NFL Week 2 betting report: Public cashes in, as OVERs go 12-2

Every week in the NFL you see something new, and Week 2 was no exception. We saw a comeback not seen since 1949, a completed Hail Mary followed by an unsuccessful two-point conversion and the Los Angeles Chargers become the only team in history to go 0-2 after not turning the ball over and scoring at least 50 points in its first two games.

Here’s a look at how the sportsbooks fared on another wild Sunday:

OVERs dominate the day

The public loves to bet OVERs, and they were cashing left and right on Sunday. OVERs were 12-1 on Sunday heading into the Sunday Night Game between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins beat the Patriots 24-17 and the game stayed UNDER the total of 46, moving OVERs to 12-2 on the day.

Several sportsbooks had a decent-sized decision on the Dolphins-Patriots game, so the Dolphins winning — and covering — was a win for the public.

“Overs in the NFL are never good for our side of the counter,” Chuck Esposito, sportsbook director at Station Casinos said via text.

“Totals are the big story in Week 2, going 11-2 to the OVER today and 12-2 for the week,” Adam Pullen, assistant director of trading at Caesars Sportsbook, said on Sunday night. “Ironically, the largest total of the day was the only one to go under — and it wasn’t even close. Don’t think we were harmed too much on those total results and maybe the betting public was influenced by the dearth of scoring in Week 1.”

Chris Andrews, sportsbook director at South Point Casino in Las Vegas, lamented on X that I brought up the total record in Week 2 so far.

Thanks for reminding me https://t.co/RIL0Ct74bv

— Chris Andrews (@andrewssports) September 18, 2023

“Lost overall on totals for the day, but did decent on sides,” Thomas Gable, sportsbooks director at The Borgata, said via text. “Biggest winners for us were the Cowboys covering against the Jets and the Seahawks winning outright. We’ll need the Pats outright tonight. Lots of late Miami money laying -125 on the ML.”

New York Giants cap historic comeback

The Giants were down 28-7 in the third quarter and as high as +900 on the moneyline against the Arizona Cardinals, but came back to win 31-28. It was New York’s first comeback win of 21+ points since Oct. 30, 1949. The Giants were also the second-most selected play in Circa Sports’ NFL Survivor pool with 17.8% of entries backing Big Blue.

The Cardinals (+4) covering the spread helped sportsbooks, even though they took a hit on in-play wagering.

“A straight-up win for Arizona would have been much better, but we’ll take what we can get,” Pullen said. “Overall, a decent day as more games fell our way than didn’t. The two best games were the Cardinals covering versus the Giants and the Ravens beating the Bengals. In-play [betting] was not a good result in the [Cardinals-Giants game] as the betting public usually loses to bet on a favorite that is down to come back and win.”

Other sportsbooks shared a similar sentiment.

“What we really needed was the 49ers or Giants to lose the game and break up all these parlays,” John Murray, sportsbook director at SuperBook Sports, said via text.

“A decent day so far,” Esposito noted. “We’re huge Pats fans tonight!”

Bengals hurt big bettor

The Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5) were the fourth-most bet side at DraftKings Sportsbook on Sunday, but really hurt one bettor in particular in their 27-24 loss outright to the Baltimore Ravens.

That bettor placed a $360,000 on the Bengals at -3 (-120) odds.

Cincinnati wasn’t covering the spread at any point in the game.