NFL Odds Week 9: Early Look at Best Lines to Play This Weekend

Early-week lines are the best lines this year when it comes to the NFL.

The league has a plethora of horrible teams this season, which has all but put the buzzword "parity" to rest.

It has also given bettors an easy way to make solid gains on the market off early lines before the oddsmakers can compensate for details we already know through careful analysis.

Here are three early lines to take advantage of in Week 9.

Note: Odds courtesy of Vegas Insider

Away Team	Home Team	Line	Prediction (ATS)
Cincinnati Bengals	Miami Dolphins	CIN (-2.5)	CIN
Atlanta Falcons	Carolina Panthers	CAR -7.5	ATL
Minnesota Vikings	Dallas Cowboys	DAL -10.5	DAL
New Orleans Saints	New York Jets	NO -5.5	NO
Tennessee Titans	St. Louis Rams	TEN -3	TEN
Kansas City Chiefs	Buffalo Bills	KC -3	KC
San Diego Chargers	Washington Redskins	PK	SD
Philadelphia Eagles	Oakland Raiders	OAK -1	OAK
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Seattle Seahawks	SEA -16.5	SEA
Baltimore Ravens	Cleveland Browns	BAL -2.5	CLE
Pittsburgh Steelers	New England Patriots	NE -6.5	PIT
Indianapolis Colts	Houston Texans	IND -2.5	IND
Chicago Bears	Green Bay Packers	GB -10.5	GB

Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5 @ Miami)

Too easy.

Half the battle when placing bets is analyzing trends. Cincinnati is on a four-game winning streak. Miami has lost four straight.

Even worse, Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been sacked a league-leading 32 times and now faces an elite defense. The Dolphins as a whole have been outscored by a total of 67-24 in the second half of their four losses.

So no, Andy Dalton, owner of three straight games of over 325 yards passing, and the Bengals will have no issue pulling away late if the game is even close at that point—Cincinnati is coming off a 49-9 dismantling of the New York Jets.

The Bengals are firing on all cylinders en route to the playoffs while the Dolphins have been exposed in recent weeks as pretenders. Miami does nothing particularly well, and there will in no way be a letdown on a short week for Cincinnati.

New Orleans Saints (-5.5 @ New York Jets)

The recipient of that 49-9 beatdown at the hands of Cincinnati in Week 8 was rookie quarterback Geno Smith and the New York Jets, who are now tasked with stopping a top-five offense when New Orleans comes to town.

New Orleans has lost just one game this season, on a last-second touchdown, and five of its six wins have come by six or more points.

While the Saints offense under quarterback Drew Brees is well-known, it's the defense that is fourth-best in the NFL with an average of 17.1 points allowed per game that will give New York major issues.

Last week Smith threw two costly interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. In a shootout with New Orleans, that simply will not get it done. This spread is far too kind given the circumstances.

Cleveland Browns (+2.5 vs. Baltimore Ravens)

Oddsmakers continue to overrate the defending champs.

Quarterback Joe Flacco is not living up to his $100 million contract with eight touchdowns and interceptions each, although he sorely misses the presence of Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta.

Flacco has not received any help from star back Ray Rice, who averages just 2.8 yards per carry this season, which has forced the Ravens into a one-dimensional attack that is manageable for defenses.

Things appear better than usual for the Cleveland Browns now that veteran quarterback Jason Campbell is under center. Last week he threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns as the Browns came six points shy of upsetting the league's last undefeated team in Arrowhead Stadium.

Joe Haden and the Browns rank in the top 10 against the pass, and the defense as a whole allows 22.4 points per game. At home in an AFC North slugfest, the Browns are the team to bet on regardless of the spread.

Follow B/R's Chris Roling on Twitter for more news and analysis @Chris_Roling