The biggest week of the NFL pre-season is here (well, almost here as soon as the Monday nighter is over this evening), as Week 3 is when you’ll get to see plenty of action from the starting units. Looking for more than a series or two from Tom Brady, or LaDainian Tomlinson, or Ben Roethlisberger….you get it this week.

The starters will play for at least the first half, and some teams will leave them on the field into the third quarter. This is when you get to see first team offenses vs. first team defenses, so it usually provides the most entertaining viewing during the month of August.

There are several interesting matchups highlighting the week’s action, including these two:

1) Thursday Night: 49ers at Bears

Two NFC teams looking to gain a level of respectability this season. This is the only game of the night on Thursday, the feature matchup. You will see two very good defenses facing two offenses that range from mediocre to downright awful at times.

Keep an eye on Devin Hester, as he can be the most exciting player in the league when he touches the ball.

2) Sunday: NY Giants vs. NY Jets

The newest member of the Jets, Brett Favre, faces the defending Super Bowl champs, who also just happen to be the team that kept him out of the Super Bowl last year when they went into Lambeau and beat Favre and the Pack in overtime.

There’ll be plenty of hype surrounding this matchup.

As the week proceeds we'll look at a few more games, the lines, the lineups, who has the edge, etc.

Good luck with your wagers.