Lookahead Week 4 NFL Vegas spreads and betting odds: Sad-sack Jets home underdogs vs. winless Broncos

The New York Jets appear to be clearly the worst team in the NFL this season. CBS Sports projects the Jets to "earn" the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and take Trevor Lawrence (no-brainer considering how bad Sam Darnold has looked), and Adam Gase is the betting favorite to be the first coach fired. William Hill sportsbook has released lookahead Week 4 NFL spreads and one might think the Jets would be favored at home against the fellow winless and injury-ravaged Denver Broncos, but no. Denver opened at -2.5.

Again, many of these spreads will change following the Week 3 results and with any major injuries, but they usually don't move too dramatically unless a starting quarterback is hurt. That's the case for Denver, which lost Drew Lock in its Week 2 loss to Pittsburgh, and he will not be back for the Week 4 matchup at MetLife Stadium. That could be one of the lowest-rated Thursday games of the season considering both the Jets and Broncos are likely to be 0-3. Gase might not be the Jets' coach by then.

If the Jets don't end up as betting favorites by the kickoff next Thursday, it's hard to see where they will be the rest of the season. The lone realistic chance? Week 12 vs. Miami. 

The marquee matchup of the week is likely Patriots at Chiefs at 4:25 p.m. ET on Oct. 4 and shown on CBS. Kansas City opened as a 7.5-point favorite on the NFL odds but will be on a short week after visiting fellow superpower Baltimore on Monday to conclude Week 3. Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady had some memorable duels but now it will be Mahomes against another former league MVP in Cam Newton.

The biggest line of Week 4 and the season thus far is Baltimore at Washington in Week 4 with the Ravens at -12. Again, though, the Ravens will be on a short week. At least they don't have to travel much off that home game vs. the Chiefs because the city of Baltimore located only 34 miles from Washington's FedExField.

It could shape up as a potentially huge trap game for the Ravens if they beat Kansas City to become the Super Bowl favorites. The two teams are currently +500 co-favorites at William Hill.

William Hill lookahead Week 4 odds

• Thursday: Broncos at Jets (+2.5)
• Chargers at Bucs (-4.5)
• Browns at Cowboys (-4.5)
• Cardinals at Panthers (+3.5)
• Seahawks at Dolphins (+6.5)
• Steelers at Titans (-2.5)
• Ravens at Washington (+12.5)
• Jaguars at Bengals (-3)
• Colts at Bears (+1)
• Vikings at Texans (-4)
• Saints at Lions (+4.5)
• Giants at Rams (-9)
• Patriots at Chiefs (-7.5)
• Bills at Raiders (+2)
• Eagles at 49ers (-3.5)
• Monday: Falcons at Packers (-5)

Who wins every NFL game this week? And which teams cover more than 50 percent of the time? Get picks here from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times and ranked in the Top 10 on NFLPickWatch three of the past four years on straight-up NFL picks.