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Best NFL Teaser Bets Week 1: Basic Strategy Teasers

by Mike Allen - 9/1/2023

Best teaser bets Week 1 Aaron Rodgers New York Jets

The seven-month NFL offseason is finally coming to a close in less than a week. Bettors across the country and around the world salivate as they stare at the meat and potatoes of our football betting plate.

Totals and point spreads will always be our foundation, but there are times when certain exotic bets give us great line value. The particular type of wager I want to talk to you guys today about is the teaser.

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Basic Strategy Teasers Explained

A teaser bet is similar to a parlay bet because you need all of your legs to hit in order to win, but it differs because a bettor can actually manipulate the line. There are different types of teasers available across multiple sports.

For the purpose of this article and for the purpose of keeping your bankroll in the green, we will focus solely on NFL betting.

Why?

There are so many points scored in a basketball game, especially in the NBA. That means your manipulation of the betting line means less. In an NBA or college hoops game, bettors can generally only tease 4-5 points.

What about college football? NCAA football games have a higher rate of variability.

The average margin of victory in an NFL game is 5.7 points, and if we want to tease a game, we are getting 6 points from the sportsbook.

Generally, what you want to look for in potential betting lines to use in your teaser are underdogs with betting odds of either (+1.5) to (+2.5) or betting favorites with odds of (-7.5) to (-8.5).

You would tease the underdogs up to larger underdogs and the favorites to even bigger favorites.

It's important to remember the key numbers in the NFL. Most games are decided by 3 or 7 points. So, with a teaser bet, you are giving yourself a really nice cushion. The catch is, of course, you need both teams to win.

One neat feature of the teaser bet is that if one of your legs hits and the other pushes, your wager will push, and your original wager amount will be returned to you.

Don't tease across 0 because rarely do games ever end in a tie, and you are losing that one point. In this business, every point and half of a point matters.

It is an exotic bet, but you would be surprised how many sharp bettors include about one teaser/week during the NFL season.

We have a good one for you today on a couple of teams I project to overachieve, particularly early in the 2023 regular season.

NFL Week 1 Teaser

Original Betting Odds

Cleveland Browns(+2.5) vs Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5)

New York Jets (+2.5) vs Buffalo Bills (-2.5)

I like both the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets this week, but I don't like that (+2.5). If the games turn out as 3-point wins for the betting favorites, our bankrolls take a beating.

Let’s move those betting lines from (+2.5) to (+8.5).

Teaser Betting Odds

Cleveland Browns (+8.5) + New York Jets (+8.5): -120

While there is still talk that Joe Burrow may not be starting in Week 1 for the Cincinnati Bengals, he will most likely play. Just the fact that there is talk, though, helps me lean toward the Browns.

Nick Chubb has the opportunity to control most of this game, but if they happen to fall behind by two scores, I am confident in DeShaun Watson's arm to get a late score.

Last season was a knock-the-rust-off adjustment year for Cleveland and their new quarterback. Watson has shown us he can be a top-five quarterback in the NFL. Chubb makes the difference early, and Watson is there to close the gap late should we need it.

For the other leg of our Week 1 NFL teaser, I like the Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets to stay within 8 points of the defending AFC East Champion Buffalo Bills. That will be the first Monday Night Football game of the season.

Many are taking the home Jets at (+2.5). I feel they will keep this a competitive game, but the Buffalo Bills had the highest point differential in the conference last year.

For the same reasons I like the Browns this week, I dig the Jets as well. Both teams are strong in the trenches, have above-average running backs, and were, at one time, elite quarterbacks.

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