Week 10 of the NFL sees six teams taking some extra time off on a bye week.  It’s the most seen in any given week, and it will be interesting to see how those teams bounce back after having an extra week to rest and recover.  In the meantime, though, there is still a lot of great action and several contests deserve a close look as the odds will prove to be more than a little enticing.

Contrary to conventional thought, the Cleveland Browns, 2-6 on the season, are actually favored to beat the Buffalo Bills.  They’re -2.5 on the opening line as they get to play at home, but the 6-2 Bills are not going to be an easy target.  This game will attract a lot of attention on Sunday, especially since the Browns are only 2-6 against the spread (ATS).  The Browns were also favored to win in Week 6 when they took on the Seattle Seahawks, but they ultimately lost by four points.

The LA Raiders will face off against the LA Chargers and are favorites with an opening line of -1.  The fact that the Chargers are 4-0 against the team across their last four matchups, covering the spread in all four of those, the money is going to flow as the week progresses.  But, the Raiders have a slight advantage.  They have gone 6-1 ATS in their last seven home games and they’ll be on their own turf on Sunday.

The Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions both have stats that make it difficult to look at who might win on the spread.  The Bears may have an opening line of -3, but there are some underlying factors that need to be considered.  They’re 5-2-2 ATS and 17-7-1 ATS in their past 25 home games.  However, this year, they’re only 1-3 at home.  The Lions, on the other hand, can cover the spread well against NFC teams and have a 10-4-1 ATS record to prove it.

The 6-2 Baltimore Ravens are up against the 0-8 Bengals this week and the division game will see both teams giving the show that’s expected.  The Ravens have opened at -10, but there’s something lurking in the shadows that might make a spread bet on the Bengals worthwhile.  In the past 12 contests between the two, the Bengals are 8-4 ATS and have covered in four consecutive games.  The Ravens are only 3-13 ATS when favored to win by ten points or more, and playing the spread will be a good way to go on Sunday.

It would be a good idea to completely avoid the matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons; it simply isn’t worth the guaranteed headache.  The Saints opened at -13.5 and are 17-2 across their last 19 home games, 12-7 ATS.  They’ve been able to cover all three of their most recent games when favored by ten or more points to win.  The Falcons, though, are having a bad season all around.  Not only are they 1-7 on the season, they’re 2-6 ATS – a tie with the Browns.  Hands off this one and use the money on other games that actually have the potential to see a return.