NFL lines, Week 7: 5 best bets
By John Buhler
Coming off yet another winning week, let’s turn our attention head to Week 7 in the NFL. Here are the five best bets for the upcoming Week 7 slate.
What a week it was in the NFL in Week 6. If you love road teams not just getting points, but winning in upset fashion, then this was the week for you. It wasn’t perfect, but I did have my fifth straight winning week, going 3-2 and improving to 18-11-1 on the year.
Taking the Chicago Bears at +7 versus the Baltimore Ravens was probably my best call. I was definitely pleasantly surprised to see the Bears not just cover, but win in overtime over Baltimore.
Seeing the Philadelphia Eagles win on the road when they were getting 3.5 points from the Carolina Panthers definitely got the week off on the right foot on Thursday Night Football.
It was risky taking the still winless San Francisco 49ers getting 11 points, but they covered against the Washington Redskins in the Kirk Cousins bowl, losing to their eventual franchise quarterback’s team by two points.
Then there are the two NFC South teams I picked that completely choked. Adrian Peterson found the fountain of youth with his new team in the Arizona Cardinals. Old people are at their best in the Valley of the Sun, as Arizona beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by five points.
Of course, the Atlanta Falcons blew another lead. Matt Ryan LOVES to see 17-point or more leads go bye-bye. 150 or so yards passing from Jay Cutler was enough to beat Matty Ice in a dome, 20-17. Just embarrassing.
With that, I might take my talents to South Beach (or probably not) and see what I can do with these point spreads. Here are my five best bets of the weeks. Lines are courtesy of SportsBook Review.
San Francisco 49ers (+4) vs. Dallas Cowboys
A theme with this week’s line is that they aren’t of the absurd variety. The opening spreads are largely within one score. None of those double-digit glue traps Las Vegas is trying to ensnare the uninformed gambling public in. That being said, it’s a little harder to see what’s good with the 15 available lines this week.
One line that I kind of like is the San Francisco 49ers getting four points at home from the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, the 49ers are winless at 0-6, but they are the better team over the clueless Cleveland Browns. San Francisco will win a game or three this year. It might come on Sunday versus Dallas.
The Cowboys might be without its star running back in Ezekiel Elliott with his six-game domestic violence suspension being upheld. Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris are nice tailbacks, but nowhere near as dynamic as Elliott. Without him, Dallas will have to lean on second-year quarterback Dak Prescott and another lackluster Cowboys defense.
Sure, the 49ers have had their problems at quarterback. Brian Hoyer isn’t cutting it, but the Cowboys don’t have film on rookie C.J. Beathard. Even if the Cowboys are coming off their bye, I like the 49ers getting points at home and potentially getting their first win of the season on Sunday.