Wed May 06, 2009 3:52 pm EDT

Given the amount of preposterous prop bets that exist for events like the Super Bowl, it shouldn't be surprising that there are already lines out for the Week 1 slate in the NFL. You can bet on anything in the NFL, so why not on games that won't take place for four months?
What's more amazing than the fact these lines exist is how normal the actual point spreads look. You'd figure there would be some crazy, unpredictable spreads in there, but of the 16 games on the Week 1 schedule, 14 of the spreads could have been set last December.
In predicting all of the lines, I only missed by more than two points on two of the games. The "safe" spreads should discourage anyone from thinking they can find a sucker line here. But if you're betting on games that won't happen for 120 days, then you, my friend, are the sucker.
Five of the most interesting lines:
Denver Broncos (pick'em) at Cincinnati Bengals -- I believe the fine gentlemen in the desert are besmirching your name, Kyle Orton(notes).
Chicago Bears (+3) at Green Bay Packers -- Yours too, Jay Cutler(notes).
Buffalo Bills (+10) at New England Patriots -- Looks like the oddsmakers have little doubt about how Tom Brady(notes) will recover from his knee injury. Nor are they sold on Terrell Owens(notes) becoming a savior in Buffalo (except to popcorn manufacturers).
New York Jets (+4) at Houston Texans -- This is the game on which I whiffed badly. I had the Jets as two-point favorites, but it makes sense that they'd be four-point dogs with either a rookie QB (Mark Sanchez(notes)) or a bad mediocre QB (Kellen Clemens(notes)) likely starting under center.
San Francisco 49ers (+6.5) at Arizona Cardinals -- This line, along with the Cards over/under win total being set at nine, suggests that Vegas (correctly) believes that Arizona's January playoff run was more of a decent team hitting its stride at the right time instead of a great team doing the same. That, or Vegas held Clancy Pendergast in really, really high regard.
Over the lines is Shutdown Corner's occasional glimpse at NFL point spreads.
Shutdown Corner is an NFL blog edited by Matthew J. Darnell. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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37 Comments
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Denver over Bungals by 9. (each of Denver ( 12+) RBs get to play)
GB over Bears by 6.
Bills over the Pats by 3 ( if Bellidick doesnt have pre-season film)
Jets over Texans by 7.
Cards over the 49ers by 10.
point speads during pre-season PFFFFT.......Where do I go to place a bet ...lol
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They are playing our perception of the outcome vs their ability to make money.
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