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NFL Best Spread Picks for Week 4 (Target These Three NFC Teams ATS)

Looking at three NFL spread picks to make in Week 4. 

By Shelby Dermer

Sep 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton (14) makes a pass attempt against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton (14) makes a pass attempt against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
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Week 4 is here! 

This is the last time until late-October that each NFL team will be in action with bye weeks beginning in Week 5. To say that betting on the NFL through the first three weeks has been crazy is an understatement. Do we really know which teams are playoff contenders and which are pretenders? 

Eventually, the cream will start to rise in the NFL and it could start this week. Here are three teams to invest in for Week 4 with a spread bet. 

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

NFL Best Spread Picks for Week 4 

  • Detroit Lions (-3.5) vs. Seattle Seahawks 
  • Carolina Panthers (+4) vs. Cincinnati Bengals
  • Los Angeles Rams (+3) at Chicago Bears 

Detroit Lions (-3.5) vs. Seattle Seahawks (-112)

Speaking of pretenders vs. contenders, it’s clear that the Detroit Lions belong in the elite conversation after nearly making the Super Bowl last season followed by a 2-1 beginning this year. The spread for this game has been bet down from an opening line of Detroit -4.5, but his bet is really about fading the Seahawks after their 3-0 start.

Seattle has faced a murderer’s row of quarterbacks that includes Bo Nix, Jacoby Brissett and the deficient Skylar Thompson/Tim Boyle tandem in Sunday’s lopsided win over the Miami Dolphins. There’s no doubt that Mike Macdonald can coach a defense. In fact, last season as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator he cooked up a gameplan that held Detroit to a season-low six points. 

However, we’re still needing a prove-it win from this Seattle team. They won a pair of one-possession games against Denver and New England, which had the two lowest win totals in the AFC this preseason. They understandably made Miami look bad while playing with its backups. 

The Lions are a different animal, anchored by the best rushing tandem in the NFL with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Seattle +4.5 is long gone with the spread approaching a field goal. Money was expected to come in on the Seahawks given a 3-0 start, but it’s unwarranted at this point and we’ll back the Lions in another home primetime spot. 

Carolina Panthers (+4) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (-112)

Things are not good in Cincinnati right now as the Bengals dropped to 0-3 after Monday’s loss to Washington. Cincinnati’s injury-depleted defensive line was good enough to limit the Commanders’ running game, but rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels looked like a season veteran, completing over 90% of his passes and totaling three touchdowns. 

A few weeks ago, this looked like a prime spot for the Bengals to come out of their annual early-season struggles. That was before Bryce Young was benched and Andy Dalton arrived to make the Panthers look like the Greatest Show on Turf with 300-plus yards and 3 touchdowns in a win over the Raiders. 

Cincinnati is struggling to get pressure outside of three-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson and that’s bad news going up against a mobile quarterback like Daniels and a veteran like Dalton, who gets the ball out accurately and on time. The Bengals are just not good enough right now to lay four points on the road while the Panthers have new life after it looked like they’d be the NFL’s laughing stock once again. 

Los Angeles Rams (+3) at Chicago Bears (-110)

The Los Angeles Rams threw everything possible at the San Francisco 49ers last week to avoid an 0-3 start and win outright as a 7.5-point home underdog. The Rams now head to the Windy City to face an offense led by No. 1 pick Caleb Williams.

Williams have been underwhelming in three starts at the professional level. Williams has been sacked 13 times, is completing less than 60% of his passes and has thrown twice as many interceptions (4) as touchdowns (2). It doesn’t help that the Bears have had zero success running the ball with a bad offensive line. Leading rusher D’Andre Swift is averaging a miniscule 1.8 yards per carry, and that includes a 20-yard run. 

Another team with new life, Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford seems to just get it done despite a lack of playmakers on the outside. Stafford target five different skilled position players at least four times on Sunday and Kyren Williams can still get the job done in the backfield. 

The Rams were carved up by Brock Purdy in Sunday’s win, but they’ll get an offense in Chicago on Sunday that produces a slew of negatives and very little positives in the early stages of the Shane Waldron/Caleb Williams era. Chicago is another team that is not good enough to be favored. 

Game odds update periodically and are subject to change.

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