Looking back at Week 14 of the season it looks like the books did pretty well. Favorites went 11-4 overall, but just 5-7 against the spread. Three games were pushes based on the closing line, so those could have gone either way depending on what odds were available when they were bet.
Home teams got murdered this week by the point spread. They went 9-7 straight up, but just 3-10 against the number (with those 3 pushes). This seems to be a trend in 2019. Traditionally home teams cover just as often as they don’t, right around 50% of the time. This year, however, they are just 84-114-8, hitting at a mere 41.5% clip. If the season were to end today, it would be by far the worst winning percentage home teams have had against the spread since 1989, which is as far as our records go back.
What’s even crazier is that these teams are losing by an average margin of over 2 points to the spread. That means oddsmakers are either off of their game, or that home field advantage has started to deteriorate. Home favorites have a worse winning percentage than dogs (39.2% vs 42.9%), but home underdogs are getting blown out by nearly 3.5 points per game more than the closing line. Let’s take a look at this week’s lines and see if there are any potential places to exploit this.
If you were looking for home dogs to fade this week, you’d probably start with the Bengals. They are 9.5 point underdogs to the Patriots. Sure, New England has looked awful these past two weeks, but they just recently had another taping scandal exposed and if history is any indication this will do nothing but motivate the Pats on Sunday. Their defense is still great and the Bengals are really just awful all around.
It might also be worth taking a look at the Seahawks at Carolina. The Panthers are a hard team to pin down, but they are just 2-4 at home and are on a five game losing streak. They might just be mailing it in.
Below you’ll find the odds for all of this week’s games. You’ll also find a link to a betting preview for each matchup as they are posted.
Week 15 NFL Odds (From Bookmaker)
Date/Time | Matchup | Spread | Total | Preview |
---|---|---|---|---|
Thu Dec 12th 9:20 PM |
New York Jets Baltimore Ravens |
14.5 -14.5 |
45 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Detroit Lions |
Preview | ||
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins |
-4.5 4.5 |
40 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers |
4 -4 |
40.5 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
New England Patriots Cincinnati Bengals |
-9 9 |
41 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
Houston Texans Tennessee Titans |
3 -3 |
50 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
Seattle Seahawks Carolina Panthers |
-6 6 |
47.5 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs |
9.5 -9.5 |
46 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 2:00 PM |
Miami Dolphins New York Giants |
3.5 -3.5 |
46.5 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 5:05 PM |
Jacksonville Jaguars Oakland Raiders |
6.5 -6.5 |
45.5 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 5:05 PM |
Cleveland Browns Arizona Cardinals |
-3 3 |
48 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 5:05 PM |
Minnesota Vikings Los Angeles Chargers |
-2.5 2.5 |
44.5 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 5:25 PM |
Atlanta Falcons San Francisco 49ers |
10.5 -10.5 |
47 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 5:25 PM |
Los Angeles Rams Dallas Cowboys |
-1 1 |
48.5 | Preview |
Sun Dec 15th 9:20 PM |
Buffalo Bills Pittsburgh Steelers |
2 -2 |
36.5 | Preview |
Mon Dec 16th 9:15 PM |
Indianapolis Colts New Orleans Saints |
9 -9 |
46 | Preview |