NFL Week 3 Betting Cheat Sheet (Best Spread, Total, Underdog, Teaser, and Player Prop)

Breaking down the best bets to place for Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season.

Iain MacMillan | 4 Hours Ago

Sep 15, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) hands off during the second half against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

With the popularization of sports betting, there are now an almost countless amounts of ways you can be on America's favorite sport. There are point spreads, totals, underdogs, player props, teasers and more.

In this article, I'm going to give you my favorite bet for each of the above mentioned types of wagers. It's a little bit of everything for everyone.

You can find my best bet for all 16 games in this week's edition of the "Road to 272 Bets," but if you're just looking for my favorites, you've come to the right place.

All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

NFL Week 3 Best Bets

Best Spread Bet: 49ers -7 (-110) vs. Rams
Best Total Bet: Bears vs. Colts UNDER 43.5 (-112)
Best Upset Pick: Chargers +100
Best Teaser Bet: Chargers +7.5 vs. Steelers, 49ers -1 vs. Rams
Best Player Prop: Jared Goff OVER 1.5 Pass TDs (-140)

Best Spread Bet: 49ers -7 (-110) vs. Rams

Of all the spread bets I've placed this week, the 49ers to win and cover against the Rams is my favorite:

It's time to sell all your stock in the Rams. This has been a disastrous start to the season. Not only are they 0-2, but they're the most injured team in the NFL. Darious Williams, Joe Noteboom, Steve Avila, and Puka Nacua are all on injured reserve. Cooper Kupp, John Johnson, and Jonah Jackson are doubtful for this game and both may land on injured reserve too.

On top of all that they're 31st in the NFL in Net Yards per Play at -1.9 and are giving up a disgusting 9.3 yards per pass attempt, the most in the NFL by an entire yard. I see no reason to justify a bet on Los Angeles at this point in the season, especially against the 49ers.

I'll lay the points with San Fran.

Best Total Bet: Bears vs. Colts UNDER 43.5 (-112)

I have just one total bet placed for this week and it's the UNDER between the Bears and Colts:

I correctly predicted the Bears' offense to stumble out of the gates this season. It's too much to ask for their offense to be rolling on all cylinders considering how many new faces, including rookies, are playing in a new scheme with new teammates. Through the first two games, they have averaged only 3.0 yards per play, last in the NFL by half a yard.

With that being said, the Colts offense hasn't been good enough for me to trust either. Anthony Richardson has completed just 49.1% of his passes and he has already thrown four interceptions. if you take out his deep shots in Week 1 against the Texans, he's been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL to start the season.

Instead of trusting either team to score many points, I'm going to sit back and bet in the UNDER in what I expect to be a low-scoring affair.

Best Upset Pick: Chargers +100

I cashed in on the Saints as big underdogs last week, but this week I'm looking at a bit less of a bold pick in the Chargers to take down the Steelers:

The Chargers are coming in as my upset pick of the week. The Steelers continue to baffle me as year after year they win games they don't deserve to win. Despite being 2-0, the Steelers have a Net Yards per Play of -0.7, which ranks 24th in the NFL.

Good coaching and an average turnover margin per game of +2.5 have led them to their current record, but now they take on a team that has also been strongly coached through the first two weeks of the season in Los Angeles.

The Steelers simply can't continue to win games scoring just 15.5 points per game. Justin Herbert and company will be able to do enough to get the win in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Best Teaser Bet: Chargers +7.5 vs. Steelers, 49ers -1 vs. Rams

Betting on the Chargers and Rams to win and cover their normal spreads aren't the only ways I'm betting on those two teams. If you want to double-dip like I am, or maybe you're not bold enough to take them at their current lines, how about a six-point teaser involving them?

We're going to take the Chargers from +1.5 up to +7.5, that crosses the two biggest key numbers in three and seven. I have doubts the Steelers have the offensive firepower to win this game by more than a touchdown.

In the second leg, we're going to take the 49ers down from -7 to -1, meaning San Francisco will have to win by at least two points. The Rams being able to make this a one-point game would be almost unfathomable based on how injured their starting lineup is. Covering a touchdown spread may be tough for the 49ers, but winning by just two or more seems a lot more feasible.

Best Player Prop: Jared Goff OVER 1.5 Pass TDs (-140)

On top of giving out my best bets for every single game this week, I'm also ranking my top 10 best players props on a weekly basis. Jared Goff to throw at least two touchdown passes is my top player prop for Week 2:

We have all seen the stat that there have been significantly fewer passing touchdowns so far this season than we've seen in years past, but it's time for some positive regression in that area and I think Jared Goff has a great opportunity to add to the passing touchdown total in the NFL.

The Arizona Cardinals have done a good job stopping the run this season, but a terrible job in the secondary, allowing teams to throw for 8.3 yards per pass attempt, the second most in the league. Goff, who threw the ball 55 times in Week 2, should have a huge bounce-back performance on Sunday, hopefully resulting in him throwing at least two passing touchdowns.

This is my favorite prop of the Week 3 slate.