NFL Week 9: The Best Football Bets, Odds and Expert Picks

The absolute best lock bet, teaser bet, prop bet and parlay bet for NFL Week 9, according to the experts at BetOnline.

Presented by BetOnline.AG

If there’s ever been a week to use $500 as a significant mood enhancer, it’s this one. Holding a United States presidential election amidst a global pandemic is rightly stressful, even if you don’t live in the United States. In fact, maybe that makes it worse. Now is the time for the distraction that watching sports, and more importantly, betting on sports can provide. What’s more fun than watching your team win? Winning a wad a cash right along with them.

This your first time dipping your toe into sports betting? None to fear, BetOnline not only makes it easy to figure out, they’ll toss you a $1,000 stack as you virtually walk into the door as a bonus if you join their website today.

As always, all the odds and lines listed below are courtesy of BetOnline.AG.

Lock of the Week 

Like last week, I’ve got two of these for you and it’s all about the kind of payoff you’re looking for. The bigger payoff is always the weaker “lock” and as we saw last week with the Los Angeles Rams and Dolphins, same crazy things can happen to cost you money.

The easiest lock? How about the Carolina Panthers at the Kansas City Chiefs at a -525 moneyline. If it makes you nervous, it’s only because the Panthers (3-5) have been downright plucky this season, with all but one of their losses coming by a single score. Last week they fell to the Atlanta Falcons 25-17 in a game that defied not only the odds, but the very Gods of Football themselves as Carolina wasn’t able to forge a fourth-quarter comeback against a team that’s made surrendering them their brand.

For their part, the Chiefs are the Chiefs, the best team in the league and defending Super Bowl Champions. You bet the moneyline, you don’t even need to be nervous about that -10.5 spread.

Here’s the one I want you to think about as we’re trying to build some actual bank. The Houston Texans moneyline is -285 on the road against a Jacksonville Jaguars team with a rookie quarterback, one Jake Luton, who sounds like one of those fake names generated for an old 1980s Nintendo baseball game. He’s no Easton Stick (also a real human), but he’s still one of the lazier names Verbal Kint could come up with during his interrogation in the Usual Suspects.

Luton threw his last pass against Washington State in a 54-53 loss nearly a calendar year ago. Luton finished with 408 yards and five touchdowns with Oregon State, but didn’t finish the game as he left on a stretcher with a broken back. So, hooray for him for bouncing back from a Thoracic spine fracture, but maybe J.J. Watt is not the guy you want to face in your return to the field. The Texans are a team that has severely underperformed this season, thanks to one of the worst non-Dallas Cowboys coaching staffs in all of football. But, talent wise, they have to win this game. Right?

Pick: $275 on the Texans moneyline at -285 at BetOnline.AG

Teaser of the Week

Since this is such an odd week in terms of match ups, with just one double-digit line and a handful over a field goal, we’re going to be strategically careful. The Minnesota Vikings roll into this weekend after their biggest victory of the season, a 28-22 shocker over the Green Bay Packers all thanks to Dalvin Cook going full Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl, rushing for 163 yards and three touchdowns and catching two passes for 63 yards and a score. They’re a -3.5 favorite over a Detroit Lions team held together by Matthew Stafford’s talent, but much like Detroit head coach Matt Patricia’s belt, there’s only so much pressure he can take.

The Las Vegas Raiders are +1 underdogs to the Los Angeles Chargers, but they should be hot, winning what could have been a playoff eliminator over the Cleveland Browns, 16-6, last Sunday. The Raiders defense held the Browns to just two field goals while Josh Jacobs ground out 128 yards rushing.

I like both the Raiders and Vikings to win outright, but let’s give ourselves a little insurance with a 6.0 point teaser.

Teaser pick: $175 on the Raiders at +7 and the Vikings at +2.5 at BetOnline.AG

Prop Bet of the Week 

We’re halfway through the season and, if you’re a fan of a bad team, you are doing one thing every week; rooting for your favorite franchise to lose so they will fire your horrible head coach. With the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons already loading their head men (Bill O’Brien and Dan Quinn respectively) into trebuchets and firing them over the nearest castle wall, you really want your team to get into the mix. An organization can’t screw around and let all the good options get snapped up. That’s how you end up with a Mike McCarthy and we’ve all seen how that’s going.

BetOnline has released its prop odds on the next head coach to be fired and while there are many worthy candidates on the list, including McCarthy at +1000, the New York Jets’ Adam Gase is easily No. 1 and is the only guy in minus money at -180.

The second-ranked guy, Matt Patricia, is a lock to be fired, but the Lions are notoriously slow to push the button on the airlock. In their 0-16 season in 2008, they rode Rod Marinelli the whole way. Detroit is staying in games, not because of Patricia but Matthew Stafford (currently No. 5 among active QBs in fourth quarter comebacks). I feel like the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Doug Marrone is probably safe and Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers too. If there’s a dark horse, it’s Mike Zimmer with the Minnesota Vikings as that team was built to win now and they are struggling to do that.

Pick: $40 on Adam Gase to be the next coach fired at BetOnline.AG

The Crazy, Longshot, Throwing-a-Dart Parlay of the Week

I remember when. I remember, I remember when I lost my mind. There was something so pleasant about that place. When I won a parlay and bought a new Sea Doo.

This week we’ve got a solid payoff heading our way with a four-team moneyline parlay with the Buffalo Bills (+134), the Denver Broncos (+175), the Chicago Bears (+200) and the Detroit Lions (+170) all win.

The Bills knocking off the Seattle Seahawks in Buffalo would be a feat, but not a stretch. The Broncos have played everyone tough this season while their opponent this week, the Atlanta Falcons, have played everyone like they’ve got their arms stuck in a Snuggie blanket. The Tennessee Titans were manhandled by the Cincinnati Bengals, of all teams last week. Certainly the Bears have better man handles than the Bengals. And, lastly, Matthew Stafford has single-handedly kept the Lions in games this season while Kirk Cousins has double-handedly lost them for the Minnesota Vikings.

A $10 parlay bet pays $511.23 at BetOnline.AG