Remember that sweet feeling from Week 1, when favorites were hitting and your parlays felt like money in the bank? Yeah, well, Week 2 brought us all crashing back to earth. The pendulum swung hard against the betting public, especially on Sunday, with bookmakers across the country celebrating a massive reversal of fortune.
Sunday Was a Bloodbath For Bettors
Talk about a gut punch. After Week 1 felt like an endless party for anyone dropping a wager, Week 2 was “an extremely rough week for the bettors,” as BetMGM trading manager Adair Horne put it. We saw five upsets and only seven favorites managed to cover the spread. It felt like every big favorite, especially those popular parlay picks, just absolutely melted down. Caesars Sports’ head of football trading, Joey Feazel, who was talking about champagne corks popping for the public after Week 1, said the tables turned instantly. The Ravens were 8.5-point home favorites against the Saints and just flat-out lost 24-17. Then, after a wild two-hour weather delay, the Buccaneers, also 8.5-point home favorites, tumbled 24-19 to the Browns. Feazel said those two results alone had the book “chilling the sparkling water” and “finally popped the cork.” When the Eagles, Ravens, Bears, and Bucs are your most popular moneyline parlay selections, the books need a serious shake-up, and they got it.
Underdogs Reign and Parlays Explode
The books needed some interruptions to save their Sunday, and they got three big opportunities. The Browns and Saints delivered, and the Titans almost stunned the Eagles in a game where Philly needed a touchdown with nine seconds left to win 24-20, but still couldn’t cover as a 7-point favorite. Feazel even half-jokingly said that anytime Cleveland played, the entire Caesars trading floor became Browns fans. That wild result after the weather delay definitely sparked some excitement in the room for the oddsmakers! BetMGM also thrived, with Horne noting big upsets in both the early and late games. The Vikings (+4.5) ground out a 9-3 upset win against the Bears, and the Bengals (+2.5) took down the Texans 20-6. Then, in one of the late games, the Raiders, 6.5-point road underdogs, pulled off a 26-14 upset against the Chargers, blowing up any remaining moneyline parlays that might have somehow survived the early kicks. On top of all that, it was a scoring drought across the board, with the Under hitting in nine of the first 11 completed games on Sunday.
So, after a weekend like that, it is crystal clear the books came out swinging. Bettors gotta regroup and figure out how to navigate these NFL Sundays. What will Week 3 bring? Another bookmaker party, or will the public finally get their revenge?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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