NFL Who’s Hot and Who’s Not – Week 2

The first week of games in the 2016 NFL regular season are in the books and the early betting trends at BetAnySports favored the road team with an overall record of 11-5 against the spread. Road underdogs posted a winning percentage of 72.7 behind a record of 8-3 and underdogs overall covered in 10 of the first 16 games. The closing betting odds on the total line slightly favored the OVER at 9-7.

The defending champion Denver Broncos began the new season as rare three-point home underdogs in a Super Bowl 50 rematch against Carolina in the first game of the new NFL season last Thursday night. While this time around turned into a much closer battle, the end result was the same with Denver coming away with a 21-20 win. The total went OVER BetAnySports’ 40.5-point line by the slimmest of margins.

The New England Patriots got off to a strong start as one of the top favorites to win the AFC this season with a stunning 23-21 road victory over Arizona. The betting line grew to 9.5 points in favor of the Cardinals with both Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski out of the lineup for New England, but backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and an inspired Patriots’ defense proved to be the difference in this one.

Both Seattle and Green Bay are at the top of the list as favorites to win the NFC and each of these powers escaped with a win on Sunday against an AFC foe. The Seahawks needed a touchdown in the final minute of play to get past Miami 12-10 as heavy 10.5-point home favorites, while the Packers slipped out of Jacksonville with a 27-23 victory as 4.5-point favorites on the road against a highly inspired Jaguars’ team.

In the first of three divisional showdowns on Sunday’s NFL slate, Tampa Bay made an early statement in the NFC South as a 2.5-point road underdog with a 31-24 victory against Atlanta. The total went OVER BetAnySports’ closing line of 47. Moving to the AFC West, Kansas City had its hands full with San Diego on opening day as a 6.5-point favorite at home in a thrilling 33-27 win in overtime. In the final division matchup, New York Giants were able to slip past Dallas 20-19 in a game that ended as a PUSH. The total stayed UNDER 48 in this NFC East clash.

Both Pittsburgh and San Francisco came away with dominating wins to close things out in a pair of Monday night games. The Steelers hammered Washington 38-16 as 2.5-point road favorites and the 49ers blanked the Los Angeles Rams 28-0 as 2.5-point underdogs at home.