Randy’s Week 1 NFL Parlay
Legal sports gambling is coming to a state near you very soon, unless you live in Utah. Within a year the majority of states will legalize sports gambling and football is the center of it all. It’s a fun way to make the games a little more exciting and earn a little extra cash on the side.
But I’m not here to help you earn a little extra cash. I’m here to help you make a big pay day with a small investment, and yes, I realize that I sound like a pyramid scheme, but hear me out.
When it comes to sports gambling, I’m big on parlays. Last January during conference championship Sunday, I turned $50 into almost $800 by betting the spreads and over/under of both games. Parlays are riskier because you combine multiple bets into one big payday or loss, but it’s a much bigger payout when you win.
Each week I’m going to give you 5 spread picks a week that I recommend you parlay into one massive bet. If you’re a conservative bettor, you can always just bet these 5 games separately and I’m pretty confident you’ll end up making more than you lose this season. You can come after me on twitter @randyljobst if you lose your house because of me.
Here are my Week 1 NFL Spread Picks:
Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens- BAL -7.5:
Week 1 is a great week to pick against rookies making their first starts or backups holding down the fort until the rookie starter is ready to actually start. Nathan Peterman is starting over Josh Allen this week. The Ravens aren’t exactly the offense you want to pick to cover an 8 point game, but the last time Peterman started he threw 5 interceptions.
Tampa Bay Bucs at New Orleans Saints- NO -9.5:
Another game with a backup quarterback who likes to give the ball away. Ryan Fitzpatrick starts for suspended Jameis Winston the first 3 games. The Bucs aren’t a great offense with Winston, so they’ll struggle to get more than 17 in this game. I love the Saints against bad offenses. You can beat them in a shootout, but it’s pretty rare to beat them, or even keep up with them in a lower scoring game.
Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins- TEN -1:
Last year I got burnt quite a bit when I picked Miami, so I’ll probably pick against them a ton this season until they burn me from the other side. Tennessee is easily the better team, Miami isn’t a tough place to play and nobody scares you on the Dolphins team anymore. This is the game I feel most confident about this week. Titans -1 is a bargain.
Dallas Cowboys at Carolina Panthers- CAR -3:
This is a game you should pay attention to until right before kickoff to bet on, due to Panthers tight end Greg Olsen’s injury status. He’s questionable right now. I’m not saying don’t bet on Carolina if Olsen is out, I’m just saying you’ll get a better line if he is, so you might as well wait. Carolina is going to win this game either way, it’s just a bad match-up for the Cowboys. The Panthers are built to stop the run, the Cowboys specialty, and the Panthers are built to run the ball, not the Cowboys defense’s specialty.
New York Jets at Detroit Lions- DET -6.5:
There is a lot going for Detroit in this one. They are a dome team, at home, against an outdoor team. They are also a good offense facing a bad offense and New York is starting the youngest rookie quarterback in NFL history in Sam Darnold. The difference between these teams in December might be pretty small, but right now the Lions are a much better team than the Jets. This one is a slam dunk.
