For those who bet on the road teams, NFL Week 7 was very profitable. Of the 13 games, those that traveled away from home were 10-3 against the spread.
There are three teams that are undefeated on the road ATS. Detroit is 3-0, Kansas City is 4-0, and New Orleans is 3-0. While the Chiefs were at home, feasting on the Cincinnati Bengals, 45-10, the Lions and Saints were on the road.
Detroit has the second-best record ATS only to Kansas City, who is undefeated at 7-1. Of the three Lion ATS road covers, two of those were losses, and they were the underdog in both.
But on Sunday Detroit traveled to Miami and won outright, as a 3-point favorite, 32-21. Of their three ATS road games they have covered by three, one-half, and eight points.
It was only the fifth home loss in 19 games for Miami. Coach Adam Gase said the reason for the defeat was simple.
“We couldn’t stop them. That’s just what it was,” Gase said after the game. “They were executing better than us and we just didn’t do enough to affect the quarterback.”
Brees Reaches Milestone
The Saints have won all three of their road games outright, including Sunday’s 24-23 victory against the Baltimore Ravens. It was the first time in the 18-year career of Drew Brees that he beat the Ravens. He had previously gone 0-3 with the Saints, and 0-1 when he was with the Chargers. He has now defeated every team in the league.
“You only get to play these guys once every four years,” Brees said. “So, not to put pressure on it, (but) every time we play these guys, it’s been a battle.”
It all came down to a PAT to make sure Brees got his victory. Baltimore’s Justin Tucker, who had never missed an extra point in 222 attempts in his career, missed his first one with 24 seconds remaining, allowing the Saints to win its fifth game of the season.
The team, which is 4-2 overall ATS, travels again next week to face Minnesota. The early line for that game favors New Orleans by 1.5 points.
Home Town Heroes
The three teams that bucked the trend and covered their spreads were Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Washington.
The Chiefs covered by 28.5 points, while the Colts covered by 25. Only the Redskins were close to losing ATS. They were 1.5-point favorites, and won, 20-17.
Bad Beat of the Week
In the Kansas City 45-10 victory the over closed at either 56 or 56.5 depending on the sportsbook. The Chiefs had a chance to reward the over bettors, but instead broke their hearts.
Kansas City had a fourth-and-four on the Bengals 5-yard line with 4:21 remaining. The chip shot field goal would have given those holding over tickets an easy pay out.
Unfortunately, Chiefs Coach Andy Reid decided to run the ball and gained only two yards on the play, thus turning the ball over. Interestingly television broadcasters Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were well aware of the over/under total.
Michaels said, “(The) 56.5 is a number a lot of the fans are thinking about.” Collinsworth replied, “So a FG would be just fine.”
When the Chiefs failed to convert, Michaels just said, “Hmm.”