NFL Week 3 betting: 5 biggest storylines, including sliding Chargers and surging Vikings

NFL oddsmakers know what they’re doing.

Before Monday night’s game in Week 2, everything was about as even as could be on sides and totals. Favorites were 16-15 against the spread, while we had 16 unders and 15 overs. The favored Rams and the under hit on Monday night, which prevented everything from being exactly .500 after two weeks. Lower-scoring games in Week 2 led to the under hitting in nine of the first 15 games of the week.

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Here are the five top betting storylines for Week 3 of the NFL season:

The Chargers are plummeting

The betting market has finally lost faith in the Chargers. The opening line for Chargers at Bills was Buffalo -3. It moved to -4.5 on the lookahead line last week, via 4for4.com. The Chargers lost their second game in a row as a favorite of a touchdown or more in Week 2, and the line moved up to Bills -7. The Chargers have been the NFL’s biggest disappointment while the Bills have been excellent over the first two weeks, so it’s not a big surprise that the line moved to a full touchdown. At least any serious survival pool players who are still alive won’t think of taking the Chargers this week.

Respect for the Vikings

The Vikings are 2-0 and oddsmakers are taking notice. Or maybe they’re taking notice of how bad the Buccaneers looked in falling to 0-2 with a home loss to the Browns. The Vikings are 1.5-point road favorites against the Buccaneers. Minnesota is expected to get quarterback Kyler Murray back in the lineup after he cleared concussion protocol. Minnesota hasn’t needed him, as it has gone 2-0 with Carson Wentz at quarterback. After a win as a 4.5-point underdog at Chicago last week, the Vikings are being viewed as a playoff contender. They’re favored to win the NFC North at DraftKings, while other sites like BetMGM and FanDuel have the Vikings just behind the Lions in the division odds.

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Cowboys are underdogs in Brazil

A good performance by the Cowboys in Week 2 and a late-game collapse by the Ravens didn’t affect the perception of either team too much. The Ravens are 3-point favorites against the Cowboys for their game in Brazil this week. Baltimore is coming off a last-minute loss at home to the Saints, but oddsmakers have been high on the Ravens going back to the offseason and aren’t backing down. The Cowboys beat the Commanders 37-20 with Dak Prescott throwing four touchdowns. One thing to keep an eye on: There are questions about the turf at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro after rainfall over the past six weeks, but the NFL has said it is not concerned. The total for the game is 52.5.

Bears, Commanders have QB questions

The Bears saw Caleb Williams go down with what ended up being a hamstring injury, and the Commanders lost Jayden Daniels to a dislocated left elbow. Williams’ injury isn’t considered too serious but his status for Week 3 is unknown. Daniels is seeing specialists and could miss time. To start the week, the Commanders are 6.5- or 7-point underdogs at home to the Seahawks. The Bears are 3.5-point underdogs against the Eagles.

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According to the survey of oddsmakers by Yahoo Sports’ Ben Fawkes, the difference between Williams and his backup Tyson Bagent is about 4.1 points on the spread. The difference between Daniels and his backup Marcus Mariota is a little less than five points on the spread. Each line could move once there is definitive status updates on each quarterback for Week 3.

Rams bounce back

The Rams have dealt with plenty of adversity already this season. They lost the opener, then Myles Garrett and Puka Nacua were out for Week 2. Still, seeing them completely dominate the Giants in Week 2 reinforced their status as Super Bowl favorite. For Week 3, the Rams are 2.5-point favorites for a tough road game at the Denver Broncos. The Broncos have historically been strong in September, in large part because of the altitude factor early in the season. And despite that and some key injury issues, the Rams are nearly a field-goal favorite at Denver. They are also maintaining their position as the favorite to win the Super Bowl at +600.

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com