NFL odds: Previewing lines, trends ahead of Week 9

An epic head-to-head matchup between two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks will highlight Sunday afternoon’s NFL betting action.

Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos (6-1) ride a four-game winning streak into Foxboro for yet another key meeting with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (6-2), and the defending AFC champions are consensus three-point road favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

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However, Brady’s New England teams have gone 10-5 straight-up and 8-6-1 against the spread in the previous 15 meetings with Manning’s Denver and Indianapolis Colts squads. Like the Broncos, the Patriots have won four games in a row to go along with a 3-1 mark ATS. They are coming off a 51-23 rout of the Chicago Bears last Sunday as six-point favorites, with Brady throwing for 354 yards and a season-high five touchdown passes.

Meanwhile, Denver is a perfect 4-0 versus the line during its winning streak following a 35-21 victory over the San Diego Chargers last Thursday night as 9.5-point chalk. The Broncos blew a 24-0 halftime lead in a 34-31 overtime loss at Gillette Stadium last year. But they got revenge with a 26-16 victory against New England in the AFC Championship Game as 4.5-point home chalk before going on to lose the Super Bowl 43-8 to the Seattle Seahawks.

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With six teams off on byes in Week 9 there is only one divisional game on tap Sunday afternoon, as the San Francisco 49ers (4-3) will host the St. Louis Rams (2-5) in an NFC West betting matchup. The 49ers had their bye in Week 8 while the Rams were blown out on the road by the Kansas City Chiefs 34-7 after upsetting Seattle at home. St. Louis actually took an early 7-0 lead before surrendering 34 unanswered points, failing to cover as a 7.5-point road underdog. The Rams are double-digit road dogs against the 49ers (-10) and have gone 2-7 ATS in their last nine games under that scenario. One of the covers though was a 24-24 tie at San Francisco two years ago as a 13.5-point dog.

There are three other double-digit spreads favoring home teams on Sunday: the Cincinnati Bengals (-11), Kansas City Chiefs (-10) and Seahawks (-15), who will be facing three opponents with a combined two wins. The Bengals (4-2-1) and Chiefs (4-3) play the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-7) and New York Jets (1-7), respectively, and Seattle (4-3) will square off with the Oakland Raiders (0-7) as the biggest Week 9 favorite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.