In a week when bettors had to navigate injuries, players resting, playoff implications, and several teams playing for only draft position, favorites went 7-9 in Week 18, which consisted of two Saturday games and a heavy slate Sunday.
Key Takeaways
- Double-digit favorites went 5-1 on Sunday to help bettors.
- Saturday’s Panthers-Buccaneers game was a good win for Caesars.
- The Bengals, Cowboys, and Bears all failed to win as favorites.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that sportsbooks cleaned up. There were key wins for both sides.
Six favorites failed to win outright, highlighted by Sunday night’s wild 26-24 win for the Steelers over the Ravens that clinched the division and a playoff spot for Pittsburgh. The Steelers (+3.5) were the most-bet team by tickets Sunday at BetMGM, but the Ravens were getting 53% of the handle.
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Mixed results
The Vikings were the most-bet team by handle at BetMGM and covered as 10.5-point favorites in a 16-3 win over the Packers.
Four other teams laying double-digits, including all four in Sunday’s late afternoon slate, covered the spread. The Texans were the only team to not hit that mark in a 38-30 win over the Colts, a game in which they pulled several key starters in the second half.
“Saturday ... was good for the book. Sunday was a mixed bag of results with a lot of meaningless games taking place,” said Joey Feazel, head of football at Caesars Sportsbook.
Saturday recap
The Panthers (+3) were getting a slight majority of the tickets at BetMGM in Saturday’s battle for the NFC South title, but the Buccaneers took a large portion of the handle. Carolina found a way to cover in a 16-14 loss and ended up winning the division when the Falcons beat the Saints on Sunday.
That was a big win for Caesars, and that low-scoring game plus the Seahawks’ 13-3 nightcap win over the 49ers produced two good unders for the book as well. Seattle easily covered as a slight favorite, though, and was getting 52% of the handle at BetMGM.
Sunday’s wins, losses
Sportsbooks did well on a few major upsets. The Bears (-3) were the second most-bet spread team by handle at BetMGM, but the Lions pulled off a 19-16 upset on a last-second field goal. That game, along with the Raiders' outright win over the Chiefs, were key upsets for Caesars.
The Bengals were getting 83% of the handle at BetMGM but lost 20-18 as 7.5-point favorites. That upset cost one of the six final-week contestants in Circa Survivor over $3 million.
The public loves betting the Cowboys, but the NFC East squad failed to show up and pulled starters early in a 34-17 loss to the Giants as a 3-point favorite. Still, that outcome was one of the best for bettors at Caesars.
They also did well on the Bills, Jaguars, and Rams, who were all getting over 80% of the handle as double-digit favorites that experienced wins and overs. The Saints keeping it close as 5.5-point underdogs was also good for BetMGM customers.
