The NFL is back! After a clean sweep last week in the Hall of Fame Game Best Bets article, we’re back at it for a full slate of games in Week 1 of the NFL Preseason. All 16 teams will be in action over the course of the weekend. It starts with three games on Thursday, three on Friday, the bulk of them on Saturday, and two final games on Sunday. Let’s take a look at this week’s 2025 NFL Preseason Week 1 preview and best bets.
There will be plenty of storylines to follow, plenty of positional battles, and plenty of teams that completely rest their stars. Keep in mind that the preseason varies drastically from what we can expect from these teams in the regular season. The news isn’t always fully available, and sometimes teams will surprise us. That being said, we’ll roll with the information we do have, look for the hungry teams, and find the best angles we can!
2025 NFL Preseason: Week 1 Preview and Best Bets
Indianapolis Colts -5.5 (-120)
John Harbaugh is one of the greatest preseason coaches in history. That’s been something we’ve cashed bets on time and time again at SGPN. That’s become a public thing now, like all the trends do. Like betting the under in the Hall of Fame Game when the over was clearly the best bet. So, we’re going to pass on this trend and look at the picture in front of us.
The Colts are playing two capable quarterbacks, probably for the whole game. Anthony Richardson will start the game, and Daniel Jones will share time with him. They’ll be going against backups on defense for the Ravens, and these guys are playing for their lives as starting quarterbacks.
Baltimore doesn’t play their assured starters and even some of their solid backups. They haven’t played most of their starters since 2021, when JK Dobbins tore his knee in their preseason finale. Indianapolis not only has its quarterbacks dueling for jobs, but also plenty of other positions. It’ll simply be better players vying for their careers against guys who might not even make the Baltimore roster. Don’t overthink this and roll with Indy.
Detroit Lions -3.5 (-110)
It’s a different story in this game. The Falcons aren’t playing Michael Penix or Kirk Cousins in this one. The Lions are coming off a big loss in the Hall of Fame game, but the key is that a lot of those players we’ll see Friday night got a warm-up game already. This is the bottom of the Lions’ depth vs the bottom of the Falcons’ depth.
The Lions are also likely playing their top draft picks in this game, which they didn’t do a week ago in their warmup. It appears Henson Hooker and Kyle Allen will once again both play as they battle to be Jared Goff’s backup. I love backing the team with the better players and a warm-up game under their belt.
2025 NFL Preseason: Week 1 Preview and Best Bets
New York Giants -1.5 (-110)
Like the Colts on Thursday, we should see strong quarterback play from the Giants against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday afternoon. There isn’t a ton of news out about who exactly will play. I don’t think we’ll see Russell Wilson, but we’re likely to get some mix of Jameis Winston, Jaxson Dart, and Tommy DeVito. Whatever the mix is, I like it. They are all vying to secure their position on the Giants’ quarterback depth chart. Brian Daboll’s job cannot afford to sit on the sidelines this preseason and let his team coast into the season. He needs to get the most out of his players, and it has to start now.
The Bills, on the other hand, are in the same boat as the Lions were last week. Their starters and a lot of their backups are set. It’s a great team that doesn’t have players fighting for their jobs at the very top. They can play different roster bubble players, evaluate, and change up situations. Daboll and company need to start delivering even this early.
Chicago Bears -3 (-110)
With this game not being until Sunday, both head coaches have been tight-lipped so far about who will or won’t play in the Bears and Dolphins game. I don’t think we’ll see the starters in this one, but either way, I like Chicago. They have a brand new head coach in Ben Johnson, who needs to work some things out in his first time as the head coach. This Bears team feels like it has some intense battles down the depth chart, and everyone wants to impress the new coach.
On the other side, it seems like the same thing all over Miami. A lot of the same players are back, and things for this team are established. That isn’t to say there aren’t positional battles and players fighting to stay on the right side of the roster bubble. The urgency just doesn’t feel the same for the Dolphins.
