NFL Lines Week 11: Questionable Spreads That Bettors Must Take Advantage of

Picking games straight up in the NFL is difficult enough, but the added wrinkle of a point spread is what separates the men and women from the boys and girls. Betting on the NFL is lucrative because the oddsmakers are good at what they do, but that doesn't mean they're bulletproof.

In fact, the oddsmakers have a penchant for overvaluing mediocre teams at times. The matchups for those teams may look good on paper, but are the Houston Texans or Arizona Cardinals good enough to be seven-point favorites? Perhaps they are on the right week...but not this week.

Here is a closer look at three spreads that seem to be off the mark. There is money to be made in Week 11, and taking advantage of the forthcoming lines will make bettors very happy.

Away Team	Home Team	Spread	Pick ATS
Indianapolis Colts	Tennessee Titans	IND (-3)	IND
Atlanta Falcons	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	ATL (-1)	TB
New York Jets	Buffalo Bills	BUF (-1)	NYJ
Detroit Lions	Pittsburgh Steelers	DET (-2.5)	DET
Washington Redskins	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI (-4.5)	WAS
Baltimore Ravens	Chicago Bears	CHI (-3)	BAL
Cleveland Browns	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN (-6)	CIN
Oakland Raiders	Houston Texans	HOU (-7)	OAK
Arizona Cardinals	Jacksonville Jaguars	ARI (-7)	JAC
San Diego Chargers	Miami Dolphins	SD (-1.5)	SD
Minnesota Vikings	Seattle Seahawks	SEA (-12.5)	SEA
San Francisco 49ers	New Orleans Saints	NO (-3)	NO
Green Bay Packers	New York Giants	NYG (-5)	NYG
Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos	DEN (-8)	DEN
New England Patriots	Carolina Panthers	CAR (-2.5)	CAR

Oakland Raiders (+7 @ HOU)

Most figured that the Houston Texans would win the AFC South or at least grab a wild-card berth this season after consecutive playoff appearances. Things have unraveled, though, and the Texans find themselves with a record of 2-7, which is now just one game better than the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Houston has played much better in recent weeks with Case Keenum under center, and that is probably why the Texans are favored by seven points over the Oakland Raiders at home.

The Raiders have played better than expected this season with a record of 3-6, and there is no reason why they can't keep it close against the Texans. Oakland had a chance to reach the .500 mark against the Philadelphia Eagles a couple of weeks ago, but the Raiders were blown out. They followed that up with a narrow loss to the New York Giants in Week 10.

If nothing else, the Raiders have been competitive in most games, although they may once again be without running back Darren McFadden this week. He missed practice on Thursday, according to Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times.

Oakland's running game has been just fine without McFadden over the past couple of weeks, though, with Rashad Jennings running well and quarterback Terrelle Pryor providing plenty with his legs as well. It's possible that the Texans will break their seven-game losing streak and put it all together this week, but a seven-point spread is way too steep for a team that hasn't been very good.

San Diego Chargers (-1.5 @ MIA)

The race for the second wild-card spot in the AFC is wide open to say the least, as no team has separated itself from the field. Two teams in particular with a legitimate shot are the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins.

Both teams are 4-5, and they'll play each other in a game that could go a long way toward sorting out the playoff picture. Despite the fact that the Dolphins are at home, the Chargers enter the game as 1.5-point favorites.

It can be argued that the Bolts are lucky to be favored at all, but the Dolphins appear to be in a state of disarray. With that in mind, San Diego should probably be favored by much more. Even though the Chargers and Dolphins have the same record, there is no doubt that San Diego has been more impressive this season. Miami started 3-0, but it has struggled recently.

Even in some of their losing efforts, the Chargers have looked like a playoff team.

San Diego lost by just eight points to the Denver Broncos in Week 11. It also owns victories over potential playoff teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts.

Quarterback Philip Rivers has been great for the Chargers this year, but the running back tandem of Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead has made the difference as of late. Since the Dolphins are 25th against the run, expect San Diego's rushing game to spur it to victory.

Jacksonville Jaguars (+7 vs. ARI)

It's impossible to feel comfortable when betting on a team as bad as the Jaguars, but they are in the NFL after all. Fans and bettors alike were reminded of that last week when they upset the Tennessee Titans as nearly two-touchdown underdogs.

The Jags are only seven-point underdogs this week when they host the Arizona Cardinals, and while the Cards have impressed to the tune of a 5-4 record, it's tough to trust them as such heavy favorites on the road.

For starters, only one of Arizona's five wins came on the road. That was in Week 4, when the Cards beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a less-than-impressive 13-10 game.

Also, the Cardinals have a lot of question marks on offense. Quarterback Carson Palmer is completing barely more than 61 percent of his passes and has more interceptions (15) than touchdown passes (12). To make matters worse, head coach Bruce Arians is committed to running back Rashard Mendenhall despite the fact that Andre Ellington is clearly better.

The Cardinals do have a good defense that is third in the league against the run, but Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew hasn't been particularly good this season. It can be argued that Jacksonville's win over Tennessee was fluky in some ways, as the Jags offense didn't move the ball well and the defense had to make some plays, but a win is a win.

It seems like the Cardinals are due for a letdown, and even if they do win this game, it won't be by seven or more points.

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