NFL Line Odds Point to Favorites

Despite the fact that it has been the year of the underdog to this point in the NFL season, bettors don’t seem to be too scared of riding a few big favorites.

Week 6’s two biggest line moves have both gone against heavy favorites, suggesting that chalk betting is still alive and well.

The New York Giants opened at -8.0 over the Detroit Lions, but that line was pounded all the way up to -10.0 earlier this week, where it has stayed steady. New York is coming off two straight big wins with a 17-3 win over Chicago two weeks ago and a 34-10 win at Houston last week.

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Still, Detroit may be the play at +10; they are 4-1 ATS this year, and are coming off of a huge 44-6 win over St. Louis that should inspire another confident effort this week.

Another game whose line moved a full point this week is the San Diego Chargers at the St. Louis Rams. San Diego opened as a 7.5-point favorite and moved to an 8.5-point favorite earlier this week.

Last season, San Diego started off the year 2-3, and then proceeded to finish the regular season with 11 straight wins (7-3-1 ATS). Judging from this line movement, bettors seem to believe San Diego will snap out of their early season funk this year, too.

Perhaps the most surprising line movement of the week comes in the Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears game this week. Chicago opened as a 7-point favorite but are now 6.5-point favorites.

Considering the Bears won 23-6 over Carolina last week despite four interceptions from backup quarterback Todd Collins, the news that Jay Cutler will start Sunday should have brought in a lot of action for Chicago.

Instead, bettors seem content to take the points on Seattle, a team that has been atrocious on the road and ranks 31st in the weekly NFL Power Rankings at OddsShark.com. At -6.5, the Bears seem like a pretty solid play with Cutler back under center.

Other line movements this week include Houston opening at -4.0 and moving to -4.5 at home against Kansas City, and San Francisco opening at -7.0 and moving to -6.5 at home against Oakland.