Detroit is Underdog Against New England in Week 3 of NFL Preseason

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will be looking to pick up their first win of the NFL preseason while handing Matthew Stafford and the unbeaten Detroit Lions their first loss of the scrimmage season when the two Super Bowl 52 hopefuls square off at Ford field on Friday night. Now, let’s find out why Patriots are the NFL odds favorites over the Lions during this exciting Week 3 preseason matchup.

New England at Detroit NFL Preseason Odds, Prediction & Pick

When: Friday, August 25, 2017 at 7:00 PM ET Where: Ford Field TV: WBZ Radio: WBZ 98.5 FM (New England) / WJR 760 AM (Detroit) Live Stream: NFL Game Pass NFL Preseason Odds: Detroit Lions +2 ½ (-105) / Total: 43 ½ GAMETIME WEATHER

• Clear: 21°C/69°F
• Humidity: 48%
• Precipitation: 0%
• Cloud Cover: 13%
• Wind: 6 mph E
• Stadium Type: Indoor

Why Bet the New England Patriots Odds at -2 ½?

The best reason to back the Patriots in this Week 3 matchup is that Tom Brady will likely play at least a half and the Pats will be determined to get a ‘W’ after dropping their first two scrimmage games. New England fell against the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-24 in their preseason opener as Tom Brady sat out and followed that up with a 27-23 defeat against the Houston Texans in Week 2 as Brady made his debut by going 6-of-9 for 67 yards while tossing one touchdown pass to Rex Burkhead. Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went 15 for 23 for 145 yards with one touchdown and one interception pass to D.J. Foster who caught four balls overall for 52 yards. The Patriots defense allowed Houston quarterback Tom Savage to go 8-for-9 for 98 yards and one touchdown one week after allowing Jacksonville quarterbacks Chad Henne and Brandon Allen to both throw TD passes. The Pats also fumbled a whopping four times while losing two of them in the loss.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS TEAM STATISTICS

Offensive total yards 396.63 Current Offensive rush yards 112.16 Offensive passing yards 284.47 Average Score For 28.68 Defensive total yards 327.47 Current Defensive rush yards 88.37 Defensive passing yards 239.11 Average Score Against 16.37

Why Bet the Detroit Lions Odds at +2 ½?

The Lions have looked good in beating Indianapolis 24-10 in Week 1 and the New York Jets 16-6 the last time out. Veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford looked good in completing 8-of-10 passes for 84 yards and one touchdown pass to Marvin Jones who caught a team-high four passes for 34 yards. Kicker Matt Prater nailed three field goals from 37, 25 and 50 yards in the win and Detroit’s young backups, Jake Rudock and Brad Kaaya both looked solid in relief. The Lions recorded three sacks and picked off Bryce Petty once in the win and won their preseason opener as Rudock completed 13 of 21 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns while Kaaya went 8-for-11 for 71 yards and one TD pass.

DETROIT LIONS TEAM STATISTICS

Offensive total yards 332.47 Current Offensive rush yards 79.94 Offensive passing yards 252.53 Average Score For 20.71 Defensive total yards 356.88 Current Defensive rush yards 110.71 Defensive passing yards 246.18 Average Score Against 22.59

Cleveland is Betting Favorite in Football Preseason Game vs.Tampa Bay

New England vs Detroit Game History

• Total Meetings: 11
• First Meeting: September 26, 1971. Schaefer Stadium. Foxborough, Massachusetts.
• Last Meeting: November 23rd, 2014. Gillette Stadium. Foxborough, Massachusetts.
• All-Time Series: New England 7-4-0
• Largest Margin of Victory: New England 34-7 (1971)
• Longest Win Streak: New England 4 (2002-2014)
• Current Win Streak: New England 4 (2002-2014)

Expert Analysis and NFL Preseason Prediction

The New England Patriots are the easy pick to get the ‘upset’ road win and accompanying ATS cover as they simply ‘try harder’ to do just that than they’ve done in their first two preseason games. The Pats are a modest 8-8 in Week 3 preseason games under Bill Belichick and that tells me he kind of takes Week 3 preseason games semi-seriously. Detroit’s Jim Caldwell is just 2-4 in Week 3 preseason contests, but really, the fact that Tom Brady and the starters are going to play a half is the deciding factor for me. While I’ve been really impressed with Detroit’s backup quarterback play during the preseason, I’m also expecting Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett to hold it down after Brady gives the pair a halftime lead. The Patriots are 8-1 ATS in their last nine road games while the Lions are 0-5 ATS in their last five games overall. Simply put, go along with the convincing 61 percent of the betting public that likes New England to win and cash in!

NFL Preseason Pick: New England 31 Detroit 27