NFL Week 12 Betting Recap
“Joe Public” had himself a hell of a week in the NFL, as favorites dominated at the betting window from Thanksgiving through the late games on Sunday. Here’s a betting recap for Week 12 of the NFL.
Favorites vs. Underdogs
There have been 15 games played in the NFL thus far and of those 15 games, the favorite covered the spread a whopping 12 times. Even big favorites covered. According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the Patriots were a 17-point favorite versus the Dolphins in New England and wound up covering thanks to a five-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Brandin Cooks with 6:31 remaining in the game. The Eagles also covered as a 14-point home favorite against the Bears in a 31-3 rout and the Falcons scored a late touchdown to cover as a 10-point home favorite versus the Bucs.
Which Favorites Didn’t Cover?
One of the biggest misses for public bettors was the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. They marched right down the field against the Packers to open the game 6-0 following a missed extra point, but by the end of the first quarter, Pittsburgh found itself trailing 14-6. The Steelers did have a 7-point lead at the end of the fourth quarter but Brett Hundley led the Packers on a scoring drive to stay well within the 14-point spread. Pittsburgh won 31-28.
There were two other outright upsets by underdogs on Sunday. One came in Kansas City, where the struggling Bills handed the struggling Chiefs a 16-10 loss as an 8.5-point home favorite. The other outright upset came in Arizona, where the Cardinals beat the Jaguars 27-24 as a 6-point home dog. When Calais Campbell recovered a Blaine Gabbert fumble early in the fourth quarter and scored to make it 17-16 Jaguars, it would appear as though Jacksonville had enough time to continue its recent hot ATS play. But Gabbert then found Jaron Brown on a 52-yard touchdown to give Arizona the lead again. The Jaguars would later score on a Blake Bortles 17-yard run but they never truly came close to covering the six points.
Overs vs. Unders
These were split almost 50-50. Out of the 15 games played thus far in the NFL, eight unders have cashed and seven overs cashed. Two unders hit on Thanksgiving when the Redskins and Cowboys fell under, as well as the Chargers and Cowboys. The other primetime game, the Packers versus Steelers, went well over the 43-point total.
Monday Night Football
We’ll see if another favorite can cover tonight when the Ravens host the Texans at 8:30 p.m. ET for Monday Night Football. Baltimore is currently a 7.5-point home favorite over the Texans, while the over/under currently sits at 38.5 points.