Game 5 Point Spread
- For example, the New England Patriots were 11-5 ATS in the 2017 regular season, meaning they covered the posted point spread 11 times, and failed to cover five times. Point Spread Payout Explained.
- Ravens vs Bills Divisional Round Game Info. AFC Divisional Round Game Baltimore.
- The point-spread was developed to provide a balance for both teams involved in a contest to entice bettors to potentially back the weaker team and receive points. The two squads in a game are listed with a title, either a favorite or an underdog.
- LSU (-5.5) was posted as the point spread favorite against Clemson (+5.5) during the 2020 NCAA football National Championship game. That means LSU needed to not only beat Clemson, but win by more.
Easily the most popular type of betting for NFL football is “spread” betting or more commonly known as betting against the spread. Bettors who are new to NFL betting or betting in general may be a little confused with NFL spread betting, but it is pretty easy to understand once it is explained to you. We will explain what betting against the spread means below.
Get the latest NFL odds, point spreads, money lines and over/unders for popular sportsbooks and view SportsLine's expert analysis of each upcoming game.
What is Betting Against The Spread?
For each NFL game the oddsmakers set a number of points in which the favored team is favored by. Bettors can then either choose for the favored team to win by more than the number of points set, or bet on the underdogs to lose by less than the number of points they are underdogs by or win the game straight up. For example, the spread could be set on the favored team at 6.5 points. This would mean in order for a bet on the favored team on the spread to win they would need to win by more than 6.5 points (7 or more) in order to win the bet. It also means that a bet on the underdog team would win if the underdogs lost by less than 6.5 points (6 or less) or won the game outright.
Example of NFL Spread Bet
Below is an example of what NFL spread betting would look like:
Matchup
- TeamsSpread
- Dallas Cowboys -2.5
- New York Giants +2-5
The negative (-) sign indicates that the Cowboys are the favorites, while the positive (+) sign indicates that the New York Giants are the underdogs. With the spread set at 2.5 points, a bet on the Cowboys would mean that they would have to win by more than 2.5 points (3 or more) in order for you to win that bet. A bet on New York would mean that the Giants would have to either lose by 2.5 or less points (2 or less) or win the game outright in order for your bet to win.
Here is another example with a screenshot taken from 5Dimes.eu during Week 3 of the 2013 NFL season:
Here you can see that the Rams are +3.5, while the Cowboys are -3.5. So for this example the Cowboys are 3.5 point favorites, while the Rams are underdogs of 3.5 points. If you were to bet on St Louis you would need them to lose by 3 or fewer points or just win the game outright. If you were to bet on Dallas you would need the Cowboys to win by 4 or more points.
If the Cowboys were to win by 3 points, lets say 30-27, any bets on the Rams +3.5 would win. Even though the Rams didn’t win the game they covered the spread of 3.5 points.
Now if the Cowboys were to win by 4 points, lets say 31-27, the Cowboys have covered the spread and anyone who wagered on Dallas would win their bets.
Other NFL Spread Betting Information
You may often notice that the spread is sometimes set at an even number such as 3, 6 , 10, etc. In this case if the favored team won by the exact amount set for the spread the bet would be pushed, and all bets would be returned. For example, if the Patriots were 3 point favorites and they won by a FG (3 points) than this would results in a push, meaning no matter which side you bet on you would get your money returned to you.
The most common NFL spreads are usually set between about 2.5-10.5 points, but you will also almost always have games each week with spreads lower than 2.5 and higher than 10.5. In the event that the oddsmakers feel the game doesn’t need a spread, it would be set at 0 or what some call a pick’em (both teams are given even odds to win for this type of bet).
The odds given on the spread are usually -110 unless otherwise noted. It is not uncommon to see one side of the spread being -105, with the other side being -115. If you don’t see any odds listed for each side of NFL spreads you are supposed to assume the odds are -110 on each. Not sure how to read NFL betting odds? Check out our Sports Betting Odds guide.
Now that you know the basics of NFL spread betting you’ll want to check out our Sports Betting Strategy guide which has some great NFL strategy articles written by a professional bettor.
NFL Week 5 slate will conclude with Drew Brees and the Saints taking on his former Chargers team led by rookie quarterback Justin Herbert.
In between, there’s going to be some fun matchups on tap. Can the Philadelphia Eagles pull off another upset win after taking out the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4? How will the Cowboys’ league-worst defense perform against a 32nd-ranked Giants offense?
Looking at that and more, we check in on NFL Week 5 odds and point spreads with a quick one liner for each matchup.
NFL Week 5 Thursday Night Football
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears
NFL Week 5 point spread: Buccaneers -3.0 (over/under 44.5)
Final score: Chicago Bears 20, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19
The Bears were coming off a dismal Week 4 performance against the Indianapolis Colts after benching Mitchell Trubisky for Nick Foles. In what was a tight game, Chicago came out on top by the score of 20-19. The game itself was not the prettiest affair. With that said, a win is a win for the now 4-1 Bears.
NFL Week 5 Sunday games
Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons
NFL Week 5 point spread: Falcons -2.5 (over/under 54.0)
Carolina’s 31-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4 represented the team’s second win in eight days. Prior to that, the Panthers had gone 329 days without securing a victory. This just goes to show us how vastly improved Matt Rhule’s squad is heading into Week 5. Atlanta might be the favorite here, but look for Carolina to make yet another statement with Teddy Bridgewater continuing to do his thing.
Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
NFL Week 5 point spread: Chiefs -11.5 (over/under 54.5)
Following last week’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, Las Vegas’ defense has given up 30-plus points in three of four games this season. Its defense has recorded a total of four sacks in four games. As for the Chiefs, they have dropped 30-plus in six of their past eight games dating back to last season. The Chiefs have also outscored Las Vegas 103-22 in their past three outings. Math isn’t hard.
Los Angeles Rams at Washington Football Team
NFL Week 5 point spread: Rams -7.0 (over/under 46.0)
Washington has now scored less than 20 points in 10 of its past 14 games dating back to last season. That very same span has seen the team yield 30-plus points in half of their outings. Taking on former assistant Sean McVay and the Rams in this one, Washington will be facing an offense that’s averaging 26.5 points on the season. The last time Washington met this threshold? Back in 2012 when Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur and McVay were assistants in D.C. Yes, that was actually once a thing.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans
NFL Week 5 point spread: Texans -5.5 (over/under 54.5)
Anemic against anemic in this one. After moving on from Pro Bowl pass rushers Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue, the Jaguars have recorded four sacks in as many games. As for the Texans’ disastrous offensive line, they’ve allowed 35 sacks of Deshaun Watson over the past eight games. Comparatively, Jags quarterback Gardner Minshew has been taken down 14 times this season. The moral of this story? Take that under and don’t think twice about it. That’s especially true with Bill O’Brien now gone from Houston.
Arizona Cardinals at New York Jets
NFL Week 5 point spread: Cardinals -7.0 (over/under 47.0)
Adam Gase is supposedly an offensive mind, right? This unit ranks 32nd in total yards, 32nd in yards per play, 32nd in first downs, 32nd in passing, 31st in scoring, 31st in time of possession, and 31st in yards per play. Regardless of the Cardinals’ struggles over the past two weeks, they should be able to win going away. Just be wary about the over. It’s not like the Jets’ offense is going to help out much in that regard. That’s especially true with Joe Flacco getting the start.
Philadelphia Eagles at Pittsburgh Steelers
NFL Week 5 point spread: Steelers -7.0 (over/under 44.5)
Despite last week’s win, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has thrown seven interceptions and has been sacked 14 times in four games. Those are not numbers indicative of a winning team in today’s NFL. Do you know what numbers are? Pittsburgh has yielded six passing touchdowns compared to four interceptions while sacking opposing quarterbacks 15 times in three games. With an additional week off after Sunday’s game was postponed, look for Mike Tomlin and Co. to take advantage of this.
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
NFL Week 5 point spread: Ravens -12.0 (over/under 50.0)
Injury update: Lamar Jackson (knee) expected to play
Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow has now thrown for 300-plus yards in three consecutive games after leading his team to its first win of the season last week. The reigning Heisman winner is on pace to tally nearly 4,500 yards with to go with 28 total touchdowns and just eight interceptions. Keep that in mind with Baltimore as a near-two touchdown favorite against its division rival.
Miami Dolphins at San Francisco 49ers
NFL Week 5 point spread: 49ers -8.0 (over/under 51.0)
Injury update: Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle) returns to practice
Following last week’s terrible three-turnover performance from backup quarterback Nick Mullens, the defending NFC champs moved to 2-2 on the season. San Francisco is now 5-21 in games that Jimmy Garoppolo has not started since the beginning of the 2017 campaign. The team is 20-6 in his 26 starts during that span. The math lines up here. If Garoppolo can go, take the 49ers and the points. If not, this could be an upset special.
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
NFL Week 5 point spread: Cowboys -7.5 (over/under 52.5)
First off, this 54.0 over/under is pretty hilarious. Dallas is averaging 31.5 points per game through the first four weeks. It is also on an historically bad pace defensively, giving up 36.5 points per outing. Sure New York ranks dead last in offense. But the Cowboys couldn’t stop a drunken sloth from doing damage against this defense. Take the Cowboys and the over. As for the nine-point spread, these Giants are losing by an average of 12.2 points per game.
Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Browns
NFL Week 5 point spread: Colts -1.0(over/under 48.0)
Cleveland finds itself at 3-1 for just the second time since the 1994 season. It has scored the most points in a three-game stretch for the organization (118) in over a half-century. Meanwhile, the Colts have given up 29 points over the past three games. In a battle between two surprise three-win teams, this is strength against strength. Maybe consider the over given Cleveland’s struggles on defense (31.5 point per game against).
NFL Week 5 Sunday Night Football
Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks
NFL Week 5 point spread: Seahawks -7.0 (over/under 56.0)
Even when he’s not at his best, Russell Wilson is doing things that defy logic. The MVP front runner threw just his second interception of the season in last week’s win over the Miami Dolphins. Through the quarter pole in the season, Wilson is on pace for north of 5,100 passing yards to go with 64 passing touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Vikings? Well, they are yielding 31.3 points per game and an opposing quarterback rating of 105.2.
NFL Week 5 Monday Night Football
Denver Broncos at New England Patriots (Postponed until Week 6)
NFL Week 5 point spread: Postponed
Injury update: Patriots QB Cam Newton (COVID-19) unlikely to play
Bowl Game Point Spreads Printable
Following Brett Rypien’s debut in Week 4’s win over the Jets, Denver has now started three quarterbacks in four weeks. Given the struggles from these signal callers (six touchdowns, six interceptions), it stands to reason that an elite Patriots defense will help keep this game under 45.5. Of course, that’s dependent on the status of Cam Newton after he missed Week 4 following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. As of now, Newton is unlikely to go. Either Brian Hoyer or Jarrett Stidham will be under center.
Los Angeles Chargers at New Orleans Saints
NFL Week 5 point spread: Saints -8.0(over/under 50.0)
Presumed Chargers starter Justin Herbert was not even born yet when Drew Brees made his college debut for Purdue back in 1997. When Brees joined the Saints after five seasons with the Chargers, Herbert was a mere eight years old. In fact, he just celebrated his birthday when Brees made the move to Nola. That really doesn’t have much of an impact on the betting lines here. However, 12 of the Chargers’ 14 losses since the start of last season have come by one score. Think about taking New Orleans minus the points here.
Game 5 Point Spread Predictions
NFL Week 5 Tuesday Night Football
Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans
NFL Week 5 point spread: Bills -1 (over/under 49.0)
Game 5 Point Spread
Bills quarterback Josh Allen has accounted for 15 total touchdowns compared to one interception at the quarter pole of the season. This has him on pace for what would be a record 60 touchdowns from the quarterback position. Allen is also on pace for 5,636 total yards. These are video game Joe Burrow-like numbers, circa 2019. With a week off due to a COVID-19 outbreak, how will the Titans defend this?