NFL preseason odds 2014, Week 1: Browns-Lions and other games you shouldn’t be betting on

Home teams are favored almost universally. No spread is more than three points, and yet only two games — Bills-Panthers and Seahawks-Broncos — have oddsmakers in disagreement over which team should be the favorite. That's as good an example as any that sportsbooks have thrown up their hands in a perfect ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, because trying predict what unseen and sometimes unheard-of players will do in the fourth quarter is impossible even for the sharkiest of sharks. Taking the home team may be the only reasonable strategy.

Case in point: The winning points in last Sunday's Hall of Fame Game in Canton came on a 73-yard touchdown pass from New York Giants third-stringer Ryan Nassib to undrafted rookie Corey Washington out of Newberry. Newberry is a Lutheran Division II college in South Carolina that you didn't know existed until you read the previous sentence.

That isn't to say that the games won't be worth watching. For diehard fans, the preseason is a great and fun look at the bottom of the roster, from which tomorrow's stars may rise. There are also position battles to keep sharp tabs on, most notably at quarterback, where you can watch Johnny Manziel, Mike Glennon, Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater and others press to earn starting roles.