{"id":120149,"date":"2026-08-21T23:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/?p=120149"},"modified":"2026-08-21T23:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:06:47","slug":"nfl-picks-steelers-broncos-stand-out-on-fridays-preseason-betting-slate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/football\/nfl\/nfl-picks-steelers-broncos-stand-out-on-fridays-preseason-betting-slate\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Picks: Steelers, Broncos Stand Out on Friday\u2019s Preseason Betting Slate"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":117025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[765],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"acf":{"brief_description":"Quarterback rotations and playing time take centre stage for bettors as the NFL moves deeper into its preseason schedule","auto_update_sportal365":true,"property_type":["","run_ads","","","",""],"main_image":117026,"authors":false,"custom_author":"Mark Keast","type":"news","properties":{"ads_enabled":true,"adult_content":false,"important":false,"live":false},"live_url":"","type_of_redirect":"permanent","body":[{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"<p>The NFL is into the second week of the preseason, when position battles intensify and coaches get closer to determining who fits on the 53-man roster. The cutdown deadline this year is Aug. 30, after the third preseason weekend.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Watching the Las Vegas Raiders defeat the Houston Texans 22-20 last night, I was struck by how Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak is handling his quarterback situation. The preseason doesn\u2019t last very long. There isn\u2019t much time to get it right.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">The Raiders signed Kirk Cousins as a free agent in April to mentor No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">But Cousins has played just one series through the team\u2019s first two preseason games. Mendoza played the first half last night and, other than an interception returned for a touchdown, showed some good signs, including a strong arm. He finished 8-of-15 for 86 yards and also had a couple of perfectly thrown balls dropped by Malik Benson.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Aidan O\u2019Connell impressed in the second half, going 15-of-24 for 166 yards and leading the Raiders to the come-from-behind win.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Kubiak said he isn\u2019t ready to name his Week 1 starter, adding that he doesn\u2019t want any of his three quarterbacks getting comfortable just yet \u2014 Cousins included.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">There are three games tonight.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">The New York Jets are in Pittsburgh tonight to face the Steelers at 7 p.m. EST.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">In <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"editor-link\" href=\"https:\/\/betway.com\/g\/en\/sports\/grp\/american-football\/usa\/nfl\"><u>NFL betting<\/u><\/a> at Betway, the Steelers are -125 favourites on the moneyline, with the Jets at +105. Pittsburgh is a 1.5-point favourite (+100), while New York is +1.5 (-120). The total is set at 38.5, with the Over at -105 and the Under at -115.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">At 7:30 p.m. EST, the Carolina Panthers are in Jacksonville to play the Jaguars. At Betway, the Panthers are -135 favourites on the moneyline, with the Jaguars at +115. Carolina is a 1.5-point favourite (-110), while Jacksonville is +1.5 (-110). The total is set at 37.5, with the Over at -105 and the Under at -115.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">At 9 p.m. EST, the Green Bay Packers are in Denver to play the Broncos. At Betway, the Broncos are -275 favourites on the moneyline, with the Packers at +220. Denver is a 6.5-point favourite (-110), while Green Bay is +6.5 (-110). The total is set at 40.5, with the Over at -115 and the Under at -105.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Go with the Steelers moneyline tonight, with head coach Mike McCarthy going with two young QBs \u2013 Will Howard and Drew Allar \u2013 getting a good long look. Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph are not playing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">And both those young QBs looked good in Pittsburgh\u2019s 28-9 win over Green Bay. Allar went 10\/13 for 153 yards and 2 TDs, while Howard went 7\/9 for 86 yards. No interceptions for either QB.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">I am going to go Under 37.5 in Panthers at Jaguars, with neither offence giving me enough confidence tonight.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Carolina\u2019s first-team offence hasn\u2019t exactly been on fire. The Panthers&#8217; starters had only nine offensive snaps against Buffalo and struggled.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Carolina&#8217;s team site reported the offence also started slowly during Wednesday&#8217;s joint practice against Jacksonville before improving.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">In the later game, go Broncos -6.5. Denver coach Sean Payton kept Nix out of Denver\u2019s preseason opener and has already said he\u2019ll make his debut against Green Bay.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Denver is a big preseason favourite, but laying -275 in an exhibition game offers little value. The Broncos have good QB depth behind Nix. That\u2019s what makes a touchdown victory for close to even money logical.<\/p>\n"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120150,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120149\/revisions\/120150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}