Washington at Detroit

Dan Campbell has never been one to play his starters much in the preseason, and Jared Goff won't be an exception again this afternoon. Detroit's offense runs through a backup group sorting out a new starting center after Cade Mays went down for roughly two months, with Joshua Dobbs stepping in behind Luke Altmyer, who handled the bulk of the snaps last week. Washington is playing it just as cautiously. Dan Quinn said this week he would be comfortable with Jayden Daniels never taking a preseason snap, and Washington is also down starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil, out after surgery on a torn triceps. Whichever arm plays behind that patchwork front, Sam Hartman or Athan Kaliakmanis, does it behind backup protection. Neither coach is treating this as a game to win with his best players, and the total still looks priced for teams bringing their top offensive weapons. But the backup units aren't equal. Hartman drove all three of Washington's first-half scoring drives last week, while Detroit leans on a new center and a Dobbs who has shown far less. Backup quarterbacks behind patched-together protection rarely string together long drives, and that same readiness gap gives Washington a live shot to win outright. Back the UNDER this afternoon — I like this one to land well clear of the number. Washington's moneyline comes along too, a longer price worth grabbing underneath it.