The expectation for a while now was that people over in Sin City wouldn’t hesitate to drop plenty of wagers for the first weekend of National Football League action. Well, the results are in, and they’re impressive. According to a report, the Vegas sportsbooks were bombarded with NFL Week 1 bets. Indeed, is that a surprise to anyone? Not in this case.
The NFL is always going to be king when it comes to sports betting. People couldn’t want to check the NFL betting odds and lay some money down in Las Vegas. The best-rated sportsbooks always do an excellent job of providing up-to-the-minute odds, and this was of course a focus for all of the regular-season openers. That’s what makes betting so much more fun.
With that said, Vegas was also all smiles with some of the big-time upsets that we saw this past weekend. A lot of money was placed by fans on teams like the Packers, Titans, Broncos, and Bengals recording decisive victories in Week 1. That wasn’t the case, which meant that Vegas hit big, raking millions of dollars on those teams not getting the job done.
With Tennessee in particular, virtually no one expected the Giants to head to Nashville and pull off that kind of an upset. Instead, Brian Daboll and Co. did the unthinkable, pulling off a 21-20 win. This was fantastic news for the Vegas sportsbooks, as they sure did cash in on that. We’ll have to wait and see how things play out in Week 2.
Heading into this weekend, more bets and upsets will be on the way in the NFL’s Week 2. The NFL is so remarkable that any team can record a head-turning result in any contest. There are so many different upsets that could be recorded this week, and one in particular people have their eyes on is the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Bears and Packers.
There’s no way Chicago wins this one, right? Many people think that the Bears are 9.5-point underdogs and have +350 Las Vegas betting odds to come out on top. The Packers meanwhile have been placed at -350, which makes sense since Aaron Rodgers has owned the Bears over the years, and this game is also going to be played at Lambeau Field.
With that said, the early bets are indeed going on Green Bay. However, there are also plenty of Chicago believers out there who are putting money on the Bears too. Keep in mind that the Packers were expected to take down Minnesota this past weekend. Instead, the Vikings dominated the Packers, and Rodgers had a game to forget. Can Chicago do more of the same?
Another game to keep an eye on is the Broncos and Texans meeting. Russell Wilson and Denver blew it against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, and no one thought that would happen. Now, the Broncos are in dire need of a win over Houston this Sunday, and it will be on Wilson to step his game up and help this offense get into gear.
With one week of action out of the way, the Bills continue to be the favorites to win the Super Bowl. This is a no-brainer, as the Bills looked spectacular against the Los Angeles Rams to open the season. After that result, their Super Bowl betting odds only improved, as Josh Allen has this team playing at an unreal level, and the fans are thrilled.
Seriously, it’s not every game that the Rams are made to look like a JV squad. That was how things went in Week 1, with the reigning Super Bowl champs playing rough. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the Buffalo defense for stepping up, while Allen and the rest of the Buffalo offense played strong too. That’s expected to be the case for this team’s rest of the season.
With that said, there are still many teams that will hope and bring down the Bills. The Kansas City Chiefs are at the top of the list, as Patrick Mahomes looked like an MVP candidate in the Week 1 win over the Cardinals. If Mahomes can keep playing this well, we could see the Bills and Chiefs meet in the AFC Championship Game this winter. That’d be an epic tilt if it goes down.
These two teams have played in the postseason in back-to-back years. The Chiefs have won both games, but Buffalo will be motivated to take them down this time. And if all goes according to plan for the Bills, this game will be played in Buffalo, not KC.
