Gamblers are always going to rejoice with the National Football League season rolls around in the summer and with things heating up for the start of fall, simply because that means it’s an open city for NFL Bets to be made. And once you start checking out the odds and are ready to make some money, taking a look at your options for NFL Point Spread Betting will be highly important.

The Super Bowl Point Spread odds were last updated on August 22, 2022: 

2023 Super Bowl Bovada BetOnline MyBookie
Chiefs +700 +700 +750
Bills +800 +800 +800
Packers +1000 +1000 +1000
Buccaneers +1000 +1000 +1100
Rams +1100 +1100 +1200
Cowboys +1200 +1250 +1200

This is where you’re going to make or break yourself with your bets. With things constantly being moved around when it comes to odds, the point spreads for teams will consistently be shifting around as well. So, what are things you need to keep in mind when getting ready to attack the NFL point spreads? We take a look at that in this piece.

NFL Betting Lines

The NFL Betting Lines and the NFL Point Spread Betting will go hand in hand for your wagers regardless of which team you’re thinking about going with. In essence, these are the numbers that you’re going to be betting on. It may sound confusing, but it’s actually incredibly easy to follow and break down. Allow us to do that for you.

If your team is the Pittsburgh Steelers, you’ll be able to find the different odds for bets every single week they’re in action. In addition, you can also find prop bets and futures bets for Pittsburgh too. Staying in line with the point spread, though, here’s an example to better help you understand exactly what will be going on.

When you check out one of our sportsbook partners, keeping the Steelers in mind, you might see a point spread that lists Pittsburgh at -4, and their opponent the LA Chargers have their number set at +4 for this particular matchup.

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    What this tells you is that Pittsburgh is a four-point favorite for that game, with the Chargers being four-point underdogs. If you decide the Steelers will have no problem covering this particular spread, you can bet on them with confidence with our partners. However, remember that they must win by five points for you to win.

    If the Steelers take down LA 28-21, you’re in the clear. If the score is 28-26, though, you’d lose. With that same 28-26 score, those who picked the Chargers to cover at +4 would win because LA only lost by two.

    Another important thing to note as well is that you’re going to be able to find point spreads for different parts of the game. You can find lines for the first quarter and first half for example. So in this case, you might see the New England Patriots with a -7 line for the first half against the Minnesota Vikings.

    In this case, it doesn’t matter one bit what the final score will be. What you’re going to be focused on is what the score is when the two teams enter the locker rooms for the halftime break. So, if the Patriots go into the half with a 21-14 lead, it’d be a push if you took either the Pats to cover at -7 or the Vikings at +7.

    For the first quarter, you’ll have the same premise. In this case, the 49ers could be +4 favorites over the Giants. But again, it only matters what the score is after the first 15 minutes of action, and whatever happens the rest of the way will make no difference on your bet.

    If the score after the first quarter between the 49ers and Giants is 10-7, and you took San Francisco to cover the +4, you’d lose your bet because they finished that first-quarter only up by three points. If the score was 12-7 in favor of the 49ers, then things would change and you’d be victorious in that wager.

    NFL Week 1 odds

    It goes without saying, but the betting on NFL point spreads will be through the roof, especially from the moment the NFL Vegas Odds are officially released for everyone to take a look at. The point spreads will be available far in advance of Week 1 hitting the schedule, regardless of which NFL conference you want to focus on, with the spreads released typically the following Monday or Tuesday for the next week of games.

    The Week 1 NFL odds will be subject to change, for every game, from the start of the week to the end. What will cause some of the spread to change? For starters, injuries are always going to play a pretty big role in things moving either up or down for a specific team.

    On a Tuesday leading up to Week 1, the Miami Dolphins may have a -3 point spread for a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, what if the Miami starting quarterback, running back and left tackle all somehow go down with injuries during practice on Thursday and are listed as questionable. With that injury diagnosis, you could see Miami’s spread drop a point or two.

    Thinking worst-case scenario, imagine if all three of those players aren’t able to bounce back from their injuries and it’s announced about 24 hours before the opening kick on that Sunday that they’ve all been ruled out to take on the Jaguars.

    Once this happens, you better believe that Miami would go from a three-point favorite, to potentially either a two or three-point underdog. While the home team will usually be the favorite, having three of your best players ruled out right before the action would be a nightmare for the team, and the spreads would of course fluctuate because of it.

    This kind of example isn’t limited to just Week 1, though. In the NFL, because of how violent the game is, we are seeing countless players go down with injuries at any point during the season. It could be Week 5, Week 9, or even Week 17 for the last batch of regular-season games for the season. The bigger the injury, the more you’ll see odds and spread change as a result. This is something you should always be monitoring and keeping in mind before you hit submit on your respective bets, particularly for the biggest events of the NFL season.

    NFL Betting Point Spread

    NFL Against the Spread

    While there might be times where you may think a team is going to cover the NFL spread and nothing will stop them from doing so, there's going to be plenty of upsets that go down each and every week. You haven't been paying attention to the game at all if you think the top-ranked teams will always come out with a victory.

    So, if you do decide to bet against the spread, you're likely going to see some strong payouts. However, there are multiple things that you're going to have to research before doing so. For one instance, if the New Orleans Saints are five-point favorites at home, but they're going up against one of the top-ranked quarterbacks in the game, that could result in the Saints giving up plenty of points.

    Their defense hasn't been known to be that strong over the years. While their high-powered offense could put up a lot of points as well, will you trust their defense to limit the standout quarterback they're facing late in the game? Sure, if the Saints win, you may be excited, but if they only win by four points and don't cover the spread, your emotions will surely change.

    In a different circumstance, take a look at how teams are playing against the spreads as well throughout the season. If it's late in the year and the Bucs and Rams are meeting for a Week 14 tilt, do your research and see how each team has performed. Sure, the Rams might be the favorites because of the 8-5 record against the 6-7 Bucs, but Tampa Bay could actually be 10-3 against the spread thus far in the season, with the Rams at 5-8.

    This will automatically be your signal to stay away from the Rams for the spread. If they've struggled to cover in previous games, this could once again be the case for them against Tampa Bay. And for the Bucs, if they've been so strong in covering, why would you want to bet against them? It's not a simple process when it comes to betting against the NFL spreads, but if you do enough research and study the teams involved in the bet you're hoping to make, you could find yourself in a good position to end up winning some money.

    NFL Point Spread Betting FAQs

    • Is NFL point spread betting popular?

      It’s extremely popular. Many tipsters and pick sites to recommend the point spread as a way to bet.

    • Can I wager futures point spread betting?

      Wagering on point spread betting is saved for the money line, game-to-game betting rather than futures markets.

    • How does NFL point spread work?
      Point spreads are based on a winning margin; if you bet on the favorite they then need to win by more than the spread assigned by the bookmaker.
    • How does +7 point spread work?

      If the spread is 7 points for a game, the underdog is getting seven points, which is noted as +7 on the odds.

    • When is the Super Bowl 2023?

      The Super Bowl 2023 will take place on Sunday, February 12th, in Arizona.

    • Does overtime count in point spread?

      Generally speaking, all bets include overtime unless otherwise stated by the bookmaker.

    • Where is the Super Bowl 2023?

      The Super Bowl 2023 will take place at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

    • Who won the last Super Bowl?

      The Los Angeles Rams won their second Super Bowl title last year, beating the Bengals.

    • Who is the favorite to win the next Super Bowl?

      The favorite to win the Super Bowl in 2023 is the Buffalo Bills, with the Chiefs and Buccaneers close behind.

    • Are NFL point spreads available for the AFC and NFC?

      You can wager point spreads on games within the AFC and NFC, with a range of markets available from top-tier providers.

    Meet the author

    Dean Etheridge

    Dean's favorite topics are the English Premier League and anything cricket related, but his vast sporting knowledge enables him to cover nearly any sport. In the past Dean has traveled the world watching events like FIFA World Cups and Ashes cricket, but these days he'...