How much do NFL preseason games tell?

[JoJo5473]

I have been thinking about betting on football and I just started following preseason NFL results. I would like to know from the experienced betters how much of an indicater are preseason games to regular season games.
I am a basketball fan and in the NBA, preseason games don't mean much at all as teams

1. give each player equal minutes on the court so that everyone will get warmed up and prepared for the regular seasons, whereas in the regular season games starters are given 30-40mins so the results can be very different.

2. Also the intensity of the game is much less during the preseason as players worry about getting injured.

3. Coaches don't give much weigh on preseason games as preseason results don't determine their coaching ability when negotiating their next contract; starters wouldn't mind having their minutes reduced cause they will most likely have more minutes in the regular season regardless of their performances in the preseason.

But on the other side preseason games do tell me who is healthy to play and who's not so from this perspective it does tell something.

It would be nice if someone could tell me how much of an indicator preseason games is and maybe list a few points to back up, I am waiting to be enlightened here.

[nick2060]

From your explanation, you have a pretty good idea of what preseason is all about. A lot of bad teams use this to develop winning ways and build some confidence, but most of the experienced teams who are regulars in the playoffs just use it to evaluate young talent. It really doesn't tell you that much but in handicapping, any additional information is useful.

I find the two most useful things to take from preseason is you can evaluate the starting units to see who may be ahead (think patriots) and which teams are taking it slowly (Oakland, buffalo) and might not be at their best on week 1. You can also get an idea of which young guys you like, I personally love seeing Roy Helu of the redskins as well as Ike Redman of the steelers. If somebody goes down in the regular season, you have a better idea of the guy replacing him instead of just taking the sunday morning Pre-Game shows word for it.

Then you got teams whose pre-season showings are completely irrelevant like the Colts who are playing without Manning and the Jags playing without MJD. Hope this sheds some insight. Preseason IMO is best for maybe picking a few spots and bulking up the bankroll for the regular season. Teams like Indy and KC have a reputation for losing pre-season games and are both 0-2 ATS so far.

Hope this helps somewhat

[JoJo5473]

Thanks nick2060, from your explanation it seems to me that it varies depending on the team, different vibes for different teams, I will look more into that in my research

[iwantcougars]

for me is depth. you can see some of the backups so you can have a better idea if a key player goes down during the season. And also is good if you have a fantasy team, you can discover some diamonds, i got mike williams tb last year just from watching a couple of preseason games