NFL Odds: Opening Betting Lines, Game Trends for Week 12
The Detroit Lions (6-4) will play arguably their biggest game of the season in the first of three slated for Thursday, and they are listed as 2.5-point home underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com as they host the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings (8-2) in Detroit’s annual Thanksgiving affair.
The Lions are coming off a 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears (3-7) on Sunday, the first of two consecutive divisional games.
Detroit will be attempting to earn a victory on Thanksgiving for the fifth year in a row, something the team has not accomplished in the modern era of the NFL. The Lions are also riding an eight-game winning streak both straight up and against the spread in November home games, according to the OddsShark NFL Database, and they have already beaten the Vikings once this season (14-7) back in Week 4.
However, Minnesota has won six straight since then and would lose a tiebreaker for the division title with another loss here if both teams end up tied for first place at the end of the regular season.
In the second Thanksgiving Day game, the struggling Dallas Cowboys (5-5) host the Los Angeles Chargers (4-6) in a pick’em matchup between teams heading in opposite directions.
The Cowboys have dropped both games they have played so far without suspended running back Ezekiel Elliott after getting trounced 37-9 by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. Dallas has been outscored 64-16 during its two-game skid while Los Angeles is coming off a 54-24 rout of the Buffalo Bills as a 6.5-point home favorite to improve to 4-2 SU and 5-1 ATS in its last six games.
Wrapping up Thanksgiving in prime time will be the New York Giants (2-8) visiting the Washington Redskins as 7.5-point road underdogs. The Giants ended a three-game losing streak with a surprising 12-9 overtime victory against the Kansas City Chiefs as 10-point home dogs last Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Redskins blew a 15-point lead in a 34-31 OT loss to the New Orleans Saints (8-2) on the road last week. Washington still covered the spread as a 9.5-point road dog but has gone 7-23 SU in its last 30 night games. The Redskins are also just 2-5 SU and 1-6 ATS in their previous seven at home overall.
Speaking of the Saints, they are listed as dogs for the first time since Week 3 as they visit the Los Angeles Rams (7-3), who are 2.5-point home favorites. New Orleans will be making its first trip to Los Angeles to play the Rams since they moved back there, and the Rams won three of the previous four meetings at home (4-0 ATS) when they were in St. Louis.
The three other teams often mentioned as the best in the league are all double-digit home favorites in Week 12.
The Philadelphia Eagles (9-1) host the Chicago Bears (3-7) as 13.5-point favorites, while the New England Patriots are the biggest chalk on the board at -16.5 against the Miami Dolphins (4-6). The Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2) then take on the Green Bay Packers (5-5) as 14-point favorites in the Sunday night matchup.
