Primetime Showdowns Should Drive Excellent Week at Sportsbooks

Posted on: November 19, 2020, 09:54h. 

Last updated on: November 23, 2020, 01:57h.

Bill Huber Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

Standalone, primetime NFL games are where the action’s at for sportsbooks. With three marquee games in the primetime windows, this could be the best week of the season in terms of betting action.

“I would say this is the best set of primetime games this season. That should be reflected in appetite and therefore tickets on the games. What could possibly go wrong?” said John Sheeran, the director of trading for FanDuel Sportsbook, to Casino.org.

The action kicks off on Thursday night with the Arizona Cardinals (6-3) at Seattle Seahawks (6-3). On Sunday night, it’s the Super Bowl-favorite Kansas City Chiefs (8-1) at the Las Vegas Raiders (6-3). Finally, on Monday night, it’s the Los Angeles Rams (6-3) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3).

Thursday Night Showdown

The Arizona-Seattle game features two of the three teams tied atop the powerful NFC West, with the Rams being the other. It also features two of the leading MVP candidates.

At Circa Sports, Seattle is the division favorite at +140, the Rams are +185, and the Cardinals are +235.

The Seahawks still being the favorite has to be related to their schedule: Eagles, Giants, Jets, Washington Football Team and two division home games against the Cards and Rams. They will be favored in all of those games, with the finale for the season being on the road at San Francisco, which will most certainly be out of playoff contention,” said Glenn Herzog, the senior sportsbook risk manager at Circa, to Casino.org.

This is Round 2 of the series. In Week 7, the Cardinals fell behind 34-24 with 7 minutes remaining, but rallied to win 37-34 in overtime. Seattle is a 3-point favorite.

“I don’t expect this line to drop below 3 after an emotional win last week for the Cardinals, [Cardinals safety] Budda Baker banged up, and an embarrassing offensive output for the Hawks last week” against the Rams, Herzog said.

Headed into the first game against Arizona, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was the overwhelming favorite to win MVP. Not anymore. Seattle has dropped three of its last four games, with Wilson tossing seven interceptions in those losses.

At Circa, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the new favorite at +160, followed by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers at +275. Wilson is third at +365, and his counterpart on Thursday night, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, has zoomed up to fourth at +700. Murray is FanDuel’s biggest liability in the MVP market.

Week 11 Schedule

Five games on the Week 11 slate feature head-to-head matchups of teams with at least six wins. Here is the full schedule, with betting lines from SuperBook.