NFL Monday Night Football Betting Preview: Odds Favor Lions, Cardinals

The NFL wraps up Week 1 with its now annual Monday Night Football doubleheader. The Detroit Lions host the New York Giants at 7:10 p.m. ET, and the Arizona Cardinals host the San Diego Chargers at 10:20 p.m. ET.

The Lions are currently 6.5-point favorites against the Giants, and the betting public seems to be backing that fairly heavily. According to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, 63 percent of the money coming in has been on Detroit. Of course, underdogs are currently 10-4 in Week 1.

The OddsShark prediction computer has the Lions winning 22 to 15.8. The Giants are 0-5 against the spread when opening on the road, while the Lions have covered in eight of their last 11 season openers. That would seem to favor the Lions, but the quarterback situations provide reason for trepidation on both sides.

Eli Manning is coming off an ugly 2013 season, and Matthew Stafford remains wildly inconsistent. Both are talented quarterbacks, but both can turn into turnover machines fairly quickly.

Although the money is coming in for the Lions, the question marks at quarterback make it a smart choice that OddsShark did not include this as one of their five picks in the Vegas SuperContest.

The Arizona Cardinals are currently 3-point favorites against the San Diego Chargers. Although the Cardinals are still favored, the injury report favors the Chargers. Arizona has lost numerous players on defense, including Darnell Dockett, Daryl Washington, and Tyrann Mathieu.

During the past week of practice, Andre Ellington was limited in practice, and is officially a game-time decision.

The public seems to be recognizing the Cardinals’ injury concerns. According to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, 57 percent of money coming in is for the underdog Chargers. The OddsShark prediction computer has the Cardinals winning, but only by a score of 23.9 to 23.7. This is a toss-up matchup straight up, and that three points seems to be tempting the public to San Diego.

The Cardinals are 1-6-1 in their last eight Monday Night Football matchups, while the Chargers are 4-1 in their last five. Additionally, the Chargers are 8-1-1 in their past ten games as a road underdog.

Photo via USA TODAY Sports Images/Kevin Hoffman