monday, August 7, 1:00 PM ET
DeMeco Ryans is the new head coach of the Houston Texans. Ryans knows that he has a lot on his plate in his first season, and he will have to revamp both sides of the ball considering how bad the Texans have been in recent years. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and rookie linebacker Will Anderson should both see significant playing time as they look to lead this team, while Bill Belichick likely just wants to avoid any injuries considering New England does not have the same depth it did in the past. That makes Houston a solid choice as less than a field goal favorite per the NFL betting odds on the road this Thursday night.
There’s a good chance that Arizona is the worst team in the NFL this season. The Cardinals won’t have star quarterback Kyler Murray until later in the season after he tore his ACL in December, and DeAndre Hopkins is no longer on the roster. The two-deep is chock full of players with three years or less of NFL experience, and there are major questions on both sides of the ball. New head coach Jonathan Gannon knows this will be a long rebuild process though, while new Denver head coach Sean Payton is looking to bring the Broncos back to the postseason in 2023. Payton is going to want to get on the same page with Russell Wilson rather quickly, so there’s a good chance the Broncos put more stock in the preseason.
Another team to consider backing this week is Carolina. The Panthers had the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and used it on Bryce Young. They hired Frank Reich to develop Young after the Colts dismissed him in the offseason, and Reich should be able to harness Young’s talents. There is a lot of buzz about the New York Jets, but I’m not a big believer, and this team seems to have the mindset that it will just coast through the preseason.
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