Football Line

It’s Week 10 in the NFL, and your sportsbook has everything you need to get ready for a big weekend of action. Here’s a look at three games to sway you if you’re a road bettor.

Bengals vs Steelers odds – Sunday, 1:00 PM ET

The Steelers are 7-point favorites at home, and I like them to win this game after their dominant performance in Denver on Monday night, but I like the Bengals to cover. Cincinnati has won their last four games away from home, and remember, they beat the Steelers 23-20 in Week 3 after coming back from a fourth-quarter deficit. The Steelers will win, but the Bengals will keep it close.

Cowboys vs Packers odds – Sunday, 4:15 PM ET

Two teams steeped in tradition square off at Lambeau Field this week, and the Cowboys are the smart play here as 3-point favorites in Week 10 NFL odds. Dallas is on a roll, and even came through when the going got tough to win 20-16 at Philadelphia. Tony Romo is taking care of the ball and not taking any stupid chances. Meanwhile, the Packers are coming off a humiliating loss to Tampa Bay (it was only 10 points, but any loss to the Bucs is humiliating). The Cowboys are 3-1 on the road this year, and the Packers’ offensive line is just terrible, to be frank. DeMarcus Ware and company may sack Aaron Rodgers six times, at least. Take the Cowboys.

Patriots vs Colts odds – Sunday, 8:20 PM ET

In the marquee matchup of the weekend, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning go head to head once again, and the Colts are 3-point home favorites according to NFL odds. But I’m taking the Patriots here. The Colts’ secondary is banged up, and the Brady-to-Randy Moss combo has been destroying people lately. Unless defensive ends Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney can get to Brady, the Colts are in for a long day. Also, the Pats are fourth in pass defense and have played much better with Jerod Mayo healthy. They’ll do enough to contain Manning, as much as you can anyway. Go with Brady and friends on the road.

When it comes to NFL betting, a lot of people get curious with all of the numbers we see on the board. The casual fan just wants to show up and bet on his team to win the game but instead, he seems a wide assortment of numbers that can sometimes be confusing.

For football betting, there are three major ways to bet a game: the winner outright (moneyline), the point spread or the total (over/under).

If you want to bet the winner of a game, you would be the moneyline. If you want to bet the combined point total, you bet the over/under.

The point spread is what is basically the equalizing factor between two teams since we often times you have two uneven teams.

For example, if the best team in the league plays the worst team in the league, we all understand who will win the game but the point spread makes it a little more tricky.

The point spread creates a margin that the favorite has to win by. For example, if a team is favored by 10 points, they have to win by 11 or more for you to win your bet on them. If you bet the other team, often known as the underdog, they can lost by 10 or less or win the game outright and you win the bet.

The point spread is a margin of victory to level the playing field between two teams since it’s always difficult to measure how good certain teams are.

The New Orleans Saints are one of only two undefeated teams left in the NFL and you can expect them to stay that way for a little while. Whether they finish the season a perfect 16-0 and may not be as important to them as whether they manage to win the Super Bowl.

The Saints were in the NFC Championship game a couple of years ago and it took them a while to get back to this level. Now they are older, wiser and more efficient.

On offense, the Saints have found a running game with backs Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell. That tandem picks up the tough yards while the passing game has developed some secondary and ternary targets to support Marques Colston.

On defense, the Saints have improved significantly this offeseason. They added a good defensive coordinator in Gregg Williams and improved their secondary significantly.

This team is very complete now without any visible holes. At the same time, the NFC has grown weaker around them as the New York Giants are no longer a power house and the Minnesota Vikings are still a question mark with an aging Brett Favre.

In the AFC, the New England Patriots have come down a peg, which has really left the Saints as the best team in the league.

This team is hungry after falling short of where they wanted to be over the last couple of years so look for them to use that as motivation to get the franchise a Super Bowl win this year.