Gamblers were certain Baltimore and Cleveland would cover against teams with losing records in NFL Week 10 betting, but instead saw sub-500 New England and Houston destroy their dreams. Sportsbooks also won on Carolina, Green Bay, and Philadelphia.
Baltimore faced New England in the Sunday night game and was hammered by both the public and sharps. The Ravens were on the road, but favored by seven points over the 3-5 Patriots.
The game was played in heavy rain, but New England weathered the storm to not only cover, but win outright, 23-17.
FINAL: Back-to-back wins for the @Patriots! #GoPats #BALvsNE
(by @Lexus) pic.twitter.com/FNqn9LWnYi
— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2020
Since 2005, the Patriots have been an underdog at home only four times under head coach Bill Belichick. They won three of those contests outright, and covered the spread in their loss.
That stat eluded gamblers, as they backed up the truck on Baltimore. At BetOnline, nearly 92% of the money was on the Ravens. At William Hill, 95% of the money and 89% of the tickets were on Baltimore. A gambler there lost $200,000 when he took the Ravens on the moneyline.
Three large bets were made on Baltimore at BetMGM. The biggest was $280,000 to win $93,333 on the moneyline. Another was $235,000 to win $174,074, giving away 6.5 points. The last was $110,000 at -7 to win $100,000.
Chubb’s Decision Out of Bounds
Cleveland faced Houston and was the other heavily bet game of the day. The Browns opened as three-point favorites at home, and closed at 4.5 points against the 2-6 Texans.
William Hill reported that 89% of the money bet on the game was on Cleveland.
The Browns were leading 10-7 with 1:07 remaining, and bettors needed at least a field goal to cover. That seemed unlikely since the Browns were all the way at their own 40-yard line. Then, running back Nick Chubb took a handoff and went down the left sideline for what appeared to be a 60-yard touchdown run.
https://youtu.be/wsXy3teokDo
When Chubb stepped out of bounds at the 1-yard line, the screaming at Las Vegas sportsbooks was thunderous. Those who had Cleveland couldn’t believe what the running back did.
Sunset Station sportsbook director Chuck Esposito told the Review-Journal that the game was a huge win for the books.
“It was probably one of the top two or three biggest decisions of the day,†Esposito said. “We needed the Texans. It was a huge swing industrywide.â€
After the game, Chubb told reporters that he was told by coaches and quarterback Baker Mayfield not to score.
One gambler at BetMGM lost $110,000 when he took Cleveland -4.
Dumb Bet of the Week
One gambler at William Hill placed a $99,000 moneyline bet on Green Bay to defeat Jacksonville. Green Bay won, 24-20, but needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to secure the victory.
The payoff was a paltry $9,000.
Stat of the Week
Russell Wilson has now lost eight of his last 11 games against the Los Angeles Rams, a streak that stretches back to 2015. In the same time span, Wilson is 37-17-1 against all other NFC opponents.
Wilson was 22 of 37 passing on Sunday with no TDs and two interceptions. His quarterback rating of 57.0 was his lowest of the season.
