The Buffalo Bills will look to remain unbeaten when they hit the road to take on a Detroit Lions team that is still looking for its first win of the scrimmage season. With both of these rebuilding teams looking to reach the playoffs after being denied a postseason berth a year ago, let’s find out which team is offering the best value against their NFL betting odds.
Bills vs Lions 2019 NFL Preseason Week 3 Spread, Game Info & Pick
- When: Friday August 23, 2019, 8:00 PM ET
- Where: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
- TV: CBS
- Radio: Buffalo / Detroit
- Live Stream: NFL Network
- NFL Preseason Week 3 Odds: Buffalo -1 / Total: 42
Weather Forecast
- Partly Cloudy: 23°C/73°F
- Humidity: 59%
- Precipitation: 10%
- Wind: 7 mph NE
- Cloud Cover: 46%
- Type of Stadium: Indoor
Head-to-Head Trends
- Under is 6-0 in the last 6 meetings.
- Underdog is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings.
Why Bet On Buffalo at -1?
One week after beating Indianapolis 24-16 in their preseason opener, the Bills subdued Carolina 27-14 last weekend as starting quarterback Josh Allen went 9 of 11 for 102 yards and backup Matt Barkley went 8 of 10 for 110 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, the Bills harassed all three Colts quarterbacks that played while limiting them to a combined 23 of 42 passing for 209 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
Buffalo is looking to improve on their uninspiring 6-10 mark from a year ago, under, strong-armed second-year signal-caller Josh Allen after they finished 30th in scoring a year ago (16.8 ppg) and a modest 18th in points allowed (23.4 ppg).
Why Bet On Detroit at +1?
After looking mostly clueless in their horrific 31-3 preseason-opening loss against New England two weeks ago, the Lions were on the wrong end of a humbling 30-23 loss against Houston last weekend. With veteran starter Matthew Stafford sitting out, backup Josh Johnson went 9 of 18 for 85 yards with one interceptions while fellow backup David Fales went 12 for 19 for 226 yards with one touchdown. Johnson, who the Lions signed just over a week ago after Tom Savage was injured, looked solid from the outset.
“It’s hard, but he’s doing a good job of grasping the offense,” Detroit head coach Matt Patricia said. “Josh is right there in that same mix and trying to execute the way we want him to.”
The Lions are looking to improve on their uninspiring 6-10 campaign in Year 1 under Patricia last season and they need to fix an offense that finished 25th in scoring (20.3 ppg) and a defense that finished a respectable 16th in points allowed (22.5 ppg).
Bills vs Lions NFL Preseason Week 3 Betting Trends
- Bills are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games
- Bills are 4-1 SU in the last 5 games
- The total went OVER in 7 of the Bills’ last 10 games
- Lions are 4-8 ATS in the last 12 games
- Lions are 1-4 SU in the last 5 games
- The total went UNDER in 8 of the Lions’ last 9 games
Expert Analysis and Prediction for Bills vs Lions
The Lions might be playing at home in this contest, but they haven’t looked very competent through two preseason games and I contend that Detroit made a big ass mistake by jettisoning former head coach Jim Caldwell in favor of Matt Patricia after they recorded three winning seasons and made two playoff appearances in four years under the widely-respected and well-liked Caldwell who now serves as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach in Miami.
Anyway, I like the way the Bills went about upgrading their roster this past offseason and although I still don’t like head coach Sean McDermott very much, I do believe he finally has his team headed in the right direction. I love Buffalo’s hiring of Darrel Bevell as their new offensive coordinator and I believe his addition is going to help Josh Allen improve and the Bills offense, overall. Buffalo will almost certainly be going all-out to stay unbeaten this preseason and I believe the Bills have a lot more positives going for them heading into this contest than Detroit does. I’m going with the Bills to cover the chalk as a slight road favorite and you should too!
Pick: Buffalo 23 Detroit 20
