NFL Week 8 Look-Ahead Lines: 49ers Laying Nearly A TD Against Bengals

NFL Week 8 look-ahead lines are out. What was supposed to be a premium matchup between Super Bowl odds hopefuls the 49ers and Bengals (off a bye) in San Francisco instead features a pretty sizable spread in favor of the Niners. Can Joe Burrow get right in time to get the ball rolling on another deep playoff run?

Every week, usually on Friday, TheLines will post look-ahead lines for the following week’s games, pulled from NFL betting sites. These look aheads give an early snapshot of the current market opinions of teams absent the week-to-week bias that can take hold following weekend results. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for info on how to use them.

NFL Week 8 Look-Ahead Lines

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Week 8 NFL NFL Primetime Games

Thursday Night Football Odds

The Buccaneers face the Falcons in a pivotal NFC South matchup in Week 7, one which seems likely to be closely contested one way or the other. Meanwhile, the Bills enter Week 7 off a strikingly bad performance in primetime against the G-Men. If Buffalo can show that game was a fluke, then Bills odds could creep closer to double digits, but if they can’t handle the lightly regarded Patriots, then we could see a line as tight as -7 here.

Sunday Night Football Odds

Any line movement around this game could be heavily influenced by the Bears’ QB situation. Tyson Bagent, an undrafted rookie who played college football for something called the Shepherd Rams takes over in Week 7. It’s hard to overstate the jump from that to the NFL, but Bagent did move the ball a bit against the Vikings in relief of Justin Fields. If Bagent’s floor comes to fruition against a bad Raiders team, the FanDuel Sportsbook double-digit line will quickly become the norm.

Good Fields news in recovering from his NFL Week 6 injury would surely keep this under the secondary key number of 10 and probably have Bears odds around +7.5. However, bettors should keep in mind Chicago has little incentive to rush him back. If anything, it likely behooves them to milk this injury and see if Bagent can keep the team on track for maximum draft equity.

Monday Night Football Odds

The Raiders also enter Week 7 set to start a backup QB. However, it seems like Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury isn’t as serious as some of the others that various QBs around the league suffered. He’s probably a favorite to return for this game.

Since the Raiders’ Week 7 game seems unlikely to produce any significant takeaways, bettors should track the results of the high-profile Lions at Ravens matchup. The market has yet to really price Lions odds as the fringe top-five team they’ve played like thus far. A strong victory on the road in Baltimore might change that, but something between -7 and -10 seems right here.

MORE POTENTIAL WEEK 7 IMPACT ON WEEK 8 LOOK-AHEAD LINES

Bengals At 49ers

The Bengals don’t have a Week 7 game, which generally makes for a less interesting examination of NFL look-ahead lines. However, Cincinnati has one of the more unusual ongoing situations with superstar QB Joe Burrow playing hurt all year. Additionally, star WR Tee Higgins probably needs a week off as badly as anyone after playing through broken ribs in Week 6. Could bettors see a refreshed Cincinnati team that the market expected to perform like a Super Bowl contender?

49ers odds also merit some interest after the team showed its first vulnerability. If the failure against Cleveland was an opponent- and weather-specific blip, then it won’t seem that crazy for the Niners to lay a big number like -6 here. But if an injury-weakened Vikings team finds any traction at all, expect to see a smaller number here.

Falcons At Titans

The market hasn’t reached a consensus on who should be favored in this one, but note a couple of moving parts here on Tennessee’s end. For one thing, the team has looked significantly better at home thus far in the 2023 campaign. Bettors may find value on Titans odds if that continues. But for another, and perhaps of more import, what will happen with Tennessee’s starting QB? In relief of Ryan Tannehill, the team turned to Malik Willis, who looked about as poor as he did in 2022. Could bettors handicap the debut of draft day faller Will Levis?

HOW TO USE NFL LOOK-AHEAD LINES

The look-ahead lines allow you a sneak peek at the projected lines for the following week’s games. This information from a leading sports betting site will help provide lessons in understanding lines and projections before the current week’s games are played.

Many bettors tend to overreact to the previous week’s scores and results. The NFL Week 8 look-ahead lines provide a sense of stability from the oddsmaker. They sometimes offer a clear, unbiased snapshot of perceived team strength.

Bettors can also gain an edge or find value in the lines once the weekend results take hold. See if you can find any over- or under-reactions by the market.

Of course, always take note of key injuries, travel and scheduling situations, and NFL power rankings. Adjustments are part of the process, along with accounting for teams’ strengths and weaknesses, against-the-spread angles, and personnel matchups.

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