Between Aaron Rodgers’ broken collarbone, Jameis Winston’s shoulder injury and C.J. Beathard taking over under center for the 49ers, Week 7 promises to give bettors plenty of plot twists to try to weed through before figuring out who to wager on in this weekend’s biggest games.
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The Numbers
2: The number of times a divisional game has been played overseas in NFL history. That number will increase to three this week when the Cardinals take on the Rams. Twickenham Stadium will be the third different venue for an overseas divisional fight. Arizona beat San Francisco at Estadio Azteca in the very first NFL regular season game played overseas in 2005, while the Jets and Dolphins collided at Wembley Stadium in 2015.
8: The number representing the highest point spread of Week 7. The Seahawks, fresh off of their bye week, are headed across the country to take on a Giants team that legitimately doesn’t have any healthy wide receivers. Last week against Denver, Eli Manning completed just three passes the entire game to wide outs, yet the G-Men still managed to pick up their first victory of the season. Now comes the second straight test against one of the best secondaries in the NFL. This could be another game where Orleans Darkwa and Wayne Gallman have to come up big on the ground for Big Blue.
16: The number of consecutive games between the Eagles and Redskins in which the point spread has been seven or fewer. These two teams are never all that far apart from one another, and the fact that this five-point spread is almost as big as it has gotten over the course of the last eight years is proof of just that. This is 10 times in 11 matchups that the spread has been five points or fewer between these teams.
22: The number of consecutive home games in which Tom Brady has been favored by at least six points. There’s a chance that the Patriots end up going off favored by that many against the Falcons in the eighth time in NFL history that the two Super Bowl teams from the prior year met in the next regular season. However, New England opened at just -4.5 and has already dipped to -3 in spite of the fact that Atlanta has lost consecutive games at home to lowly AFC East opponents.
48: The number of consecutive home games for the Packers in which they have either been favored or underdogs by a field goal or less. The last time Green Bay was getting more than three at home, Matt Flynn and a Green Bay JV squad played the final game of the 2011 regular season against Detroit, a game the Lions needed to win to avoid having to play heavily favored New Orleans in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Detroit failed and ended up getting crushed at the Superdome in the postseason, while Green Bay earned the right to play the Giants at home after a first-round bye.
53.5: The number of points in the over/under of the Falcons/Patriots game, the highest total amongst the Week 7 betting odds. Considering the fact that these two teams combined to score 62 points in the Super Bowl last year, it isn’t a shock that this regular season meeting between the two features one of the highest totals of the entire NFL season.
Opening Week 7 NFL Odds
Chiefs at Raiders (+3, 47.5)
Titans at Browns (+7)
Jaguars at Colts (+3)
Bengals at Steelers (-6, 41)
Ravens at Vikings (-5, 39.5)
Jets at Dolphins (-3.5, 38.5)
Buccaneers at Bills (Off)
Panthers at Bears (+4, 41)
Saints at Packers (+4, 47.5)
Cardinals vs. Rams (London) (-3, 47.5)
Cowboys at 49ers (+6, 47)
Seahawks at Giants (+8)
Broncos at Chargers (+1)
Falcons at Patriots (-4.5, 53.5)
Redskins at Eagles (-5, 48.5)
(Odds Courtesy of BookMaker.eu)
