NFL Lines 2014, Week 3 Thursday Night

Tampa Bay +6.5 at Atlanta

This is one of about 12 “ugh” games this week, as I’m calling them, so named because it seems there’s no good way to play it. The only thing going for Tampa Bay is that they’re getting nearly a touchdown. I talked last week about teams giving more than six points covered only once. They also shouldn’t be as bad as they seem this year. Maybe the short week will keep them from over-thinking things.

Vegas opened the line with Atlanta -5.5, but heavy betting on the Falcons moved the line a full point. The public is not usually a good barometer for predicting how games will turn out. If they were, Vegas wouldn’t continue to offer sports betting.

Home teams have been very good in the first two weeks of Thursday night football this season, but the Falcons got pretty beat up (physically and psychologically) in Cincinnati last week, and they don’t have much of a running game.