Football is here! The NFL preseason kicks off on Thursday night with the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. This year’s installment pits the New York Jets against the Cleveland Browns. While Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson won’t be featuring under center, we should still be in for a competitive game as the countdown to the start of the NFL regular season starts here. Here is my Jets vs Browns Same Game Parlay for the festivities.
Jets -2.5 (-110)
Under 31.5 (-105)
Same Game Parlay odds: +300
There are no available player prop markets available at time of publishing (Wednesday night), so we have to keep it simple. We’re just going with an against-the-spread play and a game-total pick. Let’s break down each leg.
New York Jets -2.5 over Cleveland Browns (-110)
Preseason is always tough to predict since it is pretty much meaningless aside from fringe roster players battling for spots on the team, everyone hoping to stay healthy and — of course — bettors trying to begin the season with a profit. Despite the relative difficulty in handicapping, I like the Jets in this spot. They are undefeated in the preseason (5-0-1) under third-year head coach Robert Saleh, who compiled a 2-0-1 record in 2021 and a 3-0 mark last year. Now that Aaron Rodgers is on board, expectations have soared for the Jets in 2023. That’s not to say that they are going to go out and try to win the Super Bowl on Thursday, but I can see them eager to make at least some kind of early statement and set a winning tone. Plus it is clear from Saleh’s record that doesn’t just entirely dismiss preseason competition.
Moreover, say what you will about Zach Wilson but the guy has starting experience in the NFL. It has been confirmed that Wilson will play in this Hall of Fame Game, and he is good enough to lead his team to a preseason victory.
Under 31.5 (-105)
This is obviously an extremely low number compared to regular-season standards, but in case you don’t remember from preseasons of old this is pretty much the norm for these kinds of games. I don’t expect anything to change on Thursday when the Jets and Browns go head-to-head. With no Rodgers or Watson, the quarterback play will likely be unspectacular. In New York’s preseason opener in 2021, 19 points were scored. Two of the last 3 installments of the Hall of Fame Game have produced 24 points or fewer. I’ll roll with those trends and back the Jets to win a low-scoring affair.