Best NFL Picks and Predictions Today for Preseason Week 1 (Titans Will be Great Preseason Bet Under Robert Saleh)

Last week's NFL Hall of Fame Game was a great appetizer, ending in a buzzer-beating touchdown to give the Carolina Panthers the win against the Arizona Cardinals.

Today will mark the first full day of preseason action. We have six games to watch and bet on across the league, and if you're looking for a few bets to place, you're in the right spot. In this article, I'm going to give you my three best bets for tonight's slate of games.

NFL Best Bets Today

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Bengals -6.5 (-115) vs. Lions
Chargers vs. Texans UNDER 36.5 (+100)
Titans -4.5 (-115) vs. 49ers

Bengals vs. Lions Prediction

Pick: Bengals -6.5 (-115)

I broke down my bet for this game in my full betting preview here:

The two main things to consider when betting on the NFL: How many starters are playing and how each coach treats the preseason.

Taylor announced this week that Burrow, Chase, Higgins, and Lawrence will see the field on Thursday, which is different from how he's handled the preseason in the past, when he rested all of his starters. The Bengals have historically gotten off to slow starts in the regular season under Taylor, so it's clear he wants his players to hit their stride before the games start to count. That's why I'm willing to throw out Taylor's previous preseason coaching record.

Meanwhile, Dan Campbell has announced that he will be keeping his starters sidelined. I also expect them to lean on undrafted rookie quarterback Luke Altmyer throughout the game.

Chargers vs. Texans Prediction

Pick: UNDER 36.5 (+100)

Check out my full betting preview for Chargers vs. Texans where I breakdown this pick:

Instead of betting on a side in this game, I'm going to look to the total and bet the UNDER. Both of these teams are expected to have two of the best defenses in the NFL this season, and while a majority of starters won't step on the field on Thursday, the young players and backups who will be playing are also extremely capable.

I expect a strong defensive performance from both teams, who will get to face backup quarterbacks throughout the game. Let's bet on this game being a low-scoring affair.

Titans vs. 49ers Prediction

Pick: Titans -4.5 (-115)

I broke down this pick in my full betting preview for Titans vs. 49ers:

Saleh plans on playing all of his players for a portion of this game, while Kyle Shanahan has announced that he'll be resting his starters, which has led the Titans to be set as 4.5-point road favorites in this one.

I'm going to lay the 4.5-points with Tennessee, but it's not only because of their starters seeing the field. Betting on preseason football has a lot to do with how coaches treat the games. Most coaches will use them simply as an evaluation tool and don't care if it ends in a win or a loss, while others place importance on winning. Saleh, based on his small sample size as a head coach, belongs to the latter of the two groups. Despite coaching a bad Jets team, he had a 10-2-1 record and a 10-3 mark against the spread in exhibition games.

If that carries over to his tenure with the Titans, Tennessee is going to be a great preseason bet.

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You can check out all of Iain's bets here!

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