3 best bets for Detroit Lions vs. Patriots Week 5

Heading toward Sunday’s Week 5 NFL action, here are three best bets for the Detroit Lions as they go up against the New England Patriots.

Before unearthing Week 5’s best Detroit Lions bets, let’s take a look at Week 4’s results.

Lions RB Jamaal Williams, 70-plus rushing yards (+100): 108 rushing yards
Lions TE T.J. Hockenson, Anytime touchdown (+165): Two touchdowns
Over 47.5 points (-114): 93 points

On Williams, I also wrote this last week:

"A bet on 80 (+154) or 90-plus yards (+230) might not be too greedy."

Both of those yardage bets would have cashed too.

On to Week 5.

The Lions are 3-point underdogs to the New England Patriots on BetMGM, right in line with the game being in Foxboro and the typical spread advantage given for homefield. The Patriots will have rookie Bailey Zappe making his first NFL start under center, and with that confirmation on Friday the point spread dropped from 3.5.

Via BetMGM, here are three best bets to make on the Lions against the Patriots in Week 5.

3 best bets for Detroit Lions vs. Patriots Week 5

Moneyline: Lions +140

The Lions obviously don’t travel to Foxboro very often, and they haven’t won there in 29 years. But these are not the Patriots of the Tom Brady era, as a 1-3 team down to it’s third-string quarterback and with a defense that’s not quite as scary as its reputation (19th in Football Outsiders DVOA through four weeks).

A straight-up, straight-forward bet on the Lions to win outright on Sunday is a solid one.

Lions QB Jared Goff, Over 237.5 passing yards (-115)

Goff has topped 250 passing yards in three straight games, and he would have done it back in Week 1 as well if not for some missed connections.

The Patriots have allowed more than 250 passing yards in two of their four games this season, to Aaron Rodgers (Week 4) and Tua Tagovailoa (Week 1). Lamar Jackson (Week 3) was so good running (107 yards) that he fell short (218) as he threw for four touchdowns.

Goff won’t have to throw for a bunch of yards for the Lions to win on Sunday, and he may not clear 237.5 by a lot when it’s all said and done. But a bet on him getting to, say, 240 feels pretty safe.

Lions winning margin, 1-6 points (+360)

With the moneyline bet on the Lions to win outright, comes a follow-up bet on a narrow margin of victory at +360. If you wanted to get a little more aggressive, the Lions are +650 to win by 7-12 points.

Note: Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.