A wild week of betting has moved the opening numbers. Navigate to our NFL betting lines page to see the opening line for each game, and where the line sits for a variety of books. And don’t forget to grab Maddux Sports’ NFL football picks to make sure you have a positive return on your sports investment. Here’s a quick glance at some of the movement.
Minnesota (-2 ½) at Kansas City – The Vikings will look to right the wayward ship when they travel to Kansas City. The Vikes opened as 1 ½ point favorites, but after coming down to a -1 or a pick, the line rebounded back up to 2 ½ or even 3. Like the two previous weeks, Minnesota last week spoiled a big halftime lead, this time losing to the Lions at home in overtime. Is it possible Leslie Frazier is already on the hot seat? By all accounts, Donovan McNabb is. The Chiefs played much better at San Diego, although they fell just short of pulling off the upset. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict a tie.
Tennessee (-1) at Cleveland – The Browns opened as -1 ½ favorites against Tennessee but most sites have swung that around to Tennessee favored by a point; a few are listing the game as a pick. The Browns have won a couple ugly games, but they’re still 2-1. Tennessee, and especially Chris Johnson, has struggled a bit. But like the Browns, they’re at 2-1. I can’t imagine this will be any fun to watch, but it should be competitive.
Chicago (-6 ½) vs. Carolina – Chicago opened at -6 ½ with sites currently posting anywhere between 6 and 7 points. The spotlight will be on both quarterbacks in this one. Jay Cutler has been vocally unhappy about the lack of protection he has gotten from his offensive line. Cam Newton has played great for a rookie, but he hasn’t yet faced such a good defense on the road.
Houston (-3 ½) vs. Pittsburgh – The Texans opened as 3 point favorites against the Steelers and books are currently posting -3 ½. Houston has become a trendy pick to compete for the AFC title – and by extension – the Super Bowl. A healthy Arian Foster will only make this team better, although he’s still not 100%. Pittsburgh has been disappointing so far. Their week 1 blowout at Baltimore was surprising, but so too was their narrow victory against a struggling Indianapolis team last week.
New England (-5) at Oakland – The Pats opened as 6 point road favorites at Oakland. The line steadily receded through the week down to 4, but some buyback on New England has pushed it back up to between 4 ½ and 5 ½. Who would’ve thought both Oakland and New England would be 2-1 with their only loss coming at Buffalo after holding substantial leads? This game should feature contrasting styles. The Pats and their finesse spread attack against the Raiders and their physical running game and defensive line should be fun to watch.
Baltimore (-3 ½) vs. Jets – Baltimore opened at -4 ½ against the Jets, though books have come down to between 3 and 4 points with -3 ½ being the popular number. The Ravens did whatever they wanted against the Rams last weekend, winning and easily covering the spread. The Jets, on the other hand, were run over by the powerful Oakland ground game. I expect this to be a hard-hitting game as neither team wants to drop to 2-2 on the season.
