The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook and internet sites wasted no time setting odds for the 2018 NFL season. The league announced its schedule on Thursday, and oddsmakers were publishing lines for the first week of the season shortly afterward.
Jeff Sherman at the Westgate hit Twitter midafternoon with his employer’s lines for Week 1. Internet site sportsbook.ag came out with its own line soon after. Sportsbetting.ag and BetOnline.com followed by Friday morning.
The odds are interesting because the NFL Draft is less than a week away and obviously the lines don’t factor the impact of any picks or trades that will happen that could affect teams. Also injuries are a big part of the game and those are not taken into account.
This presents an opportunity for bettors to find possible advantages. We identify some questions being raised that could point you to profitable parlays:
How Will New England Perform?
The Patriots come into the season the as the 6/1 favorite to win Super Bowl 53. They also enter the year with some serious drama, which hasn’t really been seen in Foxboro in the Bill Belichick era. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are pushing back against their coach. Will this year be a typical successful season, or are we seeing the beginning of the decline?
The team opens with Houston at home and is favored by seven points. Last year New England was favored by eight points at home against Kansas City and got crushed, 42-27.
Can Rams Win in Oakland?
One team made the playoffs last year, the other didn’t. The non-playoff team is favored by two points. Yes the Raiders got a new coach, but Los Angeles was built to get to the NFC Conference game.
With the additions of Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Brandin Cooks, Sam Shields and Ndamukong Suh, the Rams aren’t thinking playoffs, they now have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. Despite being on the road, Los Angeles could be putting a spanking on the Silver and Black.
Are Giants Getting Better?
This is another head scratcher. Who they pick in the second round will tell a lot about where New York is headed. Are they trying to get better immediately or planning for the future?
Regardless of who they take in the draft, he can’t fill all the shortcomings the team has and being a four-point underdog to Jacksonville seems low. The Jaguars have a strong defense and made moves in the offseason to improve the offense. Even with the old offense, though, they would have dominated the Giants.
No Respect for Steelers?
Pittsburgh is playing Cleveland and only favored by seven points. How can this be? I know everyone is suddenly rosily optimistic about the Browns because they have the first and fourth pick in the draft, but are those two players suddenly going to turn around a team that lost 31 of 32 games the past two seasons?
The Browns will be better, there was no where to go but up. New General Manager John Dorsey will improve the organization. Better could be winning four to six games this season, but one of them won’t be against the Steelers, who have been to the playoffs every year since 2014.
