Bettors left frustrated as popular NFL favorites win, don’t cover

This is becoming as repetitive for Chiefs bettors as Kansas City coach Andy Reid’s “bundlerooski” commercials.

The Chiefs remained the NFL’s only unbeaten at 9-0 after defeating Denver 16-14 Sunday with the help of a walk-off blocked field goal. But they failed to cover the spread for the third straight week as 7-point favorites.

The Broncos dealt bettors one of their biggest defeats of Week 10, in which underdogs are 10-3 against the spread with five outright wins.

Kansas City’s great escape also left sportsbooks bemoaning the fact that Denver couldn’t finish off the outright upset.

“The blocked field goal was horrendous for our side of the counter,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “There was a tremendous amount of money-line parlays dumping into the Chiefs. Getting the Broncos to win outright would’ve been phenomenal.”

Covers by the Broncos and Buccaneers (+6½, lost 23-20 to 49ers) were the two best results for the Westgate SuperBook.

“We did well on the Broncos game, but it would’ve been the biggest result of the day if we could’ve got the Broncos outright,” SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay said. “That would’ve knocked out every money-line parlay and teaser out there.

“It was nice to get a couple underdogs to win outright. But the popular favorites still won. The lack of that huge upset prevented us from having a big day.”

San Francisco beat Tampa Bay on Jake Moody’s 44-yard field goal as time expired after Moody tormented bettors by missing three field goals. The missed kicks also enraged Niners receiver Deebo Samuel, who grabbed the neck of long snapper Taybor Pepper and swiped at Moody after the third missed field goal.

Bettors’ best

The betting public won big on the only three favorites that covered: Bills (-4½, beat Colts 30-20), Chargers (-8½, beat Titans 27-17) and Eagles (-7, beat Cowboys 34-6).

“The Bills’ cover was easily the best result of the morning, although the 49ers’ late field goal and the Broncos’ missed field goal late kept money-line bettors happy,” Caesars Sportsbook vice president of trading Craig Mucklow said.

Caesars bettors won wagers of $220,000 on Buffalo -4 and $110,000 on the Bills-Colts over 46½. The over bettor was losing the wager for the first 59:58 of the game before an otherwise meaningless 10-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to Alec Pierce with two seconds left pushed the number over in Buffalo’s 30-20 win.

Survivor slashed

Thirty Circa Survivor contestants were sweating profusely early Sunday when they were counting on the Giants to keep alive their quest for the $14.3 million prize. New York trailed Carolina 17-7 in the fourth quarter of the 6:30 a.m. game in Germany before tying it on Graham Gano’s 42-yard field goal with five seconds left.

But the contestants’ hopes and dreams were quickly extinguished in overtime after Tyrone Tracy lost a fumble on the Giants’ first play from scrimmage. Four plays later, the Panthers, 6½-point underdogs, prevailed on Eddy Pineiro’s 36-yard field goal.

A Caesars bettor lost $126,000 on a wager on New York.

The other four outright upsets were by the Patriots (+6, beat Bears 19-3), Saints (+3½, beat Falcons 20-17), Steelers (+2, beat Commanders 28-27) and Cardinals (+2, beat Jets 31-6).

The field of 151 Survivor entries that entered Week 10 is down to 105. Fourteen were eliminated by Chicago, and two were knocked out by Atlanta.

The betting public also lost on the Falcons, as the Saints snapped a seven-game losing streak in their first game since coach Dennis Allen was fired. Teams are now 19-12 ATS in the past 31 games after a coach has been fired.

Arizona was the best result for the books in the afternoon, despite a Caesars bettor easily winning a $210,000 wager on the Cardinals +2.

Underwhelming

Unders went 8-3-1 on Sunday. Chargers-Titans went over 39 with 49 seconds left on Tennessee’s otherwise meaningless 15-yard touchdown pass from Will Levis to Calvin Ridley in Los Angeles’ 27-17 win.

The Steelers and Commanders went over the total in the third quarter of their back-and-forth battle. Pittsburgh, which trailed by 10 in the second half, scored the game-winning touchdown with 2:22 left on Russell Wilson’s 32-yard pass to Mike Williams.

Pittsburgh was a positive result for bettors at Caesars and the SuperBook.

“There was a lot of Steelers money,” Kornegay said. “Especially from some of the sharps out there.”

The Lions (-4) erased a 23-7 halftime deficit in a 26-23 win over the Texans on Sunday night, but didn’t cover. Most bettors pushed on the total (49).

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.