Week 8 NFL Odds
The halfway point of the season is nearly here. Week 8 NFL action with a 17-game schedule means that we are just about at that point and 29 of the league’s 32 teams have at least two losses. The Buccaneers vs. Lions Monday Night Football game could make it 30, as Tampa Bay enters that one at 5-1. Zachary Cohen has a preview for Bucs-Lions and also for the nightcap with Texans-Seahawks.
As for my article, though, we’re turning the page to Week 8. This will be a little bit of a light week because six teams are on a bye. This will be a little bit lighter of an article because six teams are on a bye and because we have four more teams in action on MNF. But, it is always good to see where lines began and where they wound up getting re-posted. I’d encourage you to check out Mike Somich’s lookahead NFL bets column every week on Tuesdays.
Let’s look at those early Week 8 NFL odds.
Be sure to keep an eye on our DraftKings NFL Betting Splits and exclusive Circa NFL Betting Splits throughout the week.
Here is the Week 8 NFL Odds Report:
Odds as of Sunday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. PT
Vikings at Chargers (-2.5, 43.5)
Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET
This is the first time since Week 2 and just the second time this season that we haven’t had a division rivalry game on Thursday night. Usually those make the most sense, not only because of the division angle, but also because it typically means closer travel for the road team on a short week. Well, that’s not the case here at all, as the Vikings have to pack up and head to Los Angeles on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, depending on when they hop on a plane. Most of the market was -2.5 with some extra juice on the Chargers. This line looked more like -3 entering the week, but the Chargers were no match for the Colts despite 420 passing yards from Justin Herbert, so it’s now under the key number.
Jets at Bengals (-5.5, 45)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
The winless season for the Jets continued in Week 7, as they’ve played seven games and have seven losses, so you can understand why there isn’t a whole lot of market support for them. The Bengals pulled out a little bit of a stunner on Thursday Night Football behind Joe Flacco, who has played well in two games for them thus far. Cincinnati has some new life. The Jets seem to have no life. When DraftKings first opened this lookahead line, it was 2.5. Superbook had a similar number. Now it’s as high as -6. This is about as big of a week-to-week adjustment without an injury as you’ll see. The total is also 4-5 points higher.
Bears at Ravens (-6.5, 49.5)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
Obviously this line implies that Lamar Jackson will return after the bye for Baltimore, otherwise we’d see a much tighter number here. Chicago did what they needed to do against New Orleans to score a 12-point win, as Caleb Williams didn’t play very well at all, but the Bears ran the rock well and capitalized on three Spencer Rattler interceptions. With Jackson’s impending return and Chicago essentially playing to expectations, this line didn’t move off the lookahead number at all.
Dolphins at Falcons (-7, 46.5)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
The Dolphins looked like they had absolutely no interest playing in the cold and rain in Cleveland last week. Mike McDaniel had zero words for the team’s performance in his postgame presser. He’ll probably be fired on Monday morning, so who knows where this line will go. It’s something of a second short week for the Falcons coming back from San Francisco, making Monday a bit of a waste with the late Sunday Night Football game. They played on MNF against the Bills last week. I’m not sure it matters against the cold body that is the Dolphins’ corpse. This line was more like -5.5 or so on the lookahead, but some did grab that as it moved up to -6 in advance of Sunday.
Bills (-7.5, 47.5) at Panthers
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
Apparently Carolina’s win over the Jets didn’t really move the needle much. Buffalo was idle, so there was no chance for them to impress or raise concerns in Week 7. The Panthers won a road game, but we did also see Bryce Young hurt his ankle and sport a walking boot after the game. I’m not sure that the betting market believes there’s a huge difference between Young and Andy Dalton, but when we get confirmation of Young’s status, I’d expect this moves a point or so whichever way the news breaks.
Giants at Eagles (-7, 42.5)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
This would have been a fascinating line to discuss if the Giants hadn’t taken the fourth quarter off against Denver. Arguably the most improbable comeback in regular season history did not go the Giants’ way, as they appeared to be in line for a huge victory. Instead, they have to find a way to shake it off to play an Eagles team that looked pretty good for most of the game against the Vikings. This line was predominantly 7 heading into the weekend and sits either 7 or 7.5 as of Sunday night.
Browns at Patriots (-7, 40.5)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
This, like most weeks, will be nauseating for those listening to Cleveland sports talk radio. Mike Vrabel was working with the Browns as a special assistant and they opted to keep Kevin Stefanski instead of giving the job to Vrabel. Stefanski, the two-time Coach of the Year, probably saved his job by hammering the Dolphins, but it may only be temporary. Nevertheless, it’s business as usual for the Browns as they prepare to face the Patriots, who had a slow start, but eventually blew out the Titans. Not really much movement here, though Superbook did have Patriots -7.5 last week and DraftKings was actually -6.5 as of Sunday night, down from the -7 lookahead.
Titans at Colts (-14, 45)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
A late game in Indy, but this is one where we’ve seen a noteworthy adjustment. You could have poked holes in the Colts’ strength of schedule prior to Week 7, but they played really well in the win over the Chargers and have cemented themselves as one of the NFL’s best teams thus far. The Titans lost again. They’ve already fired their head coach. They’re bad in all facets of the game. This line was in the -12 range, but hit 14 and even 14.5 on Sunday night. Truth be told, you’ll probably have to go even higher to get Tennessee money here.
Cowboys at Broncos (-3, 48.5)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
Another noteworthy mover here, as the Broncos really didn’t look good at all for three quarters against the Giants. On the flip side, Dallas looked very good against Washington. This one was anywhere from -4 to -6 in the lookahead markets at any given point, as there were some 4.5s and 5s as well. The market was sitting -3 on Sunday night and a flat -3 at that, with -110 as the vig. That was a really interesting number and adjustment in my mind, as Denver did come back to win and entered the week No. 1 in yards per play on defense.
Packers (-3, 43.5) at Steelers
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh’s loss to the Bengals feels like a while ago, but the betting market doesn’t forget a whole lot of things. Green Bay did not look very good against Arizona, so while Pittsburgh lost and let Joe Flacco look 10 years younger, the Packers didn’t move the needle enough to cause an adjustment in this line. This one bobbed and weaved around -3 and -3.5 in the lookahead market, but now sits a pretty solid -3 across the board.
Commanders at Chiefs (NL)
Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET
The Chiefs methodically beat the Raiders, while the Commanders had a very disappointing Sunday. Not only did they get worked over by the Cowboys, but Jayden Daniels got hurt and was sent for a MRI. I’m going to assume he doesn’t play next week and we’ll likely see this line set with Marcus Mariota at QB. When Fanduel re-posted the game, it was Kansas City -9.5, an increase from -6.5 on the lookahead number. Superbook, assuming Daniels wouldn’t play, was 11.5. DraftKings hadn’t taken a position at time of writing.
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