NFL Week 5 Slate Features Bevy of Narrow Point Spreads, According to TheLines.com

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The games over the first four weeks of the NFL season have often been breathtakingly close, and oddsmakers have noticed, according to TheLines, which tracks odds in U.S. regulated sports betting markets. Nine games on the NFL Week 5 schedule feature point spreads of four points or less, and four of those feature a spread of 1.5 or less.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 10.5-point home favorites over the Miami Dolphins, the lone game on the Week 5 slate that features a double-digit point spread, according to a consensus of the nation's largest legal online sportsbooks — including BetAmerica, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, SugarHouse, and Unibet. And the line for the Bucs-Dolphins spread has moved into double-digits after being offered with a lookahead line of -9.5.

Eight games in Week 4 finished with a single-digit scoring margin. And so far this season the sum of the average scoring margin across all 32 teams is 1.8 through the season's first four weeks. In 2020, that number was 9.2 points across all 32 teams.

"The combination of competitive schedule making and the relative parity in the NFL is producing a lot of close games," said Brett Collson, lead analyst for TheLines.com. "That makes for a challenge for oddsmakers, but makes for a fun environment for NFL fans."

The consensus point spreads for Week 5 games, as of Monday, Oct. 4:

• Los Angeles Rams (-1.5) at Seattle Seahawks; over/under 53.5
• New York Jets at Atlanta Falcons (-3.5); over/under 43.5
• Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-10.5); over/under 49.5
• Tennessee Titans (-4) at Jacksonville Jaguars; over/under 48.5
• Green Bay Packers (-3.5) at Cincinnati Bengals; over/under 49.5
• New England Patriots (-9.5) at Houston Texans; over/under 39.5
• Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (-8); over/under 49.5
• New Orleans Saints (-1.5) at Washington Football Team; over/under 44
• Philadelphia Eagles at Carolina Panthers (-4); over/under 46
• Denver Broncos at Pittsburgh Steelers (-1.5); over/under 40.5
• Chicago Bears at Las Vegas Raiders (-5.5); over/under 45.5
• Cleveland Browns (-1) at Los Angeles Chargers; over/under 49.5
• New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys (-7.5); over/under 50.5
• San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (-5); over/under 53.5
• Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5); over/under 56.5
• Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens (-7); over/under 48

To access the updated futures lines for every NFL team, and for more analysis, visit TheLines.com/odds/super-bowl. To access Week 5 odds, visit www.thelines.com/nfl-week-5-odds-2021/.

About TheLines.com:

TheLines.com is a leading source for news, analysis, and research related to the market for regulated sports betting in the United States. Affiliated with the PlayUSA.com Network, TheLines.com provides original daily reporting and offers player advocacy tools related to the advancement of safe, licensed, and legal online sports betting. Based in Las Vegas, the PlayUSA Network is independently owned and operated, with no affiliations to any casino — commercial, tribal, online, or otherwise.

Contacts:
Zack Hall, Catena Media, 775-338-0745, [email protected]

SOURCE TheLines.com