NFL Picks: NFL Key Line Moves for Week 16

NFL Picks: NFL Key Line Moves for Week 16

This article is part of our NFL Picks series.

NFL Odds: NFL Key Line Moves for Week 16

The goal of this article is to look at the key line moves for the week and what they mean in terms of betting. Key numbers in the NFL to watch for are 3, 7, 6, 14 and 10. When a line crosses through one of these, it is a significant move that warrants attention. 

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NFL Week 16 Odds

Week 16 Schedule

New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams -4.0 O/U 44.5 OPENED RAMS -1.0, 43.5  

Cincinnati Bengals -2.0 at Pittsburgh Steelers O/U 39.0 OPENED BENGALS -2.5, 39.5 

Buffalo Bills -14.0 at Los Angeles Chargers O/U 42.5 OPENED BILLS -1.0, 40.5

Indianapolis Colts -2.0 at Atlanta Falcons O/U 44.5 OPENED FALCONS -2.5, 42.5

Green Bay Packers -4.0 at Carolina Panthers O/U 36.0 OPENED PACKERS -1.0, 36.0

Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans -2.5 O/U 42.0 OPENED BROWNS -4.0, 41.0

Detroit Lions -3.5 at Minnesota Vikings O/U 47.0 OPENED VIKINGS -1.0, 46.0

Washington Commanders at New York Jets -3.0 O/U 38.0 OPENED JETS -5.5, 40.0

Seattle Seahawks -2.5 at Tennessee Titans O/U 42.5 OPENED SEAHAWKS -2.0, 44.0 

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tampa Bay Buccaneers PICK O/U 45.0 OPENED JAGUARS -3.5, 44.5  

Arizona Cardinals at Chicago Bears -4.0 O/U 44.5 OPENED BEARS -4.0, 43.5

Dallas Cowboys at Miami Dolphins -1.5 O/U 51.0 OPENED DOLPHINS -1.5, 48.5

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos -5.5 O/U 36.5 OPENED BRONCOS -1.5, 41.0

Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs -10.0 O/U 43.0 OPENED CHIEFS -8.5, 42.0 

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles -10.0 O/U 43.5 OPENED EAGLES -7.5, 44.0

Baltimore Ravens at San Francisco 49ers -5.0 O/U 45.5 OPENED 49ERS -3.0, 45.0 

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Week 16 Key Injury News 

Jaguars - QB Trevor Lawrence (concussion)

Ravens - RB Keaton Mitchell (knee)

Bills - DT Jordan Phillips (wrist)

Cowboys - OG Zack Martin (quad)

Titans - QB Will Levis (leg)

Jets - QB Zach Wilson (concussion)

Packers - WR Jayden Reed (toe)

Patriots - TE Hunter Henry (knee)

Bengals - WR Ja'Marr Chase (shoulder)

Browns - OG Joel Bitonio (back)

Dolphins - WR Jaylen Waddle (chest)

Colts - WR Michael Pittman (concussion)

Week 16 observations

Highest point spread –  Bills/Chargers -14.0

Lowest point spread – Jaguars/Bucs PICK

Highest total – Cowboys/Dolphins 51.0

Lowest total – Packers/Panthers, Patriots/Broncos 36.0

Two games with totals over 46.5 - Cowboys/Dolphins, Lions/Vikings

Four games with totals of 39 or less – Bengals/Steelers, Packers/Panthers, Commanders/Jets, Patriots/Broncos  

Three games with lines at least -10.0 or higher – Bills/Chargers, Raiders/Chiefs, Giants/Eagles

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NFL Week 16 Line Movement: Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Chargers

This might be the biggest line move of the season from opening to now, with the Bills opening at -1.0 and now all the way up to -14.0. The Chargers fired their head coach and general manager, and Justin Herbert is out for the season, so they have nothing to play for. Oh, by the way, the Raiders destroyed them last week, 63-21, and were down 42-0 at halftime. 

The Bills are making another run at the playoffs and need to win out in order to make it. They are coming off a huge win against the Cowboys, 31-10. 

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NFL Week 16 Line Movement: Indianapolis Colts at Atlanta Falcons

It is hard to imagine the Colts are now a -2.0 road favorite against the Falcons as the Colts are playing with Gardner Minshew and the Falcons were the favorites in the NFC South just a few weeks ago. The Falcons opened -2.5 home favorites originally. 

But the Falcons are 2-5 in their last seven, including an awful loss to the Panthers, 9-7, which pretty much ended their playoff hopes. Meanwhile, the Colts are in a good spot to make the playoffs and have a lot of motivation. 

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NFL Week 16 Line Movement: Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans

The Browns opened -4.0 road favorites and now the Texans are -2.5 home favorites for a 6.5-point line move. This looks to be the right value with C.J. Stroud expected to play and the Browns defense is not the same unit on the road. This is a huge game for both teams' playoff hopes. 

NFL Week 16 Line Movement: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings originally opened as -1.0 home favorites, but the injury to Kirk Cousins along with their quarterback carousel has the Lions now as -4.5 road favorites. The Lions got a much-needed win against the Broncos on Saturday, while the Vikings lost in overtime to the Bengals. This is a must-win game for the Vikings and the Lions are not as strong on the road. This feels like a bit too much of a line move in favor of the road team in this divisional matchup. 

NFL Week 16 Line Movement: New England Patriots at Denver Broncos

Most of the games with significant line moves now will be due to a major injury or a team being out of playoff contention. The Patriots have nothing to play for while the Broncos are fighting for a playoff spot. The Broncos originally opened as -1.5 home favorites, but it has moved to -5.5. The total has moved also from an opening number of 41.0 all the way down to 36.5, which still feels too high. 

If you're betting on the NFL this season, RotoWire has a full suite of betting pages and tools with everything you need from the latest NFL odds to weekly NFL picks along with a wide variety of NFL futures and NFL player futures

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Rathburn
Known as “Rath” in the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) community, he has helped run operations for two prominent daily fantasy sports startups. Michael has taken his insider knowledge and expertise in daily fantasy sports to the content side. Rath won the 2016 FSWA "Baseball Article of the Year, Online" award and was a finalist for the FSWA Best Baseball Series in 2011.
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