Carolina Panthers (1-4) at Los Angeles Rams (2-3), 4:05 p.m., Fox
Line: Rams -10.5 | Total: 40.5
Coach Matt Rhule was fired on Monday after the Panthers lost the tenth of their last 11 games. Steve Wilks stepped in as interim coach and immediately fired special teams coach Ed Foley and defensive coordinator Phil Snow, saying he desired to get a “different approach moving forward.” Wilks will need one. Baker Mayfield is out for the near future with a high ankle sprain leaving P.J. Walker to make his third ever N.F.L. start.
Carolina’s one glimmer of hope lies with Los Angeles’s offensive line, which has been a revolving door all season. Their issues up front have been a significant contributor to Matthew Stafford’s back-and-forth duel with Matt Ryan for the dubious honor of essentially the most sacks and turnovers within the league. The Panthers are getting 10.5 points in the largest spread of the week, and thus far the bettors have been desirous to take them. Pick: Panthers +10.5
Arizona Cardinals (2-3) at Seattle Seahawks (2-3), 4:05 p.m., Fox
Line: Seahawks +3 | Total: 51
The Seahawks have one among the league’s worst defenses, giving up 30.8 points per game. The Cardinals are higher than a lot of the teams which have rolled over Seattle, but they’ve yet to win a house game. Arizona enters the sport as road favorites against one among the largest home-field benefits within the N.F.L., a lift that might mean loads. Pick: Seahawks +3
Monday Night’s Game
Denver Broncos (2-3) at Los Angeles Chargers (3-2), 8:15 p.m., ESPN
Line: Chargers -5.5 | Total: 45.5
Russell Wilson has a partially torn muscle affecting his throwing shoulder but plans to play after getting a plasma injection to alleviate pain. But Denver lost at home last week to the Colts in one among the ugliest games of the season, a nasty defeat that offers no indication the Broncos can challenge the Chargers, a top-10 scoring team.
But Wilson and company don’t must win; they merely must cover. The run-heavy Browns were in a position to achieve this last week against the Chargers, who quit more rushing yards per carry (5.8) than some other team within the league. Pick: Broncos +5.5
How Betting Lines Work
A fast primer for individuals who aren’t conversant in betting lines: Favorites are listed next to a negative number that represents what number of points they need to win by to cover the spread. Packers -8.5, for instance, implies that Green Bay must beat the Giants by at the least 9 points for its backers to win their bet. Gamblers can even bet on the entire rating, which is whether or not the teams’ combined rating in the sport is over or under a preselected variety of points.
Betting-market data is taken from Motion Network’s Public Betting data, and features are taken from Unabated’s real-time-odds tracker.
