We have NFL odds — even if it is for Week 1 of the preseason — so our betting analysts have NFL picks.
Our three bets on Friday night are all from the 7 p.m. ET slate of games from Cincinnati, Miami and Detroit.
Get our NFL picks and best bets for the preseason slate tonight.
NFL Best Bets
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our NFL betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NFL Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Packers vs. Bengals
By Ricky Henne
The preseason can be a crapshoot when it comes to playing time, but one thing it seems we can bank on is Jordan Love seeing more run than most starting quarterbacks this preseason.
Green Bay's new starting QB needs all the reps he can get. After all, he has only played 157 regular-season snaps through the first three seasons of his NFL career. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that Love told reporters he expects to play at least a couple of series with the Packers' first-team offense against Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced that "a high number of starters won't play" against Green Bay. This has been his modus operandi in exhibition openers since he got to Cincinnati.
It's quite simple, really: On one hand, the Packers will be featuring their best players against a bunch of backups and rookies. A highly motivated Love and the rest of the Packers' offensive starters figure to have a significant edge over whoever is on the field for the Bengals in the first half, so I'm backing Green Bay before halftime.
Pick: Packers 1H -2.5
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Falcons vs. Dolphins
By Matt Trebby
Chris Raybon is 2-0 with his preseason bets, and yesterday he let the world in on some key trends that have proven successful for bettors when it comes to NFL football in August.
Of the five trends, I naturally was inclined to the one that required betting overs: “Preseason totals of 36.5 or less where the home team is the underdog have gone 46-24-1 (66%) since 2008.”
Luckily for us, we have a matchup on Friday night that fits this trend: Falcons at Dolphins. As of Thursday night, Miami is a 2.5-point underdog, and the total is right where we want it at 36.5.
The good news is that the five quarterbacks we should expect to see in this game are all not … awful.
Desmond Ridder will start for the Falcons, and he’ll be relieved by Taylor Heinicke, who could play a little into the second half. From there, Logan Woodside is expected to take over for the rest of the game. Our Sean Koerner has Woodside rated as -1.5 points against the spread. That sounds bad, but it’s quite good for a quarterback playing in the second half of the preseason.
The expectation for Miami is that new backup QB Mike White will play the first half, while Skylar Thomspon will get the second. White got the nod for the Jets ahead of Zach Wilson last year, while Thompson looked more capable than expected when he was thrust into action late last season.
Of the three preseason games we’ve seen so far, only one has gone over the total: the Hall of Fame Game. I’m trusting that all these quarterbacks with legitimate regular-season experience will put points on the board.
This isn’t the only game that fits this trend on Friday night. Packers vs. Bengals (+4.5) and Giants vs. Lions (+3) also fit the bill.
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Giants vs. Lions
By Matt Trebby
Sean Koerner does the dirty work of charting when quarterbacks are expected to play in the preseason, and the biggest edge comes in the first half of Giants vs. Lions.
Regardless of whether the Giants roll out Daniel Jones, veteran Tyrod Taylor is the alternative to start opposite Lions veteran backup Nate Sudfeld, who could play deep into this game. Tommy DeVito is expected to play the entire second half for the Giants and could even take over late in the first half.
Detroit QB Adrian Martinez will get some run in the second half, creating a push between him and DeVito. Both rank as -3 points against the spread, according to Koerner’s ratings.
New York is a 3-point favorite in this game, but the big edge is in the first half. The Giants, though, are only 1.5-point favorites in the first half. I’m going to look to take advantage of this difference and bet the G-Men on the first-half spread.
Pick: Giants 1H -1.5
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