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Week 3 NFL Preseason Odds: Sunday Games Betting Lines, Trends and Analysis

OddsShark.com@@OddsSharkX.com LogoFeatured ColumnistAugust 23, 2018

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton looks to throw in the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Chicago Bears, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Frank Victores)
Frank Victores/Associated Press

The Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) and Arizona Cardinals (2-0) will both try to stay perfect this preseason on Sunday when they take the field as visitors in what are expected to be a pair of close games according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

The Bengals will kick off the day's action by visiting the Buffalo Bills (1-1) as 1.5-point underdogs on the NFL preseason odds followed by the Dallas Cowboys (0-2) hosting the Cardinals in a near-pick'em matchup according to oddsmakers.

Cincinnati has been one of the early surprises so far, outscoring its first two opponents (Dallas and the Chicago Bears) by a 51-40 margin. The Bengals trailed the Cowboys 10-0 at halftime last week before rallying in the last two quarters behind reserve quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Matt Barkley, who totaled 173 yards and one touchdown.

Andy Dalton remains the starter in Cincinnati though while Buffalo is still trying to figure out who will line up under center in Week 1 of the regular season. With AJ McCarron dealing with a shoulder injury, Nathan Peterman and rookie Josh Allen will continue to see most of the snaps like they did in a 19-17 win over the Cleveland Browns last week. Both outplayed Cleveland's Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield, the top pick in the NFL Draft.

Arizona has been more impressive on the defensive side of the ball under first-year head coach Steve Wilks, and understandably so after he served as defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2017. The Cardinals have surrendered 17 points or less in their first two preseason games, and they are coming off a 20-15 road win over the New Orleans Saints last week as five-point underdogs.

The main concern for Arizona right now is the health of rookie quarterback Josh Rosen, who is listed as day-to-day with a hand injury suffered on Monday in practice. Rosen may still play.

Dallas obviously got off to a good start in its last game against Cincinnati but could not finish with the team's first victory of the preseason. The Cowboys will try again here and hope their offense will perform better after scoring 34 points in the first two games combined.

Despite their offensive struggles, the Cowboys have seen the over cash in eight of their past 10 preseason games, according to the OddsShark NFL Database.

For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.