It's a Trap: Which NFL Odds are Most Deceiving in Week 8?

The Cincinnati Bengals are better than initially thought and they proved it in Week 7. 

Cincinnati was a 6.5-point underdog against the Baltimore Ravens, and the Bengals would win 41-17. Between Baltimore and Cincinnati, I can’t think of who duped bettors more in this game? The 6.5-point spread was very deceiving.

In Week 7, surely the Carolina Panthers will pick up a bounce back win against the New York Giants, right?

Wrong.

The Panthers would get trounced in the Meadowlands by Daniel Jones and the Giants, 25-3. Sam Darnold was benched at MetLife Stadium; an all too familiar experience for him. New York covered the spread, and Carolina covered their faces in shame.

Here are some lines that appear to be traps in Week 8, odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

Philadelphia Eagles (-3) vs. Detroit Lions

The Eagles are a slight favorite to the 0-7 Lions, and this line scares me because Philadelphia may actually be the worst team of the two.

That is at least for Week 8. 

The Eagles are potentially without running back Miles Sanders in this one, and they will need Boston Scott or Kenneth Gainwell to fill Sanders’ under-utilized shoes. 

If Philadelphia continues to put the entire offense on Jalen Hurts, they will continue to lose. Possibly even to winless Detroit.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints (+5.5)

The Saints just beat the Russell Wilson-less Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night, 13-10. As long as Jameis Winston continues to hurt his own offense, I won’t be picking them to cover the spread against any quality teams.

Remember, this is a New Orleans team that failed to cover as seven-point favorites against the Giants at home. Can Winston and the Saint’s hang with Brady and the Bucs? I don’t think so. 

New Orleans is allowing 265.5 passing yards per game, and that’s after allowing just 133 yards to Aaron Rodgers in the Week 1 fluke. The quarterbacks that Saints have played since:

• Sam Darnold
• Mac Jones
• Daniel Jones
• Taylor Heinicke
• Geno Smith

Tom Brady will keep New Orleans out of reach.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings (+2.0)

The Minnesota Vikings have been okay. I feel like they have been just okay forever now. Kirk Cousins has failed to take this Vikings team to places that even Cleveland Browns’ backup quarterback Case Keenum has taken them, but I digress.

The Cowboys have a quietly tough rushing defense, allowing just 86.2 rushing yards per game. If the Vikings can’t get the running game going, and place the entire offense into the hands of Cousins, then Minnesota could be in trouble.

Assuming Dak Prescott suits up, Dallas’ can play this contest with a much more balanced offensive attack and should be able to cover the two-point spread. The spread could even close at 1.5-points, but we’ll see.

The last time Minnesota faced a very solid rushing defense was the Browns (80.4 rushing yards per game) in Week 4, and Cleveland covered a one-point spread, winning 14-7.