Two of this weekend’s five suggested bets are for last season's Super Bowl teams to cover the spread against struggling opponents, while a Detroit Lions tight end can get the accumulator off to a good start with another big showing on Thursday Night Football.
The five-time accumulator, if successful, returns at 25/1.
Recommended five-fold: Player Receiving Yards - Sam LaPorta Over 44.5, Under 23.5 Jaguars points, Minnesota Vikings -3.5, Philadelphia Eagles -8 and Kansas City Chiefs -9.5 @ 25/1.
- Back Player Receiving Yards - Sam LaPorta Over 44.5
- Back Under 23.5 Jacksonville Jaguars points
- Back Minnesota Vikings -3.5
- Back Philadelphia Eagles -8
- Back Kansas City Chiefs -9.5
Lions @ Packers
The Detroit Lions are looking for a fourth straight win over their NFC North rivals when they travel to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.
Dan Campbell's men are playing the sort of complimentary football that Lions fans could only have dreamed about this time last year with a functioning offense, aggressive defense and very few of the bonehead plays that dogged the team so long.
A win never looked in doubt against the Atlanta Falcons last week, even without leading rusher David Montgomery in the backfield.
QB Jared Goff kept finding his top target Amon-Ra St Brown for regular chunk plays and rookie tight end Sam LaPorta came up big for the second week in a row.
Goff had his highest passer rating throwing to tight ends last season and should utilise LaPorta, who averages 62 receiving yards per game, more regularly as their understanding grows.
The Packers rank middle of the pack in terms of defensive performance vs TEs this year, but have not faced an attack like the Lions yet either.
SAM LAPORTA OVER 44.5 RECEIVING YARDS
LaPorta to star for the Lions
Falcons @Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars decamp to their second home in London this Sunday to take on the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley.
Fans heading to the game know what to expect and that is not a whole lot of points as the NFL's seventh-best scoring defense go up against an underperforming Jaguars offense.
On the other side of the ball, Jacksonville currently boasts one of the NFL's elite run defenses and their passing numbers would be right up there but for a couple of blown coverages against the Houston Texans last Sunday.
Only three of the last 16 International Series games in London have gone above 50 points and none of the last four Wembley contests featuring the Jaguars have topped 43, so there is a case to be made for going Under the 43.5 Total.
But the odds on Jacksonville failing to hit 24 points look better given the Jaguars have scored more than two touchdowns in just one game this season and were held without one for a six-quarter stretch between Weeks 2 and 3.
NFL returns to Wembley
Vikings @ Panthers
The Minnesota Vikings and the Carolina Panthers are both still winless through the opening three weeks, but someone's '0' has got to go this Sunday.
Well, maybe not if the matchup at Bank of America Stadium is tied.
However, the Vikings should be confident of victory after winning seven of the last ten games against Carolina to take a 10-6 lead in the overall series.
The Panthers' No.1 overall pick Bryce Young should be back from an ankle injury and Carolina will probably start the rookie, despite an encouraging display from veteran Andy Dalton in relief against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
The chopping and changing under center is unlikely to help the Panthers establish any chemistry on offense and could make for a difficult day.
Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins threw an end zone interception with 12 seconds to play to seal his team's fate last week, but the Vikings are 10-5-1 ATS as road favorites since he arrived, which is tied for the best cover percentage in the NFL over that span.
Cousins' form cruicial for the Vikings
Commanders @ Eagles
The Washington Commanders face an uphill task to turn things around after their 37-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills as next up they travel to Lincoln Financial Field to face the 3-0 Philadelphia Eagles.
Commanders QB Sam Howell must bounce back from a horrible four-interception performance, but he was far from the only culprit on Washington's woeful offense.
The O-line gave up nine sacks to make it 19 allowed through the opening three games - the most of any team in almost 20 years.
A franchise that built a dynasty on solid offensive line play is now being left in the dust by rivals built to exploit their weakness and the Eagles, who led the league with 70 sacks last season, are an awful matchup for Washington right now.
A Philadelphia defense that has allowed the lowest ratio of first downs on the ground this season will force the Commanders into obvious passing situations when the pass rush should overwhelm Howell's protectors.
Sam Howell looking to bounce back
Chiefs @ Jets
The New York Jets’ season is imploding right before everyone's eyes and there is no reason to suspect anything will change while Zach Wilson remains their starting quarterback.
The Jets are being linked with every available QB under the sun, but head coach Robert Saleh intends to stick with the struggling Wilson against the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend.
The former No.2 overall draft pick has thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdown passes this season and has a QBR of 27.0 in a league where the average is 50.0.
There was also unrest on the Jets sideline during last Sunday's 15-10 loss to the New England Patriots with players yelling at each other and their coaches.
The AFC champion Chiefs, who routed the Chicago Bears 41-10 last Sunday, should deliver a crushing performance at MetLife Stadium this weekend, with things expected to turn toxic for the Jets if they fall behind again.
