NFL Week 3 Betting Preview

TheFootballLines's picture
Fri, 2011-09-23 22:01 -- TheFootballLines

Heading into NFL Week 3, the Patriots and Packers remain as favorites in Super Bowl 46 betting markets. With both teams starting the season 2-0 their Super Bowl futures odds have come in slightly to Patriots +384 (4.84), Packers +521 (6.21) followed by the Eagles +730 (8.30) and Chargers +975 (10.75).

All four have opened as favorites for their week 3 matchups with the Tom Brady lead New England Patriots opening at a -9 point spread which has since come in to -7 for their road game v the Buffalo Bills, where one of the teams will record their first defeat of the season. Meanwhile the Packers (-3) visit the Bears, the Chargers (-15) host the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles (-9) who by all reports will have Michael Vick starting host the New York Giants.

With Peyton Manning out of the picture it's no surprise the Colts have gone from +1600 (17.00) out to +15200 (153.00) and the Texans have come in to +998 (10.98) after opening at +3300 (34.00). Houston -410 (1.244) have also firmed as favorites to win the AFC South ahead of Tennessee +375 (4.75). Houston +175 (2.75) are on the road in week 3 up against the Saints -195 (1.51), having had 2 comfortable first up wins 34-7 over the Colts and 23-13 over Miami the Texans go into the game sporting the best defensive record in the NFL having conceded only 20 points over the first two weeks. The next best defensive record belongs to the Detroit Lions whose defense has allowed a paltry 23 points in their first two matches.

Other teams to have made positive moves in Super Bowl futures markets are the Bills +6625 (67.25), Lions +1888 (19.88) and Redskins +4368 (44.68) with all three starting the season strongly and heading into week 3 undefeated. At the other end of the scale the Seattle Seahawks +30124 (302.24) are firmly sitting on the bottom with NFL's worst yards per game (191.5) and rush yards per game (47.5) stats. The Seahawks who were held scoreless by the Steelers 0-24 last week host the Cardinals this week as +3 underdogs, with a total line of over/under 43.