Aaron Mayberry – Last Updated on August 17, 2021 5:30 pm
Free Preseason Week 1 Prediction: Football Team vs Patriots NFL Odds
Looking for Washington Football Team vs. New England Patriots free NFL Preseason Week 1 picks & NFL odds? NFL betting sees the Football Team taking on the Patriots on Thursday August 12th at the Gillette Stadium, Foxborough Massachusetts. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NFL season long including all NFL Week 1 games so stay tuned for more FREE NFL predictions like this Football Team Patriots matchup.
NFL Handicapping: Preseason Week 1
(0-0) Washington Football Team vs. New England Patriots (0-0)
Date: Thursday, August 12th
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough Massachusetts
NFL Preseason Week 1 ATS Betting Lines: Washington -2
NFL Preseason Week 1 Moneyline Odds: Washington -130, New England +110
NFL Preseason Week 1 NFL Betting Total: O/U 35
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The first preseason game between the Washington Football Team and New England Patriots will be the first for either team since the 2019 season due to the cancellations last year.
In 2019, Washington went 1-3 in the preseason and New England went 3-1. It could have been 4-0 had the Patriots not blown a 29-10 halftime lead in the last game. Granted, that was when Tom Brady was still on the team. The Patriots have fallen hard since then, with a 12-4 record in 2019 and just 7-9 in 2020.
Although that is the same 2020 record as Washington, the Football Team is trending in the right direction after going 3-13 the previous season. In addition, Coach Rivera has a 54% overall win rate in preseason while Coach Belichik is at 47%.
Washington Football Team
Washington has signed a big improvement at quarterback with Fitzpatrick. They haven’t had any consistency under center in a long time, and Fitzpatrick should help with that. He has some good WR options in McLaurin and Samuel (free agent acquisition) and a dual threat in RB Gibson.
Their other QB Heinicke is coming off an excellent effort in the playoff loss to the now reigning NFL champs. He has some experience now and will be looking to solidify his status as a legitimate QB in the league.
According to Football Insiders’ DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average), the team ranked 16th in the league. This is a measurement of successful plays considering both total yards and yards towards a first down, with extra “points” awarded for big plays. This implies the Football Team may have been better than their 7-9 record indicated.
Offense was not their strong suit in 2020, ranking dead last in offensive DVOA. With some new and improved faces mentioned above, the offense should improve.
The key to their success last year was their defense. Washington ranked 3rd in defensive DVOA last season. With the addition of CB Jackson, this should only improve. The defensive line is still the core of this defensive squad.
New England Patriots
The Patriots have improved their roster from last season with the addition of plenty of free agents. It will be interesting to see these new pieces coming together for the first time on Thursday.
New England ranked just 23rd and 26th in offensive DVOA and defensive DVOA, respectively. These numbers may not be very instructive however, as the Patriots made many free agent signings over the offseason, most notably two solid TEs in Smith and Henry.
It appears the Patriots are going to lean heavily on their rushing attack and short game with their TEs. Unfortunately for this matchup, the Football Team were 10th in run defense last year.
QB Newton has not been great the last few seasons, and he will need to improve significantly for the Patriots to be better than a mediocre (or worse) team. We will also likely see the first of Jones at QB. He may turn out to be pretty good but it’s unlikely he’ll outshine Heinicke.
NFL Betting Trends:
- Football Team are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a road favorite.
- Football Team are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall.
- Patriots are 5-3 ATS in their last 8 games at home.
- Patriots are 2-3 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
- The Under is 6-2 in the last 8 NE home games.
- The Under is 5-0 in the last 5 WAS games.
4* Free NFL Betting Prediction: Washington Football Team -2
Washington has the defense to stop the presumably run-oriented Patriots in Week 1 of the preseason. They made many improvements on offense that should be evident starting this first game.
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