NFL Preseason Best Bets for August 9: The Chiefs Are Back in Business
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Rainman M.
- August 9, 2025
Top-rated sportsbooks have released their NFL odds for Saturday’s preseason action.
Three games, in particular, interest me as worth investing in: Steelers vs. Jaguars, Titans vs. Buccaneers, and Chiefs vs. Cardinals.
For your best bets, I will recommend investing in the Jaguars, Buccaneers, and Chiefs at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review).
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Saturday, August 09, 2025 – 07:00 PM EDT at EverBank Stadium
Pittsburgh’s Struggles on Offense
A major story in the Steelers’ training camp has been the struggles of their offense. Pittsburgh’s offensive players are still taking time to get in sync with each other.
In what has been a visibly disjointed offense, players are struggling to make plays that an NFL player should normally make.
These struggles have been true of the first-team offense even when they were facing a defense from which key players like TJ Watt were absent — so, one cannot simply dismiss concerns about Pittsburgh’s offense by observing how strong the team’s defense is.
The Steelers’ backups on offense are, obviously, worse than the starters, and this will reflect in a preseason game where, according to Pittsburgh’s head coach, Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, and other key starters will not play at all.
Jacksonville’s Exciting Offense
The Jaguars have a new coaching staff that will be excited to get things going with their players.
With the hiring of Liam Coen, who enjoyed fantastic success with upstart Tampa Bay’s offense last year, and with the acquisition of guys like Travis Hunter, buzz justifiably surrounds Jacksonville’s offense.
Hunter is reportedly going to play in this game both at wide receiver and cornerback.
It has also been announced that starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence will see the field, further emphasizing the importance that Jacksonville is attributing to this game.
A bad team last year, the Jaguars have a lot to prove and are eager to enjoy a strong start, which they’ll be able to do with starting players going up against many backups.
With good depth — Nick Mullens, for example, enjoys a career 88.3 passer rating — the Jaguars will have no problem scoring enough points to cover the spread against an offensively bedridden Pittsburgh team.
Tennessee Titans vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Saturday, August 09, 2025 – 07:30 PM EDT at Raymond James Stadium
The Spread
I do not understand why the Titans are favored in this game — especially with them being the road team.
True, number one draft pick Cam Ward will play. But reports indicate that he will see no more than two series.
This game will be decided by backups. Tennessee, which was the NFL’s worst team last year, does not have better depth than Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay’s Superior Depth on Offense
On offense, the Buccaneers are loaded at wide receiver. They’ve gotten to develop their depth at this position partly because of the extent to which their starting wide receivers were injured last year.
Jalen McMillan, who showed tremendous development with 267 receiving yards in December last season, has made big plays in practice.
Emeka Egbuka has also stood out very positively. Training camp observers write of the extent to which he dominated Tennessee’s secondary, which foreshadows his performance tonight.
With starter Chris Godwin’s injury enhancing possibilities for other wide receivers to earn more playing time, Tampa Bay’s wide receivers are going to be more eager to step up.
The Buccaneers’ Depth on Defense
Tampa Bay’s secondary also enjoys significant depth, with, for example, J.J. Roberts impressing in his performance in practice against the Titans, especially with an incredible highlight-reel interception.
Fellow versatile defensive back Christian Izien, who earned significant playing time in the last two regular seasons, is another valuable depth piece.
Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish have likewise been the object of positive reports.
Tampa Bay’s pass defense will lock down a Titans pass attack that lacks the proven explosiveness of Tampa Bay’s offense. Guys like Tim Boyle, who quarterbacked what was an anemic and non-competitive Miami offense when he played last season, lack the same impressive track record of Buccaneers offensive players.
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Arizona Cardinals
Saturday, August 09, 2025 – 08:00 PM EDT at State Farm Stadium
More Mahomes, More Success
Kansas City’s head coach said that we will get to see superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes for an entire quarter.
With the Chiefs’ offense getting such a boost for a prolonged period of time, it feels like a steal to get the Chiefs at -2.5.
Kansas City’s Stronger Quarterback Room
Gardner Minshew will follow Mahomes. Minshew has had success as a starter for different teams, accumulating a career 88.5 passer rating that creates a solid outlook for him as he goes against Arizona’s backups.
Fellow quarterback Bailey Zappe injected explosiveness into New England’s offense in the past when he assumed greater responsibilities during the regular season.
These quarterbacks are significantly better than what Arizona has to offer.
In particular, Clayton Tune is very bad. Arizona’s offense under his leadership was anemic because he lacks sufficient confidence as a passer. In his regular season career thus far, he has had no success, throwing zero touchdowns to two interceptions and mustering a 29.3 career passer rating.
With guys like Tune, who is Arizona’s first backup quarterback, Arizona’s offense won’t keep pace with Kansas City’s.
Arizona’s Defensive Worries
Of course, the disparity in quality between these defenses is also significant, especially with Kansas City boasting arguably the best defensive coordinator.
Last year, the Chiefs ranked ten spots ahead of the Cardinals in total defense. Depth plays a role in this disparity, which is set to manifest itself tonight after Arizona’s secondary in particular has reportedly struggled mightily in training camp, exhibiting a worrying level of shakiness against the pass that will enable the Chiefs to score enough points to cover.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
