After a fairly uneventful first week of the NFL preseason, the odds have been released for each team’s second round of matchups.
Featuring the lines of ten of the most prominent books on SportsBookReview.com, Week 2 contains several games of note.
The contests begin with six games on Thursday night, August 18, including the New England Patriots hosting the Chicago Bears, with the Pats giving four points. There may be some added intrigue when they face each other, as Malcolm Butler and Alshon Jeffery nearly came to blows with Butler subsequently ejected during a joint practice in Foxborough on Monday.
The following day has three more contests, including the biggest straight-up line, as Bookmaker has the host Dallas Cowboys at -130 over the new-look Miami Dolphins. Both teams are looking to put extremely disappointing 2015 campaigns behind them (the injury-riddled Cowboys finished 4-12, while the Dolphins were 6-10).
Saturday, August 20 features the remaining seven games. The largest line of the week belongs to the Denver Broncos, with five different outlets having them give 4.5 points to Chip Kelly’s San Francisco 49ers. Both squads feature heated — if not uninspiring — battles for the starting quarterback job. Colin Kaepernick versus Blaine Gabbert for the Niners, and former Kelly protegé Mark Sanchez versus Trevor Siemian and 2016 top pick Paxton Lynch for the defending Super Bowl champs.
For more on the NFL Preseason, you can check out our hub page.