Week one of the 2021 NFL Season was an underdog lover’s dream come true.
Ever since the first time I watched Shoeshine Boy turn into his heroic alter ego, I’ve loved the Underdog. And week one of the 2021 NFL Season was an underdog lover’s dream come true with 12, that’s right TWELVE underdogs covering the spread. That’s the most underdogs to ever cover the spread in week one of the Super Bowl era. That’s like 55 freaking years!
What’s even crazier is that nine of those underdogs won OUTRIGHT! Included in that group was my Cincinnati Bengals, who almost blew it in OT, but managed to hang on for not only the cover, but the OUTRIGHT win.
With all that said, the stat that truly blows my mind is that underdogs have not finished with a winning record in Week 1 since the 1983 season. I was never good at math, but I think that’s like 38 freaking years. So if you’ve been betting on underdogs in week one you’ve been getting taken behind the woodshed for a long time, but last week was your glorious revenge!
Of course you know who was the happiest about the underdog’s success? That’s right, the bookmakers. The public loves the favorite and the favorites let them down big time. With the biggest let down being the San Francisco 49ers letting the Detroit Lions get an amazing backdoor cover after having a seemingly insurmountable 41-17 lead in the 4th quarter. The Lions would cover the -9 when new QB Jared Goff connected with Quintez Cephus (who?) to make it 41-33. Crazy.
The other huge win for the books was the Saints not only covering the spread, but crushing the Packers OUTRIGHT, by a score of 38-3. BetRivers reported 86% of bets on the spread and 90% on the money line were on the Packers. DraftKings went two percent better, with 92% of money wagered with them on the Packers to cover the -3-.
Even with all the underdogs cashing, there was at least one favorite bettor who made a big score, laying a $400,000 wager at BetMGM on the L.A. Rams -8 against the Chicago Bears. The Rams 20 point win netted this fortunate prognosticator $363,636 and took a huge bite out of BetMGM’s profits for the day.
What does NFL Week 2 have in store? Well, so far the public seems to be reacting to the goings on of Week 1, with hefty public action on the Rams, Cardinals and Saints who all won in blowout fashion. Meanwhile, the Sharps seem to be on the other side, targeting the Panthers, Vikings, Eagles and Colts as their most reported plays. So as usual, the sharp bettors and the public are on other sides this week.
Based on week one you would think this would be a week for the favorites, so I’ll go with that way of thinking. Give me Da Bears -1- against the Bengals.
If you’re apt to make a wager, head on over to BetRivers, Fanduel or DraftKings and check out the action. And as always, I hope you are fortunate.
https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nfl
https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/leagues/football/88670561?category=game-lines&subcategory=game
Before I go I want to say RIP to one of my favorite comedians, Norm MacDonald. Apart from Rodney Dangerfield, Norm was the most amazingly intelligent and organically hysterical human beings ever put on the Earth. Here’s a quick moment where Norm combined sports and comedy for a funny and uncomfortable moment I’ll never forget.
