Week 1 NFL Preseason Odds: Betting Lines, Game Trends and Analysis

Fresh off a narrow 17-16 victory in last week's Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, the Baltimore Ravens will try to extend their preseason winning streak to 10 games Thursday when they host the Los Angeles Rams. The Ravens are three-point favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

Those two are among 24 of the 32 teams that will be playing Thursday as the first week of the preseason starts.

Unfortunately for most Baltimore backers last Thursday, the Ravens fell short of covering the spread for the ninth time in a row as 2.5-point favorites against the Bears. Chicago scored a late touchdown with 2:44 remaining to beat the number but missed a two-point conversion for the lead.

Still, Baltimore's nine-game preseason winning streak is the best in the league and will be put to the test versus Los Angeles.

The Rams are getting a lot of love from bettors on the NFL futures market as one of the NFC's top contenders on the Super Bowl LIII odds. But preseason success means little with regard to a team's championship potential, barring injuries to key players, as the New England Patriots went 1-3 straight up and 0-4 against the spread in 2017 before making it to the big game for the second straight year.

The Cleveland Browns also went 4-0 SU and ATS last preseason and proceeded to go 0-16 in the regular season.

In other words, bettors should be careful not to get too impressed or disappointed by a team's preseason performance. The Patriots are three-point home favorites against the Washington Redskins on Thursday, while the Browns are one-point road chalk against the New York Giants. Those numbers alone should tell you all you need to know about NFL preseason betting: Teams with depth and a lot to prove usually perform well.

It is also worth noting that Washington head coach Jay Gruden has done particularly well in the preseason, going 11-5 SU and 10-6 ATS in his four years there, including 2-2 SU and ATS in 2017. Only Mike Zimmer (14-3, .824) of the Minnesota Vikings and John Harbaugh (29-12, .707) of the Ravens have a better winning percentage in their respective careers among active head coaches with more than eight preseason games.

Brother Jon Gruden is close with a 30-16 (.652) mark, and he will make his return with the Oakland Raiders when they host the Detroit Lions as three-point favorites in one of two games Friday. Two more games are slated for Saturday.

For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week's top sports betting news, check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.