It's only Week 2, but things are already getting crazy in the NFL. We have big injuries, lofty lines and big assumptions left and right. There's already been plenty of action since lines opened on Sunday, and here are your biggest movers, most heavily bet teams and the key numbers you need to monitor.
Biggest Movers
Cardinals-Ravens Over: This bad boy moved so much that I actually felt the need to give it its own standalone article. It's not often that you see an NFL total rise from 42.5 to 46.5 within a day of opening so it deserves special treatment.
49ers-Bengals: Only one of these teams got a win last week, but both proved they were at least somewhat competent football teams. In fact, Cincy proved that it was competent enough to not be a home dog to a middling team like the Niners.
After opening as 2-point dogs, the Bengals have moved to -1.5. There's been some sharp action on both sides, but with 60% of bets and 75% of the cash, Cincy is the early victor when it comes to line movement.
Cowboys-Redskins Over: It isn't quite as noteworthy as the Cards-Ravens over, but the Cowboys-Redskins line has risen 2.5 points — not half bad in its own right.
With Dallas dropping 35 points on the Giants and the Redskins scoring 27 of their own in Philly, bettors are expecting this game to be a little less demure than originally thought.
Popular Sides
Cardinals-Ravens Over (97% of bets): And you were wondering why the total has gone up by four points …
Cowboys (88% of bets): Some of the first books to open this line had the Cowboys as 7-point favorites, but that number was quickly readjusted to DAL -4.5 by the time the rest of the market opened a half hour later.
While a lucky few were able to grab Redskins +6 or +7, most have been stuck with +4.5. With that being the case, most are taking the Cowboys.
The Redskins performed admirably and after nearly blowing it, were able to get the backdoor cover with a very late touchdown. Most folks clearly still expect them to be one of the league's worst teams though, as they seem to be avoiding the Skins until getting at least six or seven points.
Patriots (86% of bets): Nothing like laying 17+ points on the road, eh? Folks are just dying to get a piece of the Patriots in Week 1 of the Antonio Brown era and don't seem to care what the line is, either.
On last week's Westgate lookahead line, the Pats were favored by 11. After the Dolphins' miserable performance, the line re-opened at 14.5. Then, after the Patriots beatdown, the line re-opened again at 16.5. Since then, it's been bet all the way to 18.5, which puts in on the verge of history.
I imagine there will be buyback at some point, but I'm honestly not sure if the line has reached its peak yet.
Key Numbers
Colts-Titans (-3): The Titans are coming off a blowout win against one of the summer's trendiest teams — the Browns. If you beat a trendy team, it appears as if you become trendy yourself, as Tennessee has more than 70% of the early bets.
Jacoby Brissett and the Colts definitely proved that they weren't going to flop over and die just because Andrew Luck retired, but it's going to take more than three points for the public to bite on them.
With the juice heading in the Titans' favor, it wouldn't surprise me to see the line move to 3.5, which would be the time to bet Indy if you're going to do so.
Vikings-Packers (-3): The Packers beat the Bears in uncharacteristic fashion last week and will need another big divisional win to get an early stranglehold on the NFC North. I don't think Green Bay's defense is as good as it looked in Week 1, nor is its offense as bad, but it doesn't appear many folks were convinced by the win.
Minnesota is commanding two-thirds of the early spread bets and more than 50% of moneyline bets for those who want that plus-money payout.
Saints-Rams (-3): We have an NFC Championship rematch on our hands. This game certainly won't bring up any bad memories for Saints fans, right?
After playing two entertaining games against one another in New Orleans last year, the action is heading to L.A. Similar to the Minnesota-Green Bay game, it's the underdogs that are getting the early brunt of the action. In fact, a couple of books have moved the line to NO +2.5, as more than 90% of the early cash is backing the Saints.
