After watching just one NFL preseason game, a 14-3 snore fest in the Hall of Fame Game, it'd be easy to just assume that most of these Week 1 games are going to stay under the total. However, live bettors should be aware that points could come in bunches on Friday between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Giants.
QUARTERBACK ROTATION
These two quarterback rotations look awfully similar from recent years. The Bengals will once again come into battle with Andy Dalton and A.J. McCarron, while the Giants work through life with Eli Manning and Ryan Nassib.
In both cases, we suspect that we won't see the starters for very long, but we'll see the backups for at least a full quarter, if not all the way into the third.
Keith Wenning and Josh Johnson have had moderate degrees of success in the preseason in the past for the Bengals, which could make Cincinnati more interesting to watch in live betting.
WHEN CINCINNATI HAS THE BALL
Hue Jackson has promised that the Bengals are going to be a bit more tricky this year, so why not let it rip a bit? Aside from having A.J. Green and Mohamed Sanu who can throw the ball from the wide out spot, surely, there are interesting plays which could be run with speedy men like rookies Mario Alford and Desmond Lawrence playing in the second halves of games.
For live betting purposes though, the real key is watching this Giants secondary. New York has a chance to be epically bad on this side of the ball this year. Four of its six safeties on the depth chart are rookies, and the other two men were both fifth round draft picks. Yes, the Giants might have had a lot of success last year in the preseason, but they also allowed 11 passing plays of at least 20 yards in five games as well.
WHEN NEW YORK HAS THE BALL
Adding Shane Vereen in the offseason is a bit of an indication to us that the Giants want to become a little more West Coast in nature in their offense. They'll use their backs more out of the backfield, particularly in third and medium situations, and they'll probably tinker with some of that in this game.
There are only six rookies on this offensive depth chart, and just four of the six are legitimately fighting for roster spots, so there shouldn't be much drop off from the starters down the line, which is a good sign for over bettors in live betting as well.
TREND TO TRACK
The Giants might have gone 5-0 SU and 4-0-1 ATS last year in the preseason, but we're not buying that that is going to be the norm. Tom Coughlin barely has a winning record at 24-21 in the preseason in his career, and he is only 7-5 in Week 1. Yes, Coughlin is a respectable 40-33-1 ATS in exhibitions all-time, but that doesn't mean this is all going to continue.
The Bengals have had just one losing preseason since 2007 under Marvin Lewis, and though they are just 25-24 SU in those games, they still have proven to at least play remotely well at home in the preseason.
The NFL betting lines and props for this Friday game were first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. The Cincinnati Bengals were lined at -3 alongside a total of 37. Live wagering during commercials offers adjusted moneylines, totals and spreads. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
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