Another NFL Sunday is upon us.
Bettors are flocking into casinos around the United States or logging into their mobile betting apps to scratch that last-minute itch before games kick off at 1 p.m. ET. And bookmakers are doing their best to balance money and liability behind the counter.
This is the place for big bets, notable line moves and late-breaking injury news.
Here are the “Sunday Slips” for Week 7 of the NFL:
— American sportsbooks will be the biggest cheerleaders for the Washington Football Team and New York Jets this Sunday. Woof. Bettors just can’t get enough of the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots and they are firing non-stop straight bets and keying the Pack and Pats in endless parlays.
“Everybody is betting the Patriots,” Westgate SuperBook executive director John Murray told NESN. “It’s a tough spot for them. That was an emotional game against Dallas. They certainly should have covered and probably should have won. Nobody wants to bet the Jets, even off a bye. We’ve got about a 10-to-1 ticket count on New England.”
The Patriots are the second-biggest liability at WynnBET, where 82 percent of the money and 88 percent of the tickets are on Mac Jones and his ‘mates.
So… let’s go Jets?
“Rooting for bad teams has just become a way of life,” WynnBET senior trader Motoi Pearson told NESN. “We’re all almost used to it now. It takes a special type of person to stomach this type of stuff.”
Notable NFL Week 7 bets:
$500,000 on Broncos +4 at Caesars
$100,000 on Colts +4 at South Point
$70,000 on Chiefs -4.5 at BetMGM
Biggest line moves:
GB-WSH 50 to 47
CIN-BAL 48 to 45.5
Texans -17 to -19.5
IND-SF 44.5 to 42
Falcons PK to -2
— There are three double-digit spreads in the NFL this Sunday including the season’s largest number on the Texans-Cardinals game. The market opened Houston -17 and it’s now as high as -20.
Elsewhere, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a consensus 11.5-point favorite against the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams are laying 16.5 versus the winless Detroit Lions.
“We have to eventually write a bet on an underdog,” Murray cracked. “It would be nice if one of them could win a game for once.”
Most books aren’t reporting a ton of action on those three games because bettors don’t usually get involved with massive point spreads. Most people are in no rush to lay 13, 14 or 17 points on NFL game.
“Those games don’t move the needle for anybody,” a former Las Vegas bookmaker told NESN. “We hated those games because the write is awful. The public wants to lay the Chiefs -4 on the road and the Packers -8 at home. They’re not laying two touchdowns or more.”
