Most bettors tend to wager on what they saw last. But in the NFL, it typically pays to have short-term memory loss. Trends continue as covered in the NFL Week 2 Betting Recap.
In Week 1 in the NFL, unders cashed in 12 of 16 games. But in Week 2, overs carried the day, going 10-4 heading into the “Monday Night Football” doubleheader.
The only games that didn’t go over the total were the Packers’ 27-18 win over the Commanders on “Thursday Night Football” (total 48), the Falcons’ 22-6 victory over the Vikings on “Sunday Night Football” (total 44.5), the Eagles’ 20-17 win over the Chiefs (total 47) in a Super Bowl rematch and the Bills’ 30-10 romp over the Jets (total 47.5).
Favorites went 10-4 straight up to improve to 21-7 in the first two weeks (with two pick’ems), while favorites went 8-6 against the spread to improve to 15-13 on the season.
The betting public did well Sunday in the early slate of games as overs went 8-1 and favorites went 7-2 straight up.
“The combination of favorite wins and high-scoring outcomes made the [early] slate a standout session for bettors,” Caesars Sportsbook head of football Joey Feazel told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The [late] games were a push for bettors as the Eagles were popular, but the points didn’t arrive.”
“Bettors are 2-0 on the season for Sundays and continuing their tremendous form.”
Cowboys-Giants Rollercoaster
The Cowboys were a very popular play among the betting public to beat the Giants. Dallas ultimately didn’t cover after closing as 4.5-point favorites. Still, it did pull out a wild 40-37 win over New York in overtime to cash teasers and money-line parlays while also helping Survivor entrants across the country advance to Week 3.
It looked like the Giants were finally going to snap their eight-game losing streak to their divisional rivals and 13-game losing streak to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in a bizarre back-and-forth battle in which the NFC East foes exchanged five straight go-ahead touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including two in the final minute.
Prescott threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens to give Dallas a 34-30 lead with 52 seconds left. Not to be outdone, New York quarterback Russell Wilson answered with a 48-yard touchdown toss to Malik Nabers to put the Giants in front 37-34 with 25 seconds remaining.
That was still too much time to leave on the clock as Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey nailed a 64-yard field goal at the buzzer to send the shootout to overtime. After Wilson, who threw for 450 yards, had an ill-advised deep pass picked off, Aubrey lifted Dallas to victory with a 46-yard field goal.
Book Club
The Giants covering was a good result for sportsbooks. So were the Seahawks (+4, beat Steelers 31-17), Panthers (+7, lost to Cardinals 27-22), and Colts (+1, beat Broncos 29-28).
Seattle took control of the game at Pittsburgh early in the fourth quarter when it recovered its kickoff for a touchdown to go up 10 following a blunder by Steelers kick returner Kaleb Johnson, who turned his back on a live football.
The Colts erased a 28-20 second-half deficit with three field goals by Spencer Shrader. It appeared their comeback fell short when Shrader missed a 60-yard try with no time left. But the Broncos committed a penalty that moved the ball 15 yards closer, and Shrader made the 45-yarder to lift Indianapolis to a victory and 2-0 start (2-0 ATS).
Arizona jumped out to a 10-0 lead over Carolina after capitalizing on back-to-back Bryce Young turnovers and appeared to be cruising to the cover with a 27-9 lead in the fourth quarter. But the Panthers notched a dreaded backdoor cover after scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions. They improbably had a chance to win after recovering an onside kick, but turned it over on downs at the Arizona 38 in the final seconds.
Best Bets
The Eagles were one of the popular public plays that covered. Philadelphia (-1) came up with a crucial interception of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes early in the fourth quarter when his pass bounced off the hands of tight end Travis Kelce at the goal line. The Eagles then drove downfield for the decisive score on Jalen Hurts’ 1-yard touchdown run on a tush push on fourth down and held on for the victory.
The other best games for bettors were the Bills (-5.5), Bengals (-3.5, beat Jaguars 31-27), Lions (-6.5, beat Bears 52-21), Rams (-5.5, beat Titans 33-19), and Ravens (-12.5, beat Browns 41-17).