One of the largest spreads heading into Week 4 is the Los Angeles Rams being 13-point favorites over the New York Giants. Daniel Jones and Co. just lost by 27 points to the San Francisco 49ers' backups, and appear to be an absolute mess right now. While it's not debated who will win this matchup on Sunday, the spread is a different question. Covering 13 points isn't easy, but wouldn't you rather have placed money on it when it was LAR -9.5? That's why you pay attention to the lookahead lines.
Every Friday, we take a look at the NFL lines a week and a half in advance to determine if we should put money down now in order to get the best bang for our buck. Depending on what happens in Week 4, all of these lines could change before we reach Week 5, so we want to go ahead and get our bets in if we see a nice opportunity for an upset or to jump on a favorite before the line moves even more in their favor.
Before we jump in to some early bets to consider, here are the lookahead lines for Week 5. All odds come courtesy of William Hill Sportsbook.
Which teams will cover the spread in Week 4? Pete Prisco, R.J. White and SportsLine's Kenny White join host Will Brinson to break down their best bets and size up every game; listen below and be sure to subscribe for daily NFL goodness fired into your eardrums.
Week 5 lookahead lines
Buccaneers (-3) at Bears
Bengals at Ravens (-13)
Rams (-9.5) at Washington
Eagles at Steelers (-7)
Raiders at Chiefs (-11.5)
Cardinals (-8) at Jets
Panthers at Falcons (-3.5)
Jaguars at Texans (-6.5)
Dolphins at 49ers (-8.5)
Colts (-2.5) at Browns
Giants at Cowboys (-11.5)
Broncos at Patriots (-11)
Vikings at Seahawks (-9.5)
Chargers at Saints (-7.5)
Picks to consider
Buccaneers -3 at Bears
Full disclosure, I actually picked the Bears to upset the Colts this week. Even if they do, this line could move more in favor of the Buccaneers. Tom Brady and the Bucs are favored by a touchdown over the Chargers, and touchdown favorites are 11-3 against the spread (79%) this season, which is the best mark through Week 3 since 1990. The Chargers are one of just three teams yet to go over their total, and they just lost cornerback Chris Harris to injured reserve. He joins the likes of Melvin Ingram, Derwin James, Justin Jones and Mike Pouncey, so yes, this Chargers team is pretty beat up. I believe this line will grow by next week, so I'll jump on the Buccaneers right now.
Giants at Cowboys -11.5
This is a big spread, but I still might jump on it right now. The Cowboys take on the Browns this week, who are above .500 for the first time since 2014 with a 2-1 record. This doesn't really feel like an accomplishment, however, as they defeated the Bengals and Washington over the past two weeks. While the Cowboys are 1-2, they have the most explosive offense in the league is going up against a sub-par secondary this week. Cleveland is on a seven-game road losing streak against the spread, which is tied for the third-longest streak over the last 10 seasons. The Browns have lost each game during this streak by five-plus points, so I'm rolling with Dallas to cover on Sunday.
So why should you jump on the Week 5 Cowboys line right now? We already mentioned in the intro that there's a chance the Giants don't cover against the Rams on Sunday. Additionally, the Cowboys have beaten the Giants by at least 18 points in their last two matchups, and Mike McCarthy understands that every divisional win could matter in the NFC East.
Cardinals (-8) at Jets
This spread is now off the board since the Jets played the Broncos on "Thursday Night Football," but it's going to reopen even more in favor of the Cardinals. Sam Darnold was virtually out-dueled by a quarterback making his first NFL start, as the Jets were beaten by a team that has been ravaged by injuries, 37-28. The Jets have lost every game this season by at least nine points, so consider taking the Cardinals whenever this line reopens.
