NFL Betting: Shocking NFL Week 2 Upsets of NFC Powerhouses
by Bovada Sportsbook Staff | September 15, 2014
The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers are quite possibly the two best teams in the NFC, and they certainly looked the part in Week 1. Not surprisingly, bettors leaned heavily on the Seahawks and 49ers as favorites for Week 2. However, both were upset, leading to big wins for the house.
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Seattle closed as a 6-point favorite at San Diego, and the Chargers came off a short week and a loss in Arizona. Perhaps the Seahawks were distracted looking ahead to this week’s Super Bowl rematch against Denver as San Diego sideswiped the Seahawks 30-21. So much for Seattle going unbeaten. Chargers tight end Antonio Gates was a one-man wrecking crew with three touchdown catches. He now has 90 all time, and is No. 11 in NFL history. He’s No. 2 among tight ends.
Seattle took nearly 70% of the spread action on that game and almost 85% at -240 on the moneyline. Bettors fared a bit better on the total with over 64% taking over 45.5 points. Even with the loss, Seattle remains the 12/5 favorite to win the NFC title.
As for the 49ers, they were 8-point home favorites in the Sunday night game against Chicago. The game seemed guaranteed to San Francisco with a 20-7 lead entering the fourth quarter, but
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler had three touchdown passes in the fourth for a 28-20 victory in the shocking turnaround. Chicago picked off Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick three times, twice by rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller.
The biggest win for bettors at Bovada was New England at -4.5 winning 30-7 at Minnesota. The Patriots took a ton of late action after it was revealed that Minnesota star running back Adrian Peterson was deactivated by the Vikings. He had been indicted by a Texas grand jury on charges of reckless or negligent injury to child. Peterson was booked and released. In the wake of the Ray Rice scandal, this was the last thing the NFL needed. Peterson’s status going forward is in question. The Patriots took the biggest lean of any team in Week 2 with more than 82% on the spread and nearly 88% at -190 on the moneyline.
Bettors cashed in on Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers’ prop, going over 285.5 passing yards and over two touchdown passes against the Jets. Rodgers threw for 346 yards and three scores in the Packers’ 31-24 come-from-behind win. The book’s top player prop result was Baltimore’s Joe Flacco under 23 completions in Thursday’s win over Pittsburgh.
THURSDAY NIGHT: A lot of people considered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a sleeper playoff team this season. The Bucs had Lovie Smith as a new coach and Josh McCown as a new quarterback; both were former Chicago Bears. However, it has been a disastrous start for the Bucs, losing Week 1 at home to Carolina, and they lost again in Week 2 as a home betting favorite to the depleted St. Louis Rams. Only three teams since 1990 have made the playoffs after starting 0-3. Tampa is a 6-point opening underdog for Thursday night’s game at Atlanta, which will have live betting at the book.
The Bucs played the Rams without starting running back Doug Martin, and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy left the game with a broken hand. Both are questionable as of now. Atlanta opened with an overtime win over New Orleans but was mostly shut down offensively in Sunday’s 24-10 defeat at Cincinnati. The Bucs and Falcons split last year, each winning (and covering) at home.
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