In a little over a week, the nation will finally get its fix of NFL football after a long six month lay off. Pipe down, nerds, the preseason doesn’t count.
Hand in hand with the NFL is NFL betting. And with betting on NFL this year, we have seen some plays in the futures pool that may come as a shock, and some that are the norm. The first week lines have been out for a while and there might be some to jump on right now before they shift. Let’s take a look at both.
Future Picks
Not surprisingly, the New England Patriots have found themselves atop the Super Bowl Champion future odds at 7/1. When you have Tom Brady at the helm, you can run a wide receiver, a center and eight sacks of potatoes out on the field for an offense and probably at least get into the Wild Card game. Also near the top are the Los Angeles Rams at 10/1. Todd Gurley is an exciting player entering his third year. I see this as a break out year for Gurley where he leads the NFL in rushing and I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Rams in the Super Bowl, but winning it might not be in the cards for them.
If I told you three years ago the Jacksonville Jaguars would go off at 16/1 to win the Super Bowl and be ahead of the likes of the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks, you would have taken my keyboard away, locked me up and made me read old Bleacher Report articles. From, ya know, when they really sucked.
In the bottom third, NOT LAST, is the Cleveland Browns sitting at 66/1. Should you bet on them? Absolutely not. But can we all take a moment to enjoy the fact the Brownies aren’t sitting at 100/1 (like the Buffalo Bills)? This team, thanks to Hard Knocks, Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, Myles Garrett and Josh Gordon, are going to be exciting to watch. And I’m not just talking about a couple games here and there. With the Cincinnati Bengals (100/1) and the Baltimore Ravens (40/1) in their division, the only true challenge in the AFC North may be the Steelers (10/1), as usual. We’ll find out on September 9.
Current Odds
The NFL season officially starts on September 4th when the Atlanta Falcons head to Philadelphia to take on the 2018 Super Bowl Champion Eagles. This line opened at -4 and it’s gone down to -3. Jump on this now. I don’t see it going lower than a field goal, but I’ll tell you this much, I loved it at -4. No matter who is under center for the Iggles, the boys will be pumped up, the stadium will be loud and the defense will be hungry. Take the home team Super Bowl Champs -3. Lock it up.
Another interesting match up is the Tennessee Titans heading to south beach to take on the Miami Dolphins. The Phins are projected to be abysmal, and the Titans aren’t really going to do much better, but I think they can manage to cover the 1.5 points they’re laying to the Dolphins.
There are plenty of other match ups to look at for week 1 and I encourage you to take your chances. Also keep in mind that the first couple weeks of the season, the bookies and linesmakers are getting a feel for the teams so you might be getting, or in some cases giving, more points that you will be mid or end of season. Good luck, everyone!
