This article is part of our NFL Picks series.
Welcome back to another year of NFL bets on FanDuel. For those who are new to this article, it's important for me to explain that this content is geared toward those who look at sports betting as an entertainment product and not a new career choice. Obviously losing bets isn't fun, but these weekly pieces will work more on trying to find ways to add a little more risk for bigger payouts than just the traditional spread or over/under bets. And yes, there will be parlays.
Similar to last year, I'll also make use of RotoWire's weekly articles that already cover some sports betting or pools, such as Chris Liss' Beating the Book, Survivor and our Staff Picks pieces, sometimes for straight-up bets and other times for those parlays that are very stupid but also fun for people who are okay betting for fun.
Bengals +5.5 and under 43.5 (+170)
Bengals +3.5 was a unanimous pick in this week's Staff Picks, but unfortunately the line has moved to +3.0 (-115) with a 41.5-point total. There is still a way to get that half-point, of course, but -230 isn't the direction we want to go. Instead, we'll look into a little parlay with the under while getting some extra points for the Bengals with Bengals +5.5 and under 43.5 (+170). Not only are we getting 2.5 extra points for the Bengals, but we're also getting 2.0 points on the total, which is currently at 41.5, down from a high of 45.5. If you want to go a little "easier," you can do Bengals +3.5 and over 35.5 points at +130. Or, you can also play with both teams to score 15 at -126.
DK Metcalf anytime touchdown and Seahawks win (+270)
Seahawks -1.5 was a near-unanimous pick, and the spread has jumped to -2.5 since that article was posted. Now, Seahawks -144 on the moneyline is certainly a possibility if you don't want to play around with them having to win by at least a field goal, but you could also take some of your fantasy knowledge and add in an anytime touchdown scorer bet to their win. Running back Chris Carson has the highest anytime touchdown odds for Seattle at +110, with DK Metcalf next at +145. Metcalf continues to be a dominant end-zone threat, and coupling an anytime touchdown with a Seahawks win brings us to +270 (Carson and the win is +220).
Jack Doyle over 32.5 receiving yards (-105)
We'll use some more RotoWire tools for some player props, including the tight end for an 8.5-point road favorite in a game with a 44.5-point total. The RotoWire projections have Doyle at 44.97 receiving yards, but even using the fantasy-point totals from Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions and the Fantasy Footballers puts us comfortably over that 32.5.
Fun Dumb Bets
Okay, it's parlay time. Because some lines have moved, we need to put a little work into parlaying the best bets from this week's Staff picks, which was Panthers +3.0, Lions -3.0 and Bengals +3.5. The Panthers line is still the same, but the Lions are now -2.5 and the Bengals +3.0, which means one is moving in the right direction in terms of closing line value while the other isn't. FanDuel doesn't seem to be offering Lions -3.5 anymore, but parlaying Panthers +3.0 (-120), Lions -2.5 (-110) and Bengals +3.5 (-130) brings us to +519, or you can push it to +554 if you take the Bengals +3.0. It's also a bit comforting (maybe) that three of their five best bets were the Bengals +3.5, and if you really believe the Bengals win, a Joe Mixon anytime touchdown in a Cincinnati victory pays +270.
