Monday Night – Thursday Night Best Bets

There is only one more game in Week 2 of the NFL Preseason remaining before we move to the third and final week of the NFL’s exhibition campaign. The Baltimore Ravens will put their NFL record 24-game preseason winning streak on the line when they head south to take on the Washington Commanders. Baltimore hasn’t lost a preseason game since 2015 under head coach John Harbaugh, and that’s why the Ravens are favored by the NFL betting odds despite being on the road. However, they only defeated the Philadelphia Eagles by a single point at home last week, so this impressive streak may soon be at an end.

NFL Preseason Week 2 Betting Odds at BetRivers Sportsbook

Monday Night Football

Baltimore Ravens -1.5
Washington Commanders +1.5
Total 37.5

We saw Washington beat the Cleveland Browns last week as Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett both played significant minutes. Howell and Brissett combined to complete 15 of 22 passes for 152 yards with a touchdown and an interception with Howell looking better under center. That led to Ron Rivera naming Howell as the team’s starting quarterback entering the 2023 season.

Howell was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of North Carolina. He saw action in just one game as a rookie, completing 11 of 19 passes for 169 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His time as a four-year starter in college has led Rivera to give Howell the keys to the offense, and it’s likely that he sees quite a bit of action in the second game of the preseason.

That should give Washington more of an advantage as Baltimore is not expected to have Lamar Jackson play much considering his importance to the team and the massive five-year extension that he signed this offseason. The Ravens have won 75% of the games that Jackson has started since he joined the team, and we have seen Baltimore start strong before finishing with a whimper over the last couple seasons. Additionally, it sounds like there have been some major tweaks to this offense in order to better take advantage of Jackson’s skillset, and it’s unlikely the team will want to show too many of those adjustments in the preseason. That makes Washington a great play as a home underdog on Monday night.

Pick: Washington +1.5

Pittsburgh Steelers TBD
Atlanta Falcons TBD
Total TBD

There has yet to be a line released for this game that will take place in Atlanta on Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET on the NFL Network. Atlanta is likely to be favored by the football betting odds as the home team, but Pittsburgh is 2-0 this postseason thanks to some solid play from Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. They have helped the Steelers score 27 points in each of their two previous preseason games, making Pittsburgh one of the highest scoring teams of the postseason to this point.

Mike Tomlin’s preseason record isn’t as sterling as that of John Harbaugh’s record, but Tomlin has been one of the top performers in the NFL preseason over the last six years. Pittsburgh is 17-4 since 2017, as the Steelers have continually received solid quarterback play up and down the roster. The Steelers have three quarterbacks that have experience in this offense in Pickett, Rudolph, and Mitch Trubisky, and that will likely lead to me taking the Steelers on Thursday night depending on the number by the NFL betting line.

Atlanta has one of the worst quarterback situations in the league. The Falcons have played Logan Woodside more than either Desmond Ridder or Taylor Heinicke during the preseason, but it’s unlikely that either Ridder or Heinicke will perform much better. Ridder will be the starting quarterback for the Falcons this season, yet the second-year product out of Cincinnati has yet to show he is anything more than a mediocre signal caller.

The lack of depth on the roster will hurt the Falcons in this game too. They have finally started to upgrade a moribund defense, but the backups behind the starters leave much to be desired. That’s why I’ll be going with the Steelers to win this game outright.

Pick: Pittsburgh