THELINES.COM: NFL enters Week 1 with familiar favorites

The Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and San Francisco 49ers will open the 2020 NFL season as the oddsmakers’ consensus favorites to reach Super Bowl  LV and with the largest point spreads in Week 1, according to TheLines.com, which tracks odds in the U.S. regulated sports betting markets.

A consensus of that nation’s largest legal online sportsbooks — including FanDuel, DraftKings, PointsBet, SugarHouse, and BetMGM — place the Chiefs at +600 to win the Super Bowl, meaning bettors would win $600 for every $100 wagered. At individual sportsbooks, the Chiefs are being offered with a range from +575 at PointsBet to +600 at three sportsbooks. As a consensus +650 pick, the Ravens are not far behind the defending champions. And the 49ers, who lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, top the NFC as a consensus +900 pick.

“With all that has gone on in the world since the Chiefs were crowned champions in February, it seems the Super Bowl favorites are about the only thing that have remained consistent,” said Brett Collson, betting analyst at TheLines.com. “In a quarterback-driven league, the Chiefs and Ravens were always going to remain favorites. But futures betting will be an interesting proposition this season. The NFL usually produces a surprise team or two, and we don’t know how much the pandemic will affect the season. An outbreak could drastically alter the landscape.”

At a consensus +2100, the Philadelphia Eagles are the favorite among teams that play in legal sports betting jurisdictions. They are followed by:

• Indianapolis Colts (+2300)
• Buffalo Bills (+2500)
• Pittsburgh Steelers (+2500)
• Chicago Bears (+4200)
• Denver Broncos (+5000)
• Detroit Lions (+6500)
• Las Vegas Raiders (+6700)
• New York Giants (+8400)
• New York Jets (+8500)

Week 1

In Week 1, the Chiefs are a consensus 9-point favorite in their Thursday night opener against the Houston Texans. The Ravens are 8-point favorites against the Cleveland Browns and the 49ers are favored by 7 points in their opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

The consensus point spreads for the rest of the Week 1 slate:

• Minnesota Vikings (-2.5) over the Green Bay Packers
• Lions (-2.5) over the Bears
• Colts (-7.5) over the Jaguars
• Raiders (-3) over the Carolina Panthers
• Bills (-6.5) over the Jets
• Seattle Seahawks (-2) over the Atlanta Falcons
• Eagles (-6) over the Washington football team
• New England Patriots (-6.5) over the Miami Dolphins
• Los Angeles Chargers (-3.5) over the Cincinnati Bengals
• New Orleans Saints (-3.5) over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Dallas Cowboys (-3) over the Los Angeles Rams
• Pittsburgh Steelers (-5.5) over the New York Giants
• Denver Broncos (-0.5) over the Tennessee Titans

“Opening week is always a challenging week for oddsmakers, and with eight games with spreads of 3 or less, this year is no different,” Collson said. “Home field is presumably less of an advantage, and the prospective health of each team will have to be watched even more closely. This will be a fascinating year for oddsmakers and sports bettors.”

To access the updated futures lines for every NFL team, and for more analysis, visit TheLines.com/odds/super-bowl. To access Week 1 odds, visit www.thelines.com/nfl-week-1-lines-2020.