SPREAD TO BET NOW: CHICAGO BEARS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (-5, 41)
These NFC North rivals do battle at Lambeau Field, with the Packers opening at the dead number of -5 hosting a Bears team on a three-game winning streak. While Chicago has feasted on a high-fat diet during this span, it did dominate Dallas last Thursday night.
The big turnaround is the offense, which is averaging 5.7 yards per play during this streak – a full yard higher than the Bears’ season average. Chicago has scored 19, 24, and 31 points in those wins, picking up steam ahead of this important divisional game.
Some books have already moved to Green Bay -4.5 while others are discounting the juice on Packers -5. If you like the Bears, grab them now because bookmakers will move through the dead numbers much faster and we could see this sitting -4 or -3.5 by Sunday.
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SPREAD TO BET LATER: HOUSTON TEXANS AT TENNESSEE TITANS (-3, 49.5)
The Titans are the hottest team in the NFL with a sudden surge on offense since Week 10. Tennessee has won four in a row with a combined 150 points scored in that span. To put that uptick into perspective, the Titans scored a combined 169 points from Week 1 to Week 9, and 43 of those points came in a Week 1 win over Cleveland.
Houston’s roller-coaster ride continues, following a big win over New England with a pure stinker versus Denver. The Texans rank 25th in defensive DVOA at FootballOutsiders and hit the road for the first time since Week 11 for what will be the first of two meetings with Tennessee over the next three weeks.
If you like Houston here, take your time and see if you can get that oh-so valuable half-point hook at +3.5. The Titans are turning heads and while some books are taking money on the underdog, there could be a heavy public push closer to the weekend. If you’re skeptical, take the field goal now. If you’re greedy, wait for the hook.
TOTAL TO BET NOW: UNDER 37 BUFFALO BILLS AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Two of the better defenses in the NFL butt heads on Sunday Night Football with these teams each vying for a Wild Card ticket to the postseason in the AFC. Books opened the Over/Under at 37 points and early money is coming in on the Under, pushing the total down to 36.5 at some books.
This total sits among the lowest of the 2019 season, but for good reason The Bills just checked the high-powered Ravens to only 24 points and that defense gave them a chance to win the game in the final minutes. They didn’t pull it off but that effort proved this Buffalo stop unit is for real after crushing some cupcake foes earlier in the year.
The Steelers have seen a subtle upgrade on offense with Devlin “Duck” Hodges under center but the backbone of this squad is the stop unit, which has limited its last five opponents to an average of only 12.8 points per game. If you like the Under, jump in the pool now and collect as many points as you can.
TOTAL TO BET LATER: OVER 40.5 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT CINCINNATI BENGALS
Boy, the Patriots Offense has fallen off. But no matter how bad things are for Tom Brady & Co. they should still be able to hang a healthy dose of scoring on the Bengals’ 31st-ranked defense. Hell, even if Brady and the offense don’t find the end zone much, this New England defense is no stranger to paydirt and Cincy has coughed the ball up 23 times this season.
The Bengals, on the other hand, have enjoyed a slight resurgence with veteran QB Andy Dalton back at the helm. Cincinnati has scored 19 and 22 points the past two games after posting efforts of 10, 10, 13 and 10 points in the four games prior.
If you like the Over, pump the breaks on your bet and see if you can get something a little lower. A few books have discounted the juice on the Over, with early play on the Under so a move to 40 or 39.5 could be on the way, especially with the media making a big fuss over Brady’s fall from grace.
