NFL Week 4 Picks: Midweek Vegas Prop Bets, Odds and Score Predictions

There's no such thing as rest in the NFL—just like there isn't much in the way of it for bettors who want to come out ahead of the house on a week-to-week basis.  

As teams gear up for Week 4, bettors should as well be analyzing the upcoming games and picking out where oddsmakers might be a little generous in the Week 4 lines. These lines will change based on the incoming bets and other factors, so as the old cliche goes, the early bird, well, everyone knows the rest.

With three games under a national spotlight and one taking place in London, Week 4 might be one of the most dangerous slates of the season for bettors. Let's make the task easier by running down the schedule and taking a deep dive on a few difficult matchups.

NFL Week 4 Odds

Game	Spread	O/U	Predicted Winner
Baltimore at Pittsburgh	BAL -1	44	BAL 28-23
N.Y. Jets vs. Miami (London)	NYJ -1	41.5	NYJ 23-20
N.Y. Giants at Buffalo	BUF -7	46.5	BUF 30-24
Oakland at Chicago	OAK. -2.5	44.5	OAK 27-20
Jacksonville at Indianapolis	IND -10	47	IND 35-20
Houston at Atlanta	ATL -7	46,5	ATL 33-23
Carolina at Tampa Bay	CAR -3	40	CAR 23-20
Kansas City at Cincinnati	N/A	--	CIN 24-17
Philadelphia at Washington	PHI -3	47.5	PHI 20-17
Cleveland at San Diego	SD -9	44.5	SD 24-23
Minnesota at Denver	DEN -7	43.5	DEN 34-24
Green Bay at San Francisco	N/A	--	GB 36-20
St. Louis at Arizona	ARI -7	42	ARI 23-10
Dallas at New Orleans	N/A	--	DAL 17-14
Detroit at Seattle	SEA. -10	42.5	SEA 24-7

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.   

Analyzing Toughest Lines

Baltimore (-1) at Pittsburgh

Billy Hurst/Associated Press

As if AFC North matchups weren't difficult enough to figure out, the winless and Terrell Suggs-less Baltimore Ravens travel to Pittsburgh for Thursday Night Football to take on the two-win Steelers, a team suddenly without starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Big Ben sprained his MCL over the weekend, meaning backup Michael Vick takes over under center on a short turnaround. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin spoke with Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the approach.

“We’re not going to assume certain things because Mike is a veteran player, and he’s up to speed on a large body of work," Tomlin said. "We’re going to work in his comfort zone and bring the game to him, to allow him to put us in the best position to win the football game.”

Regardless, it's clear the Steelers take a hit without a guy who was completing 75.3 percent of his passes with four scores and two picks. Baltimore's defense has struggled, allowing at least 28 points in two games so far, but there's no better time to turn things around.

Joe Flacco and Steve Smith Sr. (186 yards and two scores last week against a strong Cincinnati Bengals defense) should be able to do enough to squeeze out a road win here. Pittsburgh's defense surrendered 28 points in Week 1 before looking strong in simple matchups against the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams, but it's a rebuilding unit without someone who can run with Smith.

Prediction: Ravens 28, Steelers 23

St. Louis at Arizona (-7)

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

The note about the AFC North applies to the NFC West too. 

This doesn't look too difficult at face value. The Arizona Cardinals just whipped San Francisco 47-7 behind 311 yards and two scores from Carson Palmer, who looks like his pre-knee-injury self of old.

But keep in mind the St. Louis Rams are the team that took down the Seattle Seahawks in overtime in Week 1. There, the Rams held Marshawn Lynch to 73 yards despite the Seahawks running 79 plays to the Rams' 55.  

Granted, St. Louis has struggled since, losing to Washington and Pittsburgh while scoring a combined 16 points. Again, though, this is a divisional bout, and last year the six-win Rams went to the desert and only lost by a 12-6 margin.

It's hard to ignore how Las Vegas feels, though. None of Arizona's contests has been close. Palmer-Larry Fitzgerald looks like one of the best connections in the league, and the usual elite defense continues to dominate. Fitzgerald isn't shy about the team's ceiling either, per Kyle Odegard of the team's website:

On the road, St. Louis doesn't figure to have an easy time of moving the football against the Arizona defense, nor does the St. Louis defense figure to stand up well to Palmer and Co. after struggling on a week-to-week basis.

Look for the Cardinals to force the Rams out of their comfort zone by scoring early then grinding it out with strong defense. 

Prediction: Cardinals 23, Rams 10

Oakland (-2.5) at Chicago

This isn't the easiest contest to figure out to say the least. 

The Chicago Bears just went to Seattle without Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffery, the result a 26-0 loss. Things didn't look much better in the team's first two losses, but having Cutler under center would help.

Meanwhile, Oakland looks solid with Derek Carr under center. After an injury scare in the first game, Carr has more than 300 passing yards in each of the team's two consecutive wins against stiff AFC North competition, Baltimore and Cleveland.

The worry here, though, is Oakland as a team from the West Coast is forced to travel across the country for an early kickoff. In theory, it could prove a recipe for disaster.

While it's something bettors have to consider, the Raiders did just travel to Cleveland and escape with a win. While the team was celebrating, Chicago was trading away players and receiving bad news about Cutler, per Steve Corkran of RaiderBeat.com:

The Bears dumped Jared Allen for future assets then turned around and did the same thing with linebacker Jonathan Bostic, a clear white flag if there ever was one.

Given the circumstances in the Windy City, it seems Oakland will be able to outlast a struggling franchise to pick up win No. 3.

Prediction: Raiders 27, Bears 20

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of Sept. 29. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.