Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

NFL betting on the New England Patriots will occur again as they host the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 of the 2008 preseason on Thursday. The Patriots will look to put last year’s Super Bowl loss behind them and they are expected to have a great NFL betting season. They are a five point football betting favorite against the Ravens in this matchup with a total of 35.

NFL betting history tells us that this is the first meeting between the two teams in the preseason. The Patriots and Ravens have met four times in the regular season since the Browns franchise moved to Baltimore in 1996. The Patriots are 4-0 in NFL betting against the Browns in the regular season. Last year the teams met in Week 13 NFL betting and the Patriots rallied for the win to keep their perfect regular season intact. The two teams do not meet this year in regular season NFL betting. This is just the third time the Patriots are opening the preseason at home in NFL betting since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002. The other two games were NFL betting winners for New England as they defeated the Giants and Eagles in NFL odds week 1 action.

NFL odds week 1 action should be interesting on this game as the Ravens are expected to try and find a starting quarterback after Steve McNair retired in the off-season. Football betting information says that Kyle Boller will get the start with Troy Smith and rookie Joe Flacco also getting a lot of playing time. Flacco is expected to be the quarterback of the future for the Ravens and that future may start immediately according to football betting experts. NFL betting experts hear that one rookie that is making an impact in camp and already competing for playing time is running back Ray Rice. He will be an excellent backup for Willis McGahee and should see a lot of playing time on Thursday and could impact the football betting outcome.

NFL betting information tells us that the Patriots won’t play the starters very long so expect to see a lot of newly acquired running back LaMont Jordan and backup quarterback Matt Cassel. NFL betting experts believe that top draft choice Jerod Mayo should also get some good playing time at linebacker for the Patriots. According to NFL betting information wide receiver Randy Moss may only play a series or two and receiver Wes Welker is not expected to play at all.