NFL Preseason Betting: Week 3

How bad of a wager are the Bengals going to be this season? Well, judging from their preseason results so far they're definitely looking like a team to avoid – unless you're betting on them to lose and not cover the spread. Cincinnati opens Week 3 of NFL preseason betting at home against the Panthers on Thursday night.

The Bengals began their preseason schedule with a 34-3 loss in Detroit, and followed that up with a 27-7 road loss against the Jets. That's a combined score of 61-10 in favour of Bengals' opponents through two weeks.

Cincinnati rookie QB Andy Dalton at least gets to take on the Panthers this week, the team that finished last overall in the NFL last season. Dalton has zero touchdown passes and three interceptions through the first two weeks of the preseason, and will be looking to impress the coaching staff and avoid turning over the starting QB gig to veteran Bruce Gradkowski.

The Bengals are small home favorites at sportsbooks like 5Dimes in the first of three preseason games on Thursday – the slate for the night also includes Washington at Baltimore (-5.5) and Cleveland at Philadelphia (-7).

Friday offers up St. Louis at Kansas City and Green Bay at Indianapolis, with the Colts putting up their usual losing record (0-2) so far in preseason games. This year, though, it comes with a twist – starting QB Peyton Manning is out of action recovering from neck surgery, leaving the team dependant on backups Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky. Manning expects to be ready for Week 1 of the season, but in case he can't go the team needs to find out if either Painter or Orlovsky can handle the job.

Still, the oddsmakers at 5Dimes are following the NFL betting trends on this one and putting the Packers are huge 10.5-point road favorites. The Chiefs, another team that traditionally struggles in exhibition action (especially when trying to cover the spread), are 1-point home underdogs against the Rams on Friday.

The bulk of the week's preseason contests are on Saturday, including the all-New York battle between the Jets and Giants. As well on Saturday it's Jacksonville at Buffalo (pick'em), Miami at Tampa Bay (-4), Atlanta at Pittsburgh (-3.5), New England (-4) at Detroit, Chicago at Tennessee, Dallas at Minnesota (pick'em), Houston at San Francisco (pick'em), Seattle at Denver (-4), and San Diego (-2) at Arizona.

The Saints/Raiders matchup in Oakland then closes out the week on Sunday night, with New Orleans currently a 5-point favorite at 5Dimes. The Raiders added former Buckeyes QB Terrelle Pryor via the NFL's Supplemental Draft on Monday; he is eligible to play in the preseason.