Best Opening Lines for Bills, Giants, and Jets in NFL Week 5

The 2022 NFL season continued with another compelling weekend. Some notable upsets and injuries caused chaos among bettors and will most likely swing the NFL Week 5 opening lines in dramatic fashion. For the three teams in New York state, early odds favor the Bills and Giants, while the Jets remain underdogs despite last week’s victory.

So far this season, home teams hold a slight edge covering the spread (31-30-3). Underdogs enjoy the best cover percentage through four weeks, going 36-25-3 against the spread (59 percent) thus far. Home underdogs sport a 16-10-2 ATS mark. 

The Under continues to dominate early this season, going 38-25 (60.3 percent) through the first quarter of games. That said, the Over went 8-7 in Week 4, marking the first time the Over hit more often than the Under in a single week this season. 

Here’s a look at the best opening lines for New York’s three NFL teams, the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and New York Jets.

The Buffalo Bills bounced back from their first loss of the season to grab an impressive come-from-behind victory on the road in Week 4. The Bills stampeded back from a 17-point first-half deficit in Baltimore to grab a 23-20 victory and improve to 3-1 on the season.

Pittsburgh rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett may get his first career NFL start on Sunday, which would be a daunting task against this Bills defense. Thanks in part to that potential move, as well as the Steelers’ ineffective play through four weeks, the opening line for this contest jumped to 14-points in favor of Buffalo. This marks the largest spread of the 2022 NFL season thus far.

The line for this game started a Bills minus-9 last spring but it’s ballooned in favor of Buffalo since then. The Bills enter with a 2-1-1 mark against the spread, having been favored in each ballgame thus far. Buffalo is 4-0-1 against the spread in its last five home games. The Steelers, meanwhile, sport a 1-2-1 record against the spread and seem to have lost confidence in starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

The New York Giants kept pace in the surprisingly competitive NFC East with their 20-12 victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 4. This happened despite the G-Men losing both Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor to injuries during the game. New York feels some optimism Jones will be ready to go for this game in London, but that uncertainty helped tilt the opening lines for this Week 5 contest further toward Green Bay. 

Even though this is a neutral site matchup, the Packers enter favored by more than a touchdown. The look-ahead line featured a 7.5-point spread, but following the injury uncertainty in New York and the Packers’ victory over the New England Patriots, it moved even more. Considering these struggling offenses, it’s no shock, though, that the opening total for this contest has dropped, down to 41.5 points from 45.5. 

The Giants continue to surprise from week to week and enter with a 3-1 record against-the-spread, already half of 2021’s cover total (6-11). Green Bay’s struggles offensively have led to a 2-2 mark against the spread, despite a 3-1 record outright. The Packers failed to cover in a three-point win over the Patriots last week, and enter this one 20-8 against the spread following an ATS loss. 

The Jets were one of six underdogs to win outright in Week 4 and have a chance to get above .500 for the first time since Week 5 of the 2017 season (3-2). They’ll host their AFC East rivals, the Dolphins, in Week 5, with Miami starting former Jets quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on Sunday. 

New York started Zach Wilson for the first time this season last week, and the second-year quarterback responded with a solid fourth quarter. Wilson led the game-winning touchdown drive and went 10-of-12 for 128 yards and a score in the fourth quarter. It helped that the defense intercepted Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett three times in the second half. 

Sportsbooks favored Miami by as many as six points in the look-ahead for this game, but following Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion last Thursday, the opening line for this Week 5 grudge match shrunk to 3-points in favor of the Dolphins. The opening total has come down as well, from 45.5 points to 44. 

This matchup has been one-sided of late, with the Dolphins covering in seven of the last nine games between these clubs. Miami sports a 4-0 mark against the spread in its last four trips to MetLife Stadium. Bettors should know that Bridgewater-led teams cover 66.6 percent of the time (42-20-1) when he starts at quarterback.