Early Betting Odds and Lines for NFL Week 12 (2020)

If there ever was a week where you needed an early look at the opening NFL odds and betting lines, week 12 is it.

Thanksgiving Day is going to be a time for family, food, and relaxation.

Oh, and football. And lot’s of betting.

There will be a time and a place to specifically dive into the Thanksgiving Day NFL betting slate, but with just a few days before players hit the field again, we can’t waste time hypothesizing how the week could go.

The time is now to get a jump on the NFL week 12 odds. Join me as I break down the early NFL odds and lines to see which wagers might stand out.

This is a tough game to peg, and BetOnline and other betting sites isn’t making it any easier on us with such a tight spread.

Detroit is back home and has the edge on a short week, especially when you consider their history of playing under the spotlight on Thanksgiving Day.

That said, the Lions looked bad last week en route to a shutout loss. Houston is coming off a win over the Patriots, and aren’t an easy offense to slow down.

Detroit offers interesting value as a home dog, while a reasonable game total makes the Over look like a smash play.

It’s pretty clear that nobody wants to win the NFC East this year, but Washington and Dallas enter this crucial Turkey Day battle with wins directly behind them.

The Cowboys have the understandable edge. They’re natural home favorites, as they have much more offensive talent. They also have a good history in the Thanksgiving Day games, and tend to own Washington.

Washington’s defensive line makes this a tough game to peg, but the early week 12 NFL odds make Dallas and the Over stand out.

If you want to bet on sports online this week – and in particular on Thanksgiving Day – this is without a doubt one of the top draws.

Lamar Jackson and co. could not take advantage of a favorable matchup with the Titans, and they’re in must-win territory to close out the Thanksgiving Day betting slate.

They’ll head to Heinz Field to battle a 10-0 Steelers team they very nearly beat just a few games ago.

Baltimore is headed in the wrong direction at 6-4, but Pittsburgh has to lose eventually. From a matchup perspective, this isn’t an easy game for the Steelers, and sweeping the Ravens sounds like a tall order.

The early week 12 NFL betting odds favor the Steelers, but it’ll be hard to get away from Baltimore as a +145 straight up bet.

Kyler Murray could not come up big with late-game heroics two weeks in a row, but he’s right back in the thick of it with a huge road game against the Pats in week 12.

New England is at risk of fading fast. After two straight wins, they lost to the Texans and are now a fringe playoff threat at just 4-6.

Nothing we have known about the Patriots in the past seems to matter. Arizona is younger, sexier, more versatile, and more explosive. I don’t think the Cardinals can stifle Cam Newton, but I also don’t think it’ll matter.

Things lean the Cards’ way early on, and I’d imagine the Over will end up being worth a look, as well.

I’m honestly a bit shocked we’re getting odds for this game so quickly. The Bengals probably can’t be entirely sure what they’re doing just yet, as they learned they lost Joe Burrow for the year on Sunday.

#Bengals QB Joe Burrow suffered a torn ACL based on the initial diagnosis, source said. There may be additional damage. Burrow signaled it with his tweet, but the MRI confirming the injury would end his stellar rookie season.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 22, 2020

Throw in the absence of Joe Mixon, and this Bengals offense could be in a pretty difficult spot. I still think this game could hit the Over just because there isn’t elite defense here, but it’s awfully hard to see the Bengals bouncing back and getting a win so quickly.

Cincy’s spread is +4.5 right now, but if there is a chance this could thicken a bit given the Burrow news, bettors may want to wait to bet on this one. If you’re looking at New York’s side, however, the time to place a bet is now.

Don’t look now, but the Browns just might be (gulp) good. I mean, if they’re not, they’re the quietest, sneakiest 7-3 team in league history.

Both could be true, but hey, they look like a legit playoff team. If that’s to be true, they should probably take care of business and dispose of a bad Jaguars team that hasn’t won since week one.

Logic has this one leaning toward Cleveland, especially when Nick Chubb is such a filthy, punishing runner.

I will never, ever get tired of watching this. #Browns pic.twitter.com/k1xK46rYhs

— Bryan Shaw (@WxShaw) November 22, 2020

This could be a spot where we side with the Jags and hold out for better pricing. But I want a much thicker point spread, or I send it back.

There isn’t a full list of Titans vs. Colts odds to get week 12 going, but this spread tells us all we need to know.

Indy dominated the first meeting, and last week they hung tight to beat a good Packers team in overtime.

The Colts play very good defense, they run the ball, and they execute at a high level. This all led to them taking down the Titans last time, but doing it twice could prove difficult.

Getting Tennessee at a value price is pretty alluring. The Titans ATS or straight up will be a sneaky play in week 12.

Josh Allen and company are back after taking the week off, and they’re welcomed back with a tough test against Justin Herbert and the Chargers.

The rookie gunslinger was en fuego last week, as he completely shredded a bad Jets team.

Justin Herbert vs New York
🎯 37/49
🎯 366 passing yards
🎯 3 TDs
🎯 27.8 fantasy points pic.twitter.com/w8wOIHjIuc

— PFF (@PFF) November 23, 2020

L.A. has made a career of collapsing, but perhaps a dominant win like we saw in week 11 displays an ability to turn the corner.

Perhaps, but going into Buffalo and stopping the Bills (and scoring on them consistently) is a lot to ask. I think they do the latter fine enough, but shutting down Josh Allen isn’t likely.

The Chargers are an interesting bet to beat this spread, while this game has too much offense not to give the Over serious consideration.

Miami was riding a nice high with a sweet winning streak lately, but they ran into a wall in a loss to the Broncos.

It was so bad that would-be franchise savior Tua Tagovailoa even got benched.

Brian Flores said Tua Tagovailoa wasn't injured. So benching was performance-related. Flores felt like going to Ryan Fitzpatrick was the best move for the team.

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) November 23, 2020

That was probably more about preservation than anything else, but it wasn’t the best look. Miami will likely take advantage of a smash spot against the Jets in week 12, but they still have to go on the road.

Is this the game where the winless Jets finally shock the world? That’s about the only thing really compelling here, unless the spread ends up thickening considerably.

There were a lot of jokes cracked about Taysom Hill, but he was honestly fantastic in his first NFL start.

▪️ 18/23, 233 yards passing, 0 INT
▪️ 51 yards on 10 rushes, 2 touchdowns

Not bad for a QB/RB/WR/TE/KR/PR… @T_Hill4 pic.twitter.com/pHM9PCPIYd

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 22, 2020

I figured he’d just be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but he was quite aggressive and executed nicely while completing 78% of his passes.

His matchup was sublime and he was at home, though, so it’s worth wondering if things change for the worse on the road against the Broncos.

Denver showed some life this past week. This could be a sneaky spot to bet on them to hang tight and maybe even stage the upset.

Lastly, we have a Seahawks vs. Eagles game that would probably come off as a more appealing matchup a year or two ago.

In 2020, the Seahawks are the far better team, and Philly is inexplicably flirting with playing their way out of first place in the hapless NFC East.

That seems impossible, but here we are.

Carson Wentz is nearing a benching (or should be), and he’s tasked with out-dueling a guy in Russell Wilson that has been in MVP form for much of the year.

I’m not seeing how this game is even close, but the best play might be to hit the Over before it gets out of control.

My early look at the NFL week 12 odds surprised me in the sense that it may actually be best to wait on pricing changes for a lot of games this week.

Obviously you really don’t have that luxury for some games. The usual TNF individual game is out the window, and a good chunk of the week dries up with three games being played on Turkey Day.

You’ll want to pick the best bet for Thanksgiving, but maybe that actually helps bettors here. Perhaps you can focus on the best way to profit from Thanksgiving Day NFL betting, and then see how advantageous NFL week 12 odds are when altered following those games.

That said, I’ve touched on some bets for week 12 that are ready to rock right now. Just as spreads moving can be beneficial for one side of the coin, they absolutely are not on the other.

Take that all how you will, but getting a look at the early NFL betting lines remains useful, and I hope that’s again the case for week 12. If you’re ready to go, hit up the best NFL sportsbooks to place some bets.