This week we're talking about the game with Week 2's highest total, retro jerseys, and crazy pills. Check out the movers and shakers on the NFL odds board.
Keeping track of NFL odds every day is a full-time job. A pretty great job, mind you, but one that certainly keeps you on your toes.
In the ongoing soap opera that is the National Football League, just about anything can move the odds you see at a sportsbook. Sometimes it’s an injury to a star player or a nasty weather front moving in. Sometimes it’s an arrest, a suspension or a spat in the locker room. And others it’s as simple as the betting public hammering one side of a posted line. From an oddsmakers’ perspective, as long as the action is relatively balanced, the house always wins.
In this space, we’ll run down a few games that you need to keep an eye on as kickoff looms. Check out all of our NFL odds.
Matt LaFleur on Jordan Love’s knee injury
If you ask me, the Packers would have to be on crazy pills to send quarterback Jordan Love back out to start against Indianapolis after he suffered a sprained MCL in last week’s loss. The injury’s original timeframe was set at 4-to-6 weeks and now we have Cheeseheads head coach Matt LaFleur saying Love’s status was “pretty open.” Right. Let’s rush our stud quarterback right back into action so he can really shred that knee this time. I’m sure LaFleur is just a shark at the poker table.
In the meantime, this line is bouncing all over the place. It opened with the Colts at -3, then went up further to -3.5, and has now dropped to -2.5. If you like the Packers to cover, please expect backup QB Malik Willis to be taking the snaps. He joined Green three weeks ago and has only one NFL start – as a rookie in 2022 – under his belt.
Indianapolis Colts at Green Bay Packers
Bettors still like Giants despite Daniel Jones
Just about the only thing going for the New York Giants last week were those Montreal Canadiens lookalike retro jerseys. Other than their swanky unis, they were absolutely dreadful in an embarrassing 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The lowlight of that debacle? Probably Daniel Jones’ 44.3 quarterback rating.
Now the G-Men are up against it in DC in a game they need to win with Cleveland, Dallas, Seattle and Cincinnati up next on their schedule. Oddsmakers had Washington as a 2.5-point favourite to start the week, but now it looks like there still are some Giants supporters out there willing to bet a buck on their club, shifting the line to Washington -1.5.
New York Giants at Washington Commanders
Bettors backing Amon-Ra St. Brown’s Lions
Earlier this week you could get the Lions as a 6.5-point favourite and if you like Detroit here you should have been on this line early. Now, with the line at 7.5, you’ll need the Lions to win by more than a converted TD to get your ticket cashed. That’s entirely possible if Amon-Ra St. Brown wakes up after grabbing three balls for 13 receiving yards, but betting the hook here sucks when you could have had the -6.5 on Monday.
It’s also worth noting that this is the highest total on the board this week, up from 51 to 51.5 as of Thursday afternoon. Bring on the fireworks.
