Morning Coffee: The NFL returns with Pro Football Hall of Fame Game

The long wait is finally over! 

The National Football League makes its highly anticipated return tonight with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.

In case you missed it, we’ll have an NFL game to watch every Thursday from now until next year.

The Houston Texans and Chicago Bears will get us started with the annual pre-season kick-off in Canton, Ohio.

While we won’t see C.J. Stroud or Caleb Williams, we will see some important position battles on display, and the perceived difference in depth between the two teams has forced a significant line movement at FanDuel.

Meanwhile, Week 9 of the CFL season kicks off tonight with the pre-season favourite to win the Grey Cup set to host the current favourite to win the Grey Cup as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers welcome the BC Lions to town.

BC QB Vernon Adams Jr. has emerged as the obvious favourite to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award at -155 at FanDuel.

No other player is shorter than +460 to win that award.

The Lions are down to +210 as the favourite to win the Grey Cup at FanDuel and they are a 4.5-point favourite for tonight’s showdown in Winnipeg.

Honey, if you see this, don’t include me in tonight’s plans.

I’ll be home early to set up screens for the NFL game, CFL game, and the FanDuel app in time for kick-off.

We made it.

This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday August 1st, 2024.

The NFL Returns With Pro Football Hall of Fame Game

The Texans and Bears will kick off the NFL pre-season with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game tonight.

A year ago, Houston entered the season with a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach.

Stroud and the Texans shocked the world when they went 10-7, won the AFC South, then set a franchise playoff record with 45 points in a Wild Card win over the Cleveland Browns.

Stroud won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and became the youngest starting quarterback to win a playoff game since 1950.

Expectations are much higher for Houston in Year Two under head coach DeMeco Ryans.

Stroud is the third choice to win NFL regular season MVP at FanDuel behind only Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

The Texans are the sixth choice to win the Super Bowl at +1500 at FanDuel this morning.

With Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Stefon Diggs, John Metchie, Dalton Schultz, Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce, the Houston offence has the potential to be one of the best in the NFL this season.

We’ll have to wait just a little bit longer to see the starters on the field together in game action.

Meanwhile, Bears fans are hoping their franchise can mirror what the Texans did last season with their own rookie quarterback.

No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams is the obvious favourite to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at +135 at FanDuel this morning.

No other rookie is shorter than +650 to win that award. 

Chicago finished 7-10 last season – tied for the worst record in the NFC North.

Their regular season win total for the upcoming year is over/under 8.5 wins and it’s juiced to the over at -160.

The Bears are -108 to make the playoffs and -112 to miss the playoffs at FanDuel.

Williams won’t play tonight, and it appears the same is true for many Chicago’s starters.

That led to some significant line movement for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game at FanDuel.

The Bears were a 2.5-point favourite for tonight’s game.

However, that line has moved all the way to Houston -1.5 after Chicago’s head coach Matt Eberflus confirmed that his staff would take a measured approach to the pre-season with an “extra” game on the schedule.

Tyson Bagent will start at quarterback for the Bears.

He’ll be replaced at some point by Brett Rypien and then Austin Reed.

The Texans will counter with Davis Mills, Case Keenum, and Tim Boyle.

That means advantage Houston at the QB position.

We should also see Metchie and rookies Jawhar Jordan and Jadon Janke for the Texans tonight.

Ryans has worked closely with GM Nick Caserio to upgrade the talent on the Houston roster and I prefer their depth pieces over the Bears in this match-up.

Meanwhile, the total for tonight’s game is down from 33 to 31 at FanDuel and it’s juiced to the under at -115.

While bettors are expecting a low scoring game, I must wonder how low the number could get before there is value betting on the over.

I like Houston’s depth here – particularly at the QB position - in a low scoring game.

I’ll take the Texans on the moneyline at -130 as my FanDuel Best Bet for the Pro Football Hall of Fame game.

Enjoy the games, everyone!