Buffalo Bills among top plays from Las Vegas sharp bettors

Welcome back to football season and the eternal quest to beat the spread.

To help you achieve that aim, we’ve asked some of the sharpest Las Vegas oddsmakers and professional bettors and handicappers for their weekend best bets.

The consensus top plays are the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings.

BILLS (-6½) over Jets

Professional sports bettor Jeff Whitelaw and longtime ESPN handicapper Hank Goldberg like Buffalo as one of their best bets, and Westgate sportsbook vice president of risk Ed Salmons also leans to the Bills to cover Sunday’s home opener against New York.

“The Jets are in a little bit of disarray,” Whitelaw said. “They’ve lost some personnel, and the Bills have one of the best defenses in football.”

Salmons said the line, which opened at 6, is a little short.

“Buffalo is always a tough team at home,” he said. “The Jets on the road have been hit or miss. Usually miss.”

Goldberg, 143-102-10 ATS (58.3 percent) the last three seasons in the Review-Journal NFL Challenge, expects newcomers Stefon Diggs and Zack Moss to help spark Buffalo’s offense, which has averaged only 18.1 points per game the past three years.

“They’re loaded, and Sean McDermott can coach,” said Goldberg (@hammeringhankg). “The Jets have a coach (Adam Gase) nobody wants to play for.”

VIKINGS (-2½) over Packers

Whitelaw and Salmons took Minnesota, which will look to avenge last season’s 23-10 home loss to Green Bay on Dec. 23.

“That was probably their worst game in the Mike Zimmer era,” Salmons said. “I’m sure that’s fresh in Minnesota’s mind. “

Salmons and Whitelaw expect the Packers to regress this season after using their first two 2020 draft picks on a quarterback (Jordan Love) and running back (A.J. Dillon).

“I like the Vikings team quite a bit, and I don’t like the Packers team,” Whitelaw said. “It looks like Green Bay is sort of rebuilding. They’re getting old. I just don’t think Aaron Rodgers has what he used to have.

“The Vikings have a better defense, for sure, and I like their offensive line and running game.”

Here are Whitelaw’s other best bets:

Steelers-GIANTS (Over 46½)

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returns to lead Pittsburgh, and Whitelaw is high on New York QB Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley.

“I like this game over quite a bit,” he said. “Both teams have pretty good offenses, and the Giants are hurting on defense.”

Seahawks (-2½) over FALCONS

Whitelaw took Seattle at -1, as several Week 1 lines have moved dramatically since they were first posted in May.

“Seattle has improved defensively and is outstanding offensively,” he said. “I just don’t think Atlanta is in their league.”

Here is Goldberg’s other best bet:

Buccaneers (+3½) over SAINTS

New Orleans is 2-10 the first two weeks of the season in the last six years, and Goldberg noted it’s 1-11 ATS in those games.

“Now they’re playing Tampa Bay, which has Leonard Fournette with everybody else they’ve loaded up with for Tom Brady,” he said. “Their defense was good last year, and they got rid of 30 interceptions (by former QB Jameis Winston).”

Here is Fox Sports Radio Bernie Fratto’s best bet:

Browns (+7½) over RAVENS

Cleveland beat Baltimore 40-25 last season in September. Fratto bet the Browns at +8½ based on several strong trends: Divisional underdogs are on a 21-5 ATS streak in Week 1, underdogs of eight points or more are 15-5 ATS in Week 1, and Ravens coach John Harbaugh is 4-10-1 ATS in his last 15 games as a home favorite.

“Cleveland will be improved defensively, and Kevin Stefanski is an old-school coach who will grind it out and hang around,” said Fratto (@BernieFratto). “I think Baltimore ekes it out, but it will be closer than people think.”

Here is handicapper Paul Stone’s best bet for college football:

LOUISVILLE (-11½) over Western Kentucky

Louisville returns virtually all of its skill position players from an offense that averaged 33.1 ppg last season, and Stone said the Cardinals have the arsenal to cover the double-digit number.

“I think for Western Kentucky to have a chance against Louisville, it’s going to have to put up points in bunches, and I’m not sure the Hilltoppers are equipped to do that,” said Stone (@PaulStoneSports). “Their new quarterback, Tyrell Pigrome, is quite athletic but not a polished passer.”

Sharp plays

Westgate sportsbook director John Murray said the book took the following sharp plays: Army (-20½) over Louisiana-Monroe, Colts (-7½) over Jaguars, Steelers (-5) over Giants and the Chargers-Bengals (Under 44).

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.