Betting buzz: NFC West up for grabs in Week 14
Credit to Author: ESPN| Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2024 12:35:18 EST
Everything that happens in sports has some additional context when viewed from a sports betting perspective. From season-changing injuries to record-setting moments and so much more, the sports news cycle will constantly and significantly affect the sports betting industry.
Our betting buzz file, with contributions from David Purdum, Doug Greenberg and others, aims to provide fans a look at the sports betting stories that are driving the conversation.
Key links: Sports betting home | NFL odds page | College football odds page | ESPN BET 
Doug Greenberg: Entering December, it’s still entirely unclear who is going to win the NFC West — and it’s almost certainly not going to be the team betting markets thought would win before the season. Week 14 could be a turning point for bettors in deciding who ultimately cashes division winner tickets.
Following their win over the New York Jets last week, the Seattle Seahawks took the odds lead to win the NFC West and currently show +140 on ESPN BET, their first time favored to win the division since 2020. The Seahawks leapfrogged the Arizona Cardinals, who dropped from +135 to +175 after a close loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13.
The Seahawks and Cardinals go head-to-head in Arizona on Sunday, with the home team coming in as three-point favorites after opening at -2.5, per ESPN BET odds. The Cards are getting 53.5% of the handle compared to 38.8% of the bets at the sportsbook, with other books reporting similar splits.
The Los Angeles Rams are lurking just below the Cardinals at +300 to win the NFC West and face a huge test with the Super Bowl contending Buffalo Bills coming to town. The contest is BetMGM’s most-bet game of the day by total tickets and Bills -3.5 is the most-bet spread at BetMGM as well as at ESPN BET and DraftKings, but there are money discrepancies supporting the Rams at all three books.
Finally, the San Francisco 49ers continue their freefall after coming into the season as the favorite to win the division, a massive odds-on favorite to make the playoffs, and the second-shortest odds to win the Super Bowl (+600). The Niners are now 100-1 to win the championship and a longshot to win the NFC West at +1400.
They face a Chicago Bears team that just fired their head coach Matt Eberflus. Chicago opened at +5.5 and the line has come all the way down to +3 at ESPN BET. The sportsbook reports their underdog spread as the only one getting more than 50% of the money (78.6%) for Sunday’s slate.
• A bettor in Kentucky made headlines last week with a $3.1 million wager on the Philadelphia Eagles money line (-700) against the Carolina Panthers at Circa Sports. Both teams enter the contest on four-game cover streaks against the spread, and the game is the most-bet by tickets at DraftKings and ESPN BET.
• The Tennessee Titans are 2-10 ATS this season, tied for the worst mark by any team through 12 games in the Super Bowl era. They are three-point favorites at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars and will look to avoid becoming just the fifth team in the Super Bowl era to start 2-11 ATS.
• Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell has covered six straight road starts to begin his NFL career, only the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era to do so, per ESPN Research. The Raiders are 6.5-point underdogs in Tampa Bay on Sunday.
• ESPN BET has posted a special market on who will rush for more yards in the 2024 season: the New York Giants or Saquon Barkley. The line opened with the Giants as -120 favorites but has since flipped in Barkley’s favor (-125). Through 13 weeks, the Giants have 1,391 rushing yards, while Barkley has 1,499.
• Barkley is also ESPN BET’s most-bet anytime touchdown scorer on Sunday (-350). Barkley to score two touchdowns is fifth-most-popular on the anytime touchdown scorer board.
More from ESPN Betting:
NFL Props: Anytime TD scorers | Under-the-radar bets
College Football: Futures
College basketball futures: Men’s | Women’s
NBA betting: Daily Picks | Futures
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