NFL Week 5 is near its conclusion. Only the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs are left to play in Monday Night Football before the book closes on another exhilarating – and yet, bizarre in some cases – week of football betting.
The favorites enjoyed a good turnout going 10-5-0 straight up (SU) but just 6-9-0 against the spread (ATS). Home teams went 7-8-0 SU and 5-10-0 ATS. Finally, the over cashed in just six of the 15 games (including TNF) – recording yet another strong week for the under this season.
Below, we dive into the games and highlight some of the worst of the bad beats and backdoor covers that shaped key outcomes at the sportsbook betting exchange. Basically, the good, the bad and ugly of Week 5 NFL picks against the spread.
Let’s check the latest NFL picks, stats, injury reports, and NFL predictions. We’ve plenty of NFL expert picks for you to consider.
Week 5 NFL Betting Highlights
- The Giants (+10) were the biggest underdogs to win (vs. Packers)
- Other underdogs that won SU included the Texans (+7½) vs Jaguars, Cowboys (+5) vs Rams, Jets (+3) vs Dolphins and Colts (+3) vs Broncos
- The Bills (-14) were the biggest favorites to cover (vs. Steelers)
- Other favorites that covered included the 49ers (-7) vs Panthers, Saints (-4½) vs Seahawks and Patriots (-3) vs Lions.
- The highest scoring game of the week was the 39-32 win by the Saints over the Seahawks
- The lowest-scoring game of the week was the Colts’ 12-9 win over the Broncos.
Bad Beats: Falcons Get backdoor Cover
The Atlanta Falcons are the best team against the spread through five weeks, improving to a perfect 5-0-0 ATS record in the 21-15 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Of course, that fact brings no cheer to Buccaneers side bettors who saw their bet slip through their fingers in this classic case of a bad beat.
The Bucs were in control of the game, up 21-0 going into the fourth quarter. Bucs spread bettors were literally 15 minutes away from covering as the -10½ home chalk until the Falcons rallied and scored 15 unanswered points to steal the backdoor cover.
Bad Beats: Titan Squeeze Through With Cover
Although Tennessee Titans backers will be delighted their side won and covered in the 21-17 win in the nation’s capital and under bettors will be delighted that the fourth quarter went scoreless, Washington Commanders backers and those on the other side of the total were left ruing the missed opportunities in the final 15 minutes of the game.
Carson Wentz and Co. were lined up at the Titans’ 2 in the dying seconds of the game. They needed a touchdown to win it outright. By that same token, the six points would have pushed the game over the total line. Wentz’s first two passes went incomplete. On third-and-goal, he was … drumroll … intercepted. And just like that, Commanders backers and over bettors saw their bets go to the wayside.
everybody is making fun of Carson Wentz for throwing this game-losing interception. But they’re missing the context that he also almost threw a pick on the play before, but the defender lost track of his feet and accidentally stepped out of bounds https://t.co/WzvFKNBbqf
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) October 9, 2022
Bad Beats: Cardinals Come Up Short
The Philadelphia Eagles are the only unbeaten team in the league after beating the Arizona Cardinals 20-17 to improve to a perfect 5-0-0 SU record. However, it was the first time the Eagles missed the cover, slipping to a 4-1-0 record.
Despite the 20-17 loss, it was Cardinals’ side bettors that cashed in point spread betting at the expense of the Eagles. Arizona closed as the five-point home underdogs at the sportsbook exchange.
Those that took a gamble on the Cardinals for the outright win, however, were left largely kicking and screaming. Firstly, Arizona’s final drive stalled as Kyler Murray slid a yard short of a first down. He then spiked the ball to stop the clock, forcing them to go for a field goal. Tale told, Matt Ammendola’s 43-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right and the Eagles clinched their fifth straight win of the season.
Not only did Kyler slide here, he then got up and spiked the ball, which forced the FG attempt they missed to end the game #PHIvsAZ pic.twitter.com/Ypj0J3ebW5
— Someone’s An Idiot (@SomeonesAnIdiot) October 9, 2022
Bad Beat: Browns Kicked
In another case of a game that came down to the wire, it was Cleveland Browns’ backers that walked away empty-handed. The Los Angeles Chargers had the 30-28 lead going into the final minute of the game. The Browns (+1) were down two points and with 16 seconds left on the clock, they had a chance to steal the DUB. But, kicker Cade York’s 54-yard field goal attempt went wide right and the visitors held on to the road win.
