After getting thumped by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots over the weekend, the Buffalo Bills will be looking to avoid falling under the .500 mark this week as they play host to the Minnesota Vikings as home favourites on the opening odds at sports books monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Bills lost 37-22 as a one-point underdog at home against the Patriots in Week 6, putting them at 3-3 both straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) on the season and one game behind New England in the AFC East division standings. Kyle Orton completed 24 of 38 pass attempts for 299 yards for Buffalo in that loss to the Patriots, with two touchdown strikes and one interception. Orton has a quarterback rating of 90.9 for Buffalo since taking over as the team’s quarterback from EJ Manuel. Fred Jackson led the Bills on the ground with just 26 rushing yards in that defeat.
For Week 7, the Bills opened as 3.5-point home favourites against a Vikings team that is just 2-4 both SU and ATS on the season. The Patriots, meanwhile, opened as 7.5-point home favourites for their Week 7 matchup at home against the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football – a line which started to climb immediately and was up to -10.5 at some sports books by Monday afternoon.
The Jets have been the worst wager in the league so far this season, as they’ve paired their 1-5 SU record with a 0-5-1 ATS mark. The closest that New York has come to covering the posted spread was a 31-24 loss at Green Bay as a 7-point favourite back on September 14.
Rounding out the AFC East action for Week 7, the Miami Dolphins opened as 3.5-point road underdogs at sports books monitored by OddsShark.com against the Chicago Bears for Sunday afternoon, with Miami 2-3 both SU and ATS on the season and Chicago sitting at 3-3 both SU and ATS. Chicago broke out of its 0-2 SU and ATS losing skid over the weekend with a 27-13 road victory over the Falcons as 3-point underdogs on the NFL betting lines.
The Falcons opened as 6-point road underdogs in Baltimore for Sunday, with other opening lines for the day including Tennessee at Washington -4, Seattle at St. Louis +6.5, Cleveland at Jacksonville +3, Cincinnati at Indianapolis -3, New Orleans at Detroit -2.5, Carolina at Green Bay -6.5, Kansas City at San Diego -5.5, Arizona at Oakland +4, the Giants at Dallas -5, and San Francisco at Denver -6 on Sunday Night Football. The Steelers then opened as 4-point home favourites for their Monday Night Football matchup against the Texans to cap off the Week 7 slate.
