Yahoo Sports NFL Week 13 betting roundup: Lions finally get first win, but have been winning for bettors all season
The Detroit Lions finally got a win on Sunday.
The Lions knocked off the Minnesota Vikings 29-27 when Jared Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for an 11-yard, fourth-down touchdown as time expired in regulation.
The game was nearly the latest heartbreaking loss for the Lions. They led 20-6 at halftime before allowing the Vikings to storm back and take a 23-20 lead with 1:50 to play. This game was different, though. Goff led a 14-play, 75-yard drive and threw the game-winning touchdown for the first win of the Dan Campbell era.
The Lions are now 1-10-1 on the year. But for bettors, the Lions have had plenty of wins this season.
With Sunday’s victory, the Lions moved to 8-4 against the spread this season. That’s tied with the New England Patriots for the fourth-best ATS mark in the entire NFL.
Only the Green Bay Packers (10-2), Arizona Cardinals (9-3) and Dallas Cowboys (9-3) have been more kind to bettors than the Lions in 2021.
The Lions have covered the spread in five of their last six games, including four straight. They have been an underdog in all 12 of their games and are 4-2 ATS both at home and on the road.
The Lions entered Sunday’s game with five one-possession losses and a 16-16 tie to the Pittsburgh Steelers. You knew a win would come eventually. The Lions were 7-point underdogs on Sunday at BetMGM and finally got that long-awaited win.
Despite the ATS prowess of the Lions, the Vikings received 75% of the bets and 56% of the money as road favorites. With Sunday’s outcome, the Vikings dropped to 1-4 ATS as a favorite in 2021.
Seahawks hold on for upset
One of the most entertaining games of the day was an NFC West battle between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers entered the day on a three-game winning streak while the Seahawks had lost six of their previous seven. The 49ers, though, were only 3-point favorites at BetMGM. Keen bettors who sniffed out that line — 38% of the bets but 55% of the money was on the Seahawks — were rewarded when the Seahawks pulled out a 30-23 upset.
The game came down to the wire. Seattle had that seven-point advantage going into the fourth quarter, but the 49ers marched nearly the length of the field in the final minutes only to come up just short. With 22 seconds remaining, the 49ers were on the 3-yard line when a Jimmy Garoppolo pass fell incomplete and the Seahawks held on to the win.
With that outcome, a nearly season-long trend came to an end. It had been nine games since a Seahawks game went over the total. This one, though, had a total of 44.5. The over is now just 2-9-1 in Seahawks games this season.
Good Sunday for public favorites
Underdogs have been excellent for bettors this season, but that changed in Week 13. Entering "Monday Night Football," favorites have an 8-5 ATS record in Week 13.
Sunday was a very good day for public favorites. The Arizona Cardinals covered as 7.5-point favorites over the Chicago Bears, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers covered as 10.5-point favorites over the Atlanta Falcons. the Indianapolis Colts covered as 10-point favorites over the Houston Texans, the Kansas City Chiefs covered as 7.5-point favorites over the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams covered as 14-point favorites over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
All of those teams received at least 70% of the bets at BetMGM. Jeff Stoneback, the director of trading at BetMGM, told Yahoo Sports that the house was a slight winner on Sunday. Those wins for the public side are part of what kept the margins small for the sportsbook.
“The public didn’t do too bad. The books were just a very small winner,” Stoneback said.
Biggest win for the house: Washington
Stoneback said one game in particular was a “very large” win for the house: the Washington Football Team beating the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders were 1.5-point home favorites and came back from a 14-6 fourth-quarter deficit to take a 15-14 lead with 2:22 to play. Washington, though, was able to respond.
Taylor Heinicke got Washington within field goal range and Brian Johnson delivered, hitting the game-winning 48-yarder with 31 seconds remaining.
Washington has now won and covered in four consecutive games — all as an underdog. The Raiders, meanwhile, are just 1-4 ATS in their last five games and 2-5 ATS at home this season.
