Patriots fuel best week of NFL season for bettors, Broncos break 1,602-game streak
Bookmakers could almost see it coming. Bet after bet showed up on the favorites in the early NFL slate Sunday. The books would need an upset to avoid falling into a big hole. They wouldn't get it.
Favorites went a perfect 7-0 straight up and against the spread in the early slate. (Some sportsbooks had the New York Jets favored over the Carolina Panthers, possibly by mistake; the Panthers won outright.)
The most popular bets were the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs, both easy winners on the money line and the point spread. The Patriots crushed the hapless Tennessee Titans in New England coach Mike Vrabel's first game against his former team. Fanatics Sportsbook reported that 93% of the money-line bets were on the Patriots in the game. Caesars Sportsbook said the Patriots were "easily" included in more parlays than any other betting option on the board. The Chiefs were second.
"Without a doubt, it was the best Sunday of the year for NFL bettors," said Joey Feazel, who oversees football odds for Caesars Sportsbook.
Feazel said the trend of opposing the bad teams has turned into a "tried and trusted formula" for bettors.
"With the worst five teams in the league -- Raiders, Dolphins, Titans, Jets and Saints -- losing a combined 132-39, the morning started perfectly for customers with every favorite winning and covering the spread," Feazel added.
The story was the same at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas.
"Not a great day for the book in terms of NFL results," said John Murray, vice president of the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. "I really can't blame the public for loving New England in that spot against the rookie QB, plus the Vrabel revenge angle."
Murray said his sportsbook was in position to win a huge chunk of the money it lost on the early games back if the New York Giants or Arizona Cardinals could pull off upsets in the late afternoon slate. It didn't happen.
The best game of the day for bettors, Feazel said, was "every game other than the Colts-Chargers. Just a tremendous day for NFL sports bettors."
Odds & endsMidway through the fourth quarter, trailing the Giants 26-8, the Denver Broncos were around 30-1 to come from behind to win the game. Entering Week 7, a team up by 18 with six minutes to go had won 1,602 consecutive games. The Broncos ended that streak Sunday, rallying from behind for a miraculous 33-32 win.
Four contestants failed to make their picks on time for the $1,000-per-entry Circa Survivor contest in Week 7, resulting in automatic elimination. There have been 94 no-picks for the season, or $94,000 worth of entries, according to Circa.
NFL Week 7 featured both the lowest and highest totals of the season thus far. The total Miami Dolphins-Cleveland Browns game, after opening around 41.5, closed at 35.5, due to bad weather. It was tied for the lowest totals of the season at ESPN BET. (Some books had even lower numbers.) The under received heavy action, but the Browns' offense had no problem with the weather and catalyzed a final score of 31-6 to cash the over.
In the late afternoon slate, the Washington Commanders-Dallas Cowboys game closed at 55.5, the highest over/under of the season and the highest in an NFC East divisional game since 2013, per ESPN Research. This one did get over the high bar with a 44-22 final score. The front end of Monday night's doubleheader between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions has the potential to match that number, sitting at 53.5 as of Sunday evening.
Lions -6 was already BetMGM's second-most-backed spread of the week by total tickets on Sunday morning, a rarity for a Monday night contest more than 24 hours in advance.
"It's exceptionally popular and will easily be a top-five game of the year, especially after today's winning results for bettors," Feazel of Caesars Sportsbook said. "Although, as a book, we have an eye on the total, given the popularity of the players from both teams and the combined liabilities they rack up on Same Game Parlays."
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