NFL Week 10 Betting Guide

Exactly half of the NFL’s regular season is over. There have been 136 games played, and there are another 136 games to go, beginning with a bit of a yawner in Chicago on Thursday night, with the Carolina Panthers visiting the Chicago Bears.

The Bears own the first-round draft picks for both teams, which right now are projecting to be second and third overall. So even as the game offers very little intrigue, NFL futures bettors are already looking ahead to next spring’s draft, and the quarterbacks that will be available when the Bears make their picks.

The rest of Week 10 is more focused on the here and now, and the playoff races that are beginning to take shape.

Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is back to playing like one of the MVP favorites, and Ohio sports bettors have been enjoying Cincinnati’s current four-game winning streak. The most recent of the wins have come against the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills – which had looked like upcoming losses back in September.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is coming off the best game ever played by a rookie. He set a record with 470 passing yards last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the fifth of his five touchdown passes won the game in the closing seconds.

Stroud is a revelation, and he’s now the heavy favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, paying -650 at BetUS.com. But that was the Bucs, and this is the Bengals, a much better team. Stroud will still play well this week. But the Bengals should prove to be too much for a Texans team that is still a year away.

Bovada.lv has Cincinnati as 6.5-point favorites, and that is a good bet.

San Francisco 49ers at Jacksonville Jaguars

The San Francisco 49ers have lost three straight games, and the five straight wins by the Jacksonville Jaguars is the longest current streak in the NFL. But it is the 49ers that go to Jacksonville as the field goal favorite, according to the bookmakers at BetUS.com.

San Francisco does get wide receiver Deebo Samuel back this week, and for the first time, we will see the newest 49er defensive lineman, Chase Young.

The Jaguars rank 31st in the NFL in sack rate, which should give Brock Purdy the kind of time he needs to find Samuel, as well as Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey. A touchdown for McCaffrey this week and he will set the record with touchdowns in 17 consecutive games.

Florida sports bettors may be tempted to roll with the Jaguars and take the points. But with the Niners getting healthy, they are the better bet.

Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers

The Detroit Lions got healthy over their bye week, and the biggest return this week is running back David Montgomery. He injured his ribs in Week 6, ending his run of back-to-back 100-yard games.

In Montgomery’s absence, we got to see rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs shine, as he went for 189 total yards in a Week 8 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. So now, as the team travels to take on the Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit has a two-headed monster in the backfield ready to feast.

Bovada.lv has the Lions as field goal favorites, and that feels like a safe bet. Detroit’s offense is ranked second in the league in yards per game, and the Chargers defense ranks 30th. Add in quarterback Justin Herbert’s struggles since he broke his middle finger, and there is very little reason to think that L.A. can keep pace.

Michigan football bettors, look for Detroit to improve to 7-2 and cover the modest spread.

Other Best Bets

The New York Giants are starting Tommy DeVito this Sunday at the Dallas Cowboys, making him the 10th rookie to start at quarterback this season. That is an NFL record.

The Cowboys beat a healthy Giants team in Week 1, 40-0, and even this week’s hefty 16.5-point spread at BetUS.com should not deter you from putting your dollars on Dallas.

The Green Bay Packers won last week, 20-3, but that was almost exclusively because they were playing against backup quarterback Brett Rypien. He was so bad for the Los Angeles Rams that they signed free agent Carson Wentz the next day.

There will be no such injury luck this week against a very good Pittsurgh Steelers defense, and Pittsburgh will likely cover the 3.5-point spread that can be found throughout online sportsbooks in Pennsylvania.

Colorado sports bettors have been treated to two straight wins by the Denver Broncos, and while a Monday night win at the Buffalo Bills is still a longshot, the Broncos are getting eight points. Considering the Bills latest struggles and the resurgence of the Broncos, take the points.