Favorites Dominate Against The Spread in NFL Week 14

Week 14 in the NFL rewarded the public for betting favorites big time. In one of the more lopsided weeks in recent memory, betting favorites went 11-1 straight up (SU) and a very profitable 10-2 against the spread. In one of the chalkiest weeks we’ve seen in a while, only the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns failed to cover. The Browns’ ATS loss was pretty brutal and Carolina could have easily been the only favorite to fail this week. 

While the favorites going 11-1 SU is pretty impressive, the 10-2 ATS record is the real show stopper here. The chalk cloud was seen all the way from the East to West coast including the Monday Night Football game between the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals. In what was a very good game overall, the Cardinals ended up winning by seven as three-point favorites to move to 10-3 on the season. There are now three 10-win teams in the league and all are in the NFC. The Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are also double-digit winners through 14 weeks. Another thing those two teams have in common is that they won as ATS favorites this weekend as well. 

Overtime ended up saving those who bet on the Buccaneers after a late field goal tied the game 27-27. Had the Bills failed to tie the game, the Bucs wouldn't have covered at -3.5. However, the game went to overtime, and Tom Brady went full GOAT-mode and made his 700th TD pass to win the game by six. The Packers-Bears game was another one in danger of falling to the underdog. Despite the 12.5-point spread, the Packers were losing at the half. Yet they rallied behind Aaron Rodgers and Co. and won by 15 points. 

The Browns were the biggest let-down of the weekend for me personally and probably a lot of other bettors. Cleveland closed as field-goal favorites to beat the Ravens after opening the week at -2.5. Things were going so well at halftime when the Browns were up 24-6 but went south quickly. The Ravens scored 16 unanswered points in the second half despite Lamar Jackson getting carted off at the beginning of the second quarter. While the Browns managed to hang on for the win, they gave up a touchdown to Latavius Murray with eight minutes left that stole an ATS win away. 

As far as the over/under results for Week 14, the OVER won the week with a 9-3 record overall including four of the five late games.