NFL Odds Week 5: Lines, spreads for Cardinals-Broncos, more
Four of the six NFL teams returning from Week 4 byes will be playing on Sunday afternoon, including the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals, who will visit the defending AFC champion Denver Broncos.
Arizona (+8) is an underdog for the third game in a row; they've gone 2-0 against the spread in their previous two games, beating the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers by a combined 20 points.
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The Cardinals are also 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games away from home off a bye week and 7-3-1 ATS in their past 11 as a road dog. However, the Broncos are also coming off a bye week, and have been even better playing at home under that scenario, with a 13-3 mark ATS in their past 16 games. Denver is 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings, although the teams have not met since 2010 when Arizona won 43-13 as a four-point home dog according to the OddsShark NFL Database.
The St. Louis Rams and the Cleveland Browns are also playing Sunday afternoon off a bye week, and like the Cardinals, both are on the road. The Rams visit the previously unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles as 7.5-point underdogs, and have gone 4-1 ATS in their past five road games following a bye. The Browns take on the Titans as small road dogs, with the status of Tennessee starting quarterback Jake Locker still to be determined due to a wrist injury that kept him out last week. Cleveland is 3-1-1 ATS in its past five road games off a bye.
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Other key games on Sunday feature a lot of home favorites according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, including the Carolina Panthers (-2.5) vs. the Chicago Bears, the Dallas Cowboys (-7) vs. the Houston Texans, the Detroit Lions (-9) vs. the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts (-3.5) vs. the Baltimore Ravens, the New Orleans Saints (-11) vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New York Giants (-4.5) vs. the Atlanta Falcons, the San Diego Chargers (-7) vs. the New York Jets and the San Francisco 49ers (-7) vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pittsburgh Steelers (-7) are the only road favorites, visiting the winless Jacksonville Jaguars.
The most intriguing game might just be the Colts vs. Ravens matchup with both teams riding winning streaks. Indianapolis has won two straight following an 0-2 start while Baltimore has won three in a row. The Colts are 8-1 ATS in the last nine meetings, and the Ravens have gone 3-9 vs. the line in their past 12 road games against AFC South opponents. The UNDER is also 11-2 in Indy’s last 13 home games vs. the AFC North.