NFL Week 1: UNDER Bettors Hit Hard by Packers and Browns Late Rallies
Scott Morris | September 11, 2018
Week 1 of the NFL regular season has come and gone. Favorites during Week 1 were 10-5-1 Straight Up and 8-7-1 Against the Spread. Home teams finished the week 8-7-1 SU and 7-8-1 ATS, while the OVER/UNDER finished 9-7.
The biggest favorites covering during the week were the Baltimore Ravens -8 over the Buffalo Bills 47-3 and the Minnesota Vikings -6.5 over the San Francisco 49ers 24-16.
The biggest underdogs with outright wins were the Tampa Bay Buccaneers +10 over the New Orleans Saints 48-40 and the Kansas City Chiefs +3.5 over the Los Angeles Chargers 38-28.
Week 1 finished with on tie as the Pittsburgh Steelers battled in the driving rain with the Cleveland Browns to a 21-21 finish. While the Steelers take the results more as a loss, the Browns likely feel good about the results especially after rallying during the fourth quarter and snapping a losing streak of 17 straight regular season games. This was the first time in the NFL since 1971 that a tie took place in Week 1.
Online sportsbook Youwager.ag‘s head Linesmaker commented on the weekend: “Was an overall decent week for the house. The GB comeback stopped us from having a great week. Lot of Money Line wagers on GB and also lots of teasers closing with GB. Tampa Bay win was the big game of the weekend. Lots of action on the Saints.”
Poor UNDER Bettors
The Green Bay Packers rallied in the final minutes of play to beat the Chicago Bears 24-23. Green Bay trailed 20-0 at the half, but quarterback Aaron Rodgers was able to return from a knee injury and led the Pack to victory. The Bears led 23-17 after making a field goal with 2:39 remaining. At that point, Bears bettors looked good on the points spread and money line, while the UNDER bettors appeared safe and sound.
In steps Rodgers to ruin the day for Chicago moneyline and UNDER bettors. The Packers signal caller on third and 10 found Randall Cobb over the middle and the Packers receiver somehow found his way to the end zone. The results were Chicago Bears moneyline bettors and the UNDER bettors took it on the chin. Ten points in the last 2:39 of play moved what appear to be a safe UNDER (45) with the score at 20-17 to a final score of 24-23 that cashed the OVER.
With all the rain and foul weather in Cleveland the UNDER looked like a strong play at 41. At the half, UNDER bettors were rejoicing as only seven points had been scored. Even after three quarters with the score 21-7 in favor of Pittsburgh, the UNDER looked safe.
However, the Browns rallied to put 14 points up on the board in the final 15 minutes of regulation and end the game 21-21 with the OVER cashing by one point. Even if one of the two teams scored during the OT, the OVER already had cashed at 42 total points.
