On the moneyline, favorites did just fine Sunday, going 10-2 straight up. But against the spread, underdogs had the last laugh in earning the slight 6-5-1 edge in Sunday’s action.
The discrepancy between underdogs’ straight up and ATS performances made for a very interesting betting day. Of the six underdogs that covered, only Oakland (+1.0) and Cleveland (+4.5) managed to win outright; and for most of the week, Oakland had been the favorite, only getting bet down at the end of the week.
Cleveland didn’t just scratch by New England; they blew them out. New England came into the game with the NFL’s best record at 6-1, but had no answers for Peyton Hillis and the Cleveland Browns' attack. Cleveland ended up winning 34-14, with the 48 points scored going OVER the total of 44.
Three games went into overtime Sunday, and underdogs were 3-0 ATS and 1-2 SU in those three games.
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Arizona (+7.5) and Detroit (+6.0) were both looking great on the moneyline, but had to settle for just ATS covers instead. Arizona led by two touchdowns with under four minutes to go, but fell victim to a Brett Favre-led comeback late in the game. New York had only three minutes left on the clock down 10 to Detroit, but they too found a way to tie it up. Both favorites earned the SU win with a game-winning field goal in overtime. Both games went OVER their posted totals.
Oakland provided the one overtime SU win for the underdog. After kicking a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation, Oakland’s defense made a stop in overtime, and the Raiders offense set up another field goal, this time for the game Sportsbook.
OVER bettors had a fantastic day as the Over ended up going 9-3-0 Sunday. Interestingly enough, all 12 games had at least 36 points of scoring, but no game had more than 52 points of scoring. Pretty unlikely to see all of a day’s action fall into an 18-point window, but it occurred in Week 9.
The three games that went UNDER were Chicago’s 22-19 SU win (ATS push at -3.0) over Buffalo (total of 42), New Orleans’ 34-3 blowout win and cover as 6-point road favorites over Carolina (total of 40.5), and Baltimore’s 26-10 win and cover as 5-point home favorites over Miami (total of 41).
While no games went over 52 points, there were four games that hit the 50-point mark; Philadelphia -3.0 over Indianapolis 26-24 (posted total of 47), Minnesota -7.5 win and cover over Arizona 27-24 (posted total of 42.5), San Diego -3.0 over Houston 29-23 (posted total of 50), and Green Bay -7.5 over Dallas 45-7. Philadelphia and Minnesota both won SU but failed to cover ATS.
