The Baltimore Ravens are set as small favorites on the betting lines at the sportsbooks as they kick off the NFL’s preseason schedule on Thursday night in the annual Hall of Fame Game matchup in Canton, Ohio.
The Ravens opened as slim 1-point favorites on the Hall of Fame Game odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, with that line moving slightly to Baltimore -2.5 early in the week with teams preparing for Thursday’s contest. The total is pegged at 32.5 points for OVER/UNDER bettors.
Baltimore missed out on the playoffs on tiebreakers last season, going 9-7 straight up and 8-7-1 against the spread. The team then used its second first-round pick in April to select Louisville Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, who is set to put the pressure on incumbent starting quarterback Joe Flacco for playing time in the season ahead.
The Bears, meanwhile, struggled to a 5-11 SU mark in 2017, although they were a solid wager at 9-6-1 ATS in their 16 outings. Chicago will be looking for a step forward from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky this season. Trubisky threw for 2,193 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in his 12 games as a rookie, for a 77.5 QB Rating.
Baltimore and Chicago will be meeting in the preseason for the first time in 20 years. The Ravens played host to the Bears in exhibition action back in August 1998, coming away with a 19-14 victory as a 5.5-point underdog in an UNDER result on the 37-point total.
Overall the Ravens have been a lucrative option in NFL preseason wagering over the past two seasons, going 8-0 both SU and ATS in that span according to the OddsShark NFL Database – a perfect 4-0 both SU and ATS over each of their last two preseason campaigns. The UNDER paid out for totals bettors in six of those eight contests.
The Bears, on the other hand, are just 3-5 SU and 4-4 ATS over the last two preseasons, going 2-2 SU and ATS last year and 1-3 SU and 2-2 ATS back in the 2016 exhibition slate. Chicago has also been paying out on the UNDER wager in preseason action, with the UNDER 7-3 in their last 10 preseason games.
Chicago and Baltimore last met in the regular season in October 2017, with the Bears pulling out a 27-24 road victory in the contest. Chicago had been listed as a 5-point road underdog.
