2024 NFL Preseason Week 2 Odds - Football Betting

2024 NFL Preseason Week 2 Spreads, Moneylines and Totals

The second week of the Preseason will serve the role of what Week 3 of preseason used to fulfill. Back when the preseason was four weeks, the third week was the most important. Regular players would see the most amount of playing time. The late great Hall of Famer John Madden said that the next to last preseason game was the one that was most treated like a regular season game. Still, there will be plenty of substituting and lineup rotation in Week 2 preseason games that begin on Thursday with the Philadelphia Eagles visiting the New England Patriots on NFL Network. Live in-game betting will see a surge in action as a result of so many player rotations changing on the fly. Week 2 NFL preseason action takes place from Thursday, August 15 through Sunday, August 18 and there will be plenty of television coverage with NFL Network showing six games, while FOX will televise the matchup between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

One of the most interesting games on the Week 2 preseason card is the matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Chicago Bears on Saturday on NFL Network. Of course, Chicago will be giving quarterback Caleb Williams, the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, plenty of snaps. The risk is that Williams could have his career and confidence damaged by not being brought around slowly. Previous Bears QB Justin Fields, taken in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, was thrust right into the pit. Fields did not have the surrounding cast that could give him a helping hand and protect him. Now Fields is battling Russell Wilson for the starting job in Pittsburgh. Also being shown on NFL Network on Saturday is the Detroit Lions at the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills at the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Dallas Cowboys at the Las Vegas Raiders. NFL Network will also show the game between the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos on Sunday night.

NFL Preseason Week 2 Betting Lines

NFL Preseason Week 2 Betting Lines

The Cleveland Browns will host the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 of the preseason. Both teams have QB difficulties to address. The Vikings have moved on from Kirk Cousins, who arrived with great fanfare from the Washington Redskins several years ago but was never quite able to get the Vikings into the Super Bowl. Cousins is now with the Atlanta Falcons. In his place arrives Sam Darnold, who was the third overall pick of the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft. Darnold has been a journeyman who previously played for the Jets, Carolina Panthers, and San Francisco 49ers. By any reasonable measure, Cousins is a much more accomplished QB than Darnold.

Although Darnold will open training camp as the number one QB on the Vikings depth chart, 2024 first round draft pick JJ McCarthy could easily end up as the starter. McCarthy played well in Week 1 of the NFL preseason, throwing a pair of touchdown passes in Minnesota’s win over the Raiders. McCarthy is coming off a national championship season at Michigan, where he played for one of the great QB whisperers in football, Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh raves about McCarthy’s NFL capability. It stands to reason that if McCarthy can get up to speed quickly, the Vikings will turn to him as the QB of the future.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns made a ridiculous trade in which they overpaid the Houston Texans to receive Deshaun Watson, who has been in trouble for the past few years. In fact, Watson has not been a regular starter since 2020. In the past two seasons with Cleveland, Watson played six games each season. Ironically, it was elderly journeyman Joe Flacco who took the Browns to the 2023 NFL Playoffs. Flacco has since departed, leaving Watson as the starter.

The Browns had better hope that Watson regains his past form. That is because the backup option is no option at all. Interception machine Jameis Winson is second on the depth chart. Winston’s career never took off after he imploded at the end with Florida State.

The game on FOX on Sunday night has the Saints at the 49ers and it could be that we get some starters playing for both teams. The Saints are hoping that Derek Carr can lead them to the playoffs this season. Carr did not play well in last week’s NFL preseason opener and fans are already calling for rookie Spencer Rattler to take over. Rattler led the Saints to a 16-14 win over Arizona last week. Rattler is battling with Jake Haener to be the backup to Carr, but he may have already passed Haener and although he is unlikely to start the season, Rattler could eventually be the top quarterback for New Orleans.

On the other side, the 49ers are set at quarterback with Brock Purdy the starter. They do have a battle for the backup job and last week it was Joshua Dobbs who looked good. Dobbs is battling Brandon Allen for the backup job. Sunday night should be another game in which Dobbs and Allen get the bulk of the play at quarterback for San Francisco.

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