Sportsbooks Happy As Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints Keep Producing Wins

Posted on: November 9, 2020, 11:43h. 

Last updated on: November 9, 2020, 12:58h.

Bill Huber Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

Misery loves company. Sportsbooks are loving the Dallas Cowboys’ miserable season.

The Cowboys, the preseason favorites to win the NFC East and contend for a Super Bowl championship, fell to 2-6 on Sunday by becoming the latest team to lose to the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. The script took an unexpected turn on Sunday, though the outcome was the same: a winning outcome for sportsbooks.

The Cowboys, always a popular pick among bettors as “America’s Team,” entered the game 0-7 against the spread. However, with Dallas starting its fourth quarterback of the season, Pittsburgh was a 14-point favorite and attracted 87 percent of the spread tickets at PointsBet. The Steelers overcame a 19-9 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 24-19, but failed to cover.

That outcome helped power a strong day at sportsbooks during the ninth Sunday of the NFL season.

‘Friends of the Program’

No different than all those early-season losses, the Cowboys’ first cover of the season worked in sportsbooks’ favor.

It’s not bad when a team flip-flops like that in our favor. They’re a popular team, that’s for sure,” said Andrew Mannino, the senior sports content analyst at PointsBet, to Casino.org.

The New Orleans Saints have been a winner for sportsbooks, too. In their fourth primetime game of the season, they shockingly blew out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-3 on Sunday night in a big NFC South showdown.

In Week 2, they lost at the Las Vegas Raiders as 5.5-point favorites. In Week 3, they lost at home to the Green Bay Packers as 3-point favorites. In Week 5, they won by a field goal at home against the Los Angeles Chargers, but failed to cover as one-touchdown favorites. After going 0-3 against the spread in those games, the Saints on Sunday won at Tampa Bay as three-point underdogs in a game with “huge handle.”

The Houston Texans’ cover against the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs (71 percent of spread handle) and the Buffalo Bills’ upset victory over the Seattle Seahawks (72 percent of spread handle), combined with the Dallas and New Orleans results, made it a good day for sportsbooks after taking a beating with Green Bay’s win over San Francisco on Thursday.

“We had a lot of bets on Tampa Bay last night. A lot of favored teams didn’t cover and a lot of dogs covered,” Mannino said.

Patriots at Jets on Monday Night

The New England Patriots (2-5) are 10-point favorites over the New York Jets (0-8) for Monday night’s game. That’s up from 7 to start the week.

For New York, this might be its best chance to win a game this season. Several sportsbooks have established props on the Jets finishing 0-16. At PointsBet, Eichner said “well over 80 percent of the action” has gone on the Jets at +300 to lose every game.

It’s unusual that people are so confident in a team’s inability to win this far into the season,” Mannino told Casino.org. “But you look at the Jets’ schedule, and it’s hard to pick a place where they pull it out. Obviously, strange things happen in the NFL and good teams lose and bad teams win. But, I think, bettors are looking at the schedule and they don’t see a win.”

As for Monday, the Patriots have 68 percent of the spread money and 85 percent of the moneyline at PointsBet. The total dipped as low as 41, but is up to 42.5, with the public slightly taking the under.

“I think people see this as a rebound game for the Pats, who have been struggling, against a pretty bad Jets team,” Mannino said.