Rejoice: You can already bet on Week 1 of the NFL season at New Jersey sportsbooks.
The NFL released its schedule for the 2019-20 season on Wedneday, and it didn’t take long for the top sportsbooks in New Jersey to post lines. A first glance at the odds suggests that we’re going to see a lot of close games. Nine of the 16 contests show a favorite of four points or less at FanDuel Sportsbook in NJ.
NFL odds on the openers in New Jersey
The opening game of the season will see the Green Bay Packers head to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears on the first Thursday in September as the Bears celebrate their 100th year. The Packers are a 3.5-point underdog in that contest.
Meanwhile, the first Sunday night game will send the Pittsburgh Steelers to New England where the Patriots are a 7.5-point favorite. It’s worth noting that New England hasn’t won their opening game by more than seven points in six years.
Here are all the point spreads at DraftKings and FanDuel:
DraftKings | FanDuel | |
---|---|---|
Green Bay at Chicago | CHI -3.5 | CHI -3.5 |
Atlanta at Minnesota | MIN -3.5 | MIN -4 |
Baltimore at Miami | BAL -3.5 | BAL -3.5 |
Buffalo at NY Jets | NYJ -3.5 | NYJ -3.5 |
Cincinnati at Seattle | SEA -7.5 | SEA -7.5 |
Kansas City at Jacksonville | KC -5 | KC -4.5 |
LA Rams at Carolina | LAR -3 | LAR -3 |
San Francisco at Tampa Bay | TB -1.5 | TB -1.5 |
Tennessee at Cleveland | CLE -5 | CLE -5 |
Washington at Philadelphia | PHI -8.5 | PHI -8 |
Indianapolis at LA Chargers | LAC -3.5 | LAC -3.5 |
Detroit at Arizona | ARI -1 | ARI -1 |
NY Giants at Dallas | DAL -7.5 | DAL -7.5 |
Pittsburgh at New England | NE -6.5 | NE -6.5 |
Houston at New Orleans | NO -7.5 | NO -7.5 |
Denver at Oakland | OAK -3 | OAK -3 |
Monday Night Football odds
As per usual, there will be a double-header for Monday Night Football starting with the Houston Texans, who are a 7.5-point dog in New Orleans. PointsBet Sportsbook shows the total for that contest to be 53.5, which is the highest over-under for Week 1.
The late game on Monday Night Football will have the Denver Broncos visiting the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders are a three-point favorite in what will be the debut of Antonio Brown.
New York teams odds in NJ
The two New York teams will start their seasons with divisional games as the Jets will host the Buffalo Bills. The Jets, who will play on Monday Night Football twice this season, are a 3.5-point favorite in what will be Le’Veon Bell’s first regular season game with the team.
Meanwhile, the Giants find themselves as a 7.5-point dog as they visit their rivals from Dallas.
Five must-see games of 2019
- Week 2, New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams: This will be a rematch of the NFC Championship game. Remember that missed pass interference call?
- Week 2, Cleveland Browns at New York Jets: Odell Beckham Jr. won’t get to face the Giants this year but he’ll still return to New York in this matchup.
- Week 8, Cleveland Browns at New England Patriots: If the Browns are for real, this would be the spot to prove it.
- Week 14, Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots: A rematch of last year’s epic AFC Championship Game.
- Week 16, Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets: Bell gets to face his former team.
Futures & Super Bowl odds in NJ
Now that the schedule has been released, it’s worth revisiting the futures because now we know everyone’s strength of schedule.
Starting with regular season win totals, the Raiders, Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars have the toughest schedules, according to opponents’ win percentage last season. Oakland’s win total is set at six at DraftKings Sportsbook, while Denver’s is at 6.5 and Jacksonville’s is at 8.0
Teams with the easiest strength of schedule are the Redskins, Patriots, Rams, Giants and Jets. The New York teams could be interesting bets in regards to win totals given their schedules as the Jets are projected to finish with 7.5 wins, while the Giants are at 5.5.
Patriots and Chiefs?
In terms of Super Bowl futures, it’s hard not to like the Patriots at +700 once again given their schedule. However, we’ll have to see if their division mates are improved, as the Bills and Jets are expecting to be much better.
At the other end of the spectrum, it’ll be interesting to see if the Chiefs can make a Super Bowl push for a second straight season. They’re at +800 to win the Super Bowl, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, but they’ll play the sixth-toughest schedule.
Almost half (seven) of their 16 games are against teams who made the playoffs last season and they’ll also have to go to Tennessee, who just narrowly missed the playoffs, and host the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, a pair of teams most experts expect to contend for a playoff spot.