Week 1 NFL Betting Recap: Redskins Make Day for Sportsbooks

If you thought Washington’s win in New Orleans was big news for NFL fans and fantasy players, you should see how big it was for sportsbooks around the world.

by OddsShark

Sep 10, 2012, 7:03 PM UTC

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If a dog is a man's best friend and diamonds are a girl's best friend, then the Washington Redskins were the oddsmaker's best friend in Week 1.

Washington's upset win in New Orleans as a 9-point underdog in Robert Griffin III's sensational debut helped sportsbooks to a good day at the office as the NFL season kicked off.

“It was a good win for the book and the Skins winning busted a lot of parlays and teasers,” said Kevin Bradley, sportsbook manager at Bovada. “It helped make for a good start to the year.”

While Washington was helping the cause, New England was pummelling Tennessee and pummeling the books as well. The Patriots hammered the Titans, winning easily as 5-point road favorites and giving the players a huge victory on a game where as much as 90 per cent of the action was on New England.

"That game bludgeoned some books, but the Browns and Rams both covering the spread provided more than a counter-balance," said Jack Randall of OddsShark.com, SBNation's lines provider.

With 14 games as of Sunday night, which saw Peyton Manning's triumphant return in a Denver jersey, the underdogs held an 8-6 ATS edge. It started a reversal of the Bronco's recent trend of blowing home games as a favorite.

And the Monday Night Football action was closely split on both games, according to Bradley.

”San Diego-Oakland is a dead split and the Baltimore game has about 55 per cent on the Ravens, so it’s pretty even.”

The NFL consensus data at OddsShark.com painted a similar picture, as both spread betting and totals betting was evenly split.