Week 6 pro football early line moves
Editor's note: This column appears each Sunday night to give ESPN Chalk readers a first look at the next week's NFL lines. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook also puts out the advance lines prior to Tuesday (so Week 7 lines will be posted this upcoming Tuesday), and we'll examine how the weekend action affected those lines. We'll also look at which lines were the first to be bet by the professional bettors in Vegas (traditionally, those are the bettors most likely to fire away on these openers, though it's not the exclusive club that it used to be).
LAS VEGAS -- In the Sunday afternoon games here (the ones that kick off between 1:05 p.m. PT and 1:25 p.m. PT), the popular New England Patriots and the increasingly popular Arizona Cardinals came through for bettors.
And when the Westgate and other sportsbooks started putting up opening lines for the Week 6 schedule, they went ahead and started shading their numbers higher.
On the advance lines at the Westgate last week, Arizona was a 2.5-point road favorite at Pittsburgh for their upcoming game. But even with the Steelers still to play at San Diego on ESPN's Monday Night Football, the Westgate inflated Arizona to minus-3.5.
New England was a 5.5-point road favorite for next Sunday night's rematch of the AFC Championship Game (and the start of Deflategate) at Indianapolis, but after the Patriots blew out the Cowboys 30-6, the Westgate increased it to minus-6.5. However, it doesn't appear they made it high enough as it was quick bet to minus-7 after the CG Technology books here in Vegas opened at minus-7.5 (EVEN).
With no starting quarterbacks going down on Sunday, there weren't any games kept off the board at the Westgate. And, per usual, the 49ers' and Giants' next games were taken down after their Sunday night game kicked off.
Here are other notes on significant changes to the Week 6 lines:
Falcons at Saints: This was Atlanta minus-2.5 last week but was pushed past the key number to Atlanta minus-3.5 after the Falcons stayed undefeated with a 25-19 overtime win over Washington and the Saints were blown out 39-17 by the Eagles. It was bet down to minus-3 (-120) at the Westgate, but we could see this bouncing back and forth between minus-3 and minus-3.5 during the short week.
Broncos at Browns: This went from Denver minus-5.5 last week down to minus-4.5 after the Browns upset the Ravens and the Broncos had a hard time covering and putting away the Raiders. Predictably, the earlier bets came in on the Broncos and the line was adjusted back to minus-5.
Bengals at Bills: The Bills barely beat the Titans after their line closed pick 'em and the Bengals rallied to beat the Seahawks 27-24 in overtime to stay undefeated, so this line was adjusted from Buffalo minus-1.5 to pick 'em.
Chiefs at Vikings: The advance line was Minnesota minus-2.5, but after the Chiefs lost to the Bears 18-17, oddsmakers moved this through the key number to Minnesota minus-3.5 even though the Vikings are on their bye week. The Chiefs also lost RB Jamaal Charles.
Bears at Lions: The Bears' upset of the Chiefs also impacted this line, along with the Lions getting routed 42-17 by the Cardinals. Last week's advance line was Detroit minus-6.5, but it was adjusted all the way down to minus-3.5. Other books here and offshore went with Detroit minus-3 and the Westgate quickly moved to that number as well as it doesn't look like the 0-5 Lions are attracting many bets.
Panthers at Seahawks: Seattle was a 7.5-point favorite in the advance line and looked to be rolling to victory over undefeated Cincinnati, but the Bengals rallied and won 27-24 in overtime. Carolina is undefeated and this line was adjusted down to Seattle minus-5.5, though early bets came in on the Seahawks and it was adjusted to minus-6 by kickoff of the Sunday night game.
The rest of the games on the Week 6 schedule saw minor adjustments. We'll see how these lines get further bet into shape after the rest of the sportsbooks put up their openers on Monday morning.
Week 6 openers Courtesy of the Las Vegas Westgate SuperBook
Falcons -2.5
Saints
Broncos -5.5
Browns
Bengals
Bills -1.5
Chiefs
Vikings -2.5
Texans -2.5
Jaguars
Bears
Lions -6.5
Redskins
Jets -6
Cardinals -2.5
Steelers
Dolphins
Titans -1.5
Panthers
Seahawks -7.5
Chargers
Packers -9
Ravens -3 (-120)
49ers
Patriots -5
Colts
Giants
Eagles -3
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- Dave Tuley, ESPN INSIDER
Editor's note: This column appears each Sunday night to give ESPN Chalk readers a first look at the next week's NFL lines. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook also puts out the advance lines prior to Tuesday (so Week 7 lines will be posted this upcoming Tuesday), and we'll examine how the weekend action affected those lines. We'll also look at which lines were the first to be bet by the professional bettors in Vegas (traditionally, those are the bettors most likely to fire away on these openers, though it's not the exclusive club that it used to be).
LAS VEGAS -- In the Sunday afternoon games here (the ones that kick off between 1:05 p.m. PT and 1:25 p.m. PT), the popular New England Patriots and the increasingly popular Arizona Cardinals came through for bettors.
And when the Westgate and other sportsbooks started putting up opening lines for the Week 6 schedule, they went ahead and started shading their numbers higher.
On the advance lines at the Westgate last week, Arizona was a 2.5-point road favorite at Pittsburgh for their upcoming game. But even with the Steelers still to play at San Diego on ESPN's Monday Night Football, the Westgate inflated Arizona to minus-3.5.
New England was a 5.5-point road favorite for next Sunday night's rematch of the AFC Championship Game (and the start of Deflategate) at Indianapolis, but after the Patriots blew out the Cowboys 30-6, the Westgate increased it to minus-6.5. However, it doesn't appear they made it high enough as it was quick bet to minus-7 after the CG Technology books here in Vegas opened at minus-7.5 (EVEN).
With no starting quarterbacks going down on Sunday, there weren't any games kept off the board at the Westgate. And, per usual, the 49ers' and Giants' next games were taken down after their Sunday night game kicked off.
Here are other notes on significant changes to the Week 6 lines:
Falcons at Saints: This was Atlanta minus-2.5 last week but was pushed past the key number to Atlanta minus-3.5 after the Falcons stayed undefeated with a 25-19 overtime win over Washington and the Saints were blown out 39-17 by the Eagles. It was bet down to minus-3 (-120) at the Westgate, but we could see this bouncing back and forth between minus-3 and minus-3.5 during the short week.
Broncos at Browns: This went from Denver minus-5.5 last week down to minus-4.5 after the Browns upset the Ravens and the Broncos had a hard time covering and putting away the Raiders. Predictably, the earlier bets came in on the Broncos and the line was adjusted back to minus-5.
Bengals at Bills: The Bills barely beat the Titans after their line closed pick 'em and the Bengals rallied to beat the Seahawks 27-24 in overtime to stay undefeated, so this line was adjusted from Buffalo minus-1.5 to pick 'em.
Chiefs at Vikings: The advance line was Minnesota minus-2.5, but after the Chiefs lost to the Bears 18-17, oddsmakers moved this through the key number to Minnesota minus-3.5 even though the Vikings are on their bye week. The Chiefs also lost RB Jamaal Charles.
Bears at Lions: The Bears' upset of the Chiefs also impacted this line, along with the Lions getting routed 42-17 by the Cardinals. Last week's advance line was Detroit minus-6.5, but it was adjusted all the way down to minus-3.5. Other books here and offshore went with Detroit minus-3 and the Westgate quickly moved to that number as well as it doesn't look like the 0-5 Lions are attracting many bets.
Panthers at Seahawks: Seattle was a 7.5-point favorite in the advance line and looked to be rolling to victory over undefeated Cincinnati, but the Bengals rallied and won 27-24 in overtime. Carolina is undefeated and this line was adjusted down to Seattle minus-5.5, though early bets came in on the Seahawks and it was adjusted to minus-6 by kickoff of the Sunday night game.
The rest of the games on the Week 6 schedule saw minor adjustments. We'll see how these lines get further bet into shape after the rest of the sportsbooks put up their openers on Monday morning.
Week 6 openers Courtesy of the Las Vegas Westgate SuperBook
Falcons -2.5
Saints
Broncos -5.5
Browns
Bengals
Bills -1.5
Chiefs
Vikings -2.5
Texans -2.5
Jaguars
Bears
Lions -6.5
Redskins
Jets -6
Cardinals -2.5
Steelers
Dolphins
Titans -1.5
Panthers
Seahawks -7.5
Chargers
Packers -9
Ravens -3 (-120)
49ers
Patriots -5
Colts
Giants
Eagles -3
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