Dolphins, Jets bail out books in Week 8 dominated by favorites, overs

NFL Week 8 was dominated by favorites and overs, which is normally a recipe for success for the betting public.

But sportsbooks still managed to salvage a small winning day Sunday thanks to outright upsets by the Dolphins (+7, beat Falcons 34-10) and Jets (+5½, beat Bengals 39-38).

“I think it speaks to just how popular money-line parlays are nowadays,” Westgate vice president of race and sports John Murray said. “The reason we’re up right now is because Miami beat Atlanta and the Jets beat the Bengals.

“Some of these Sundays, you get a lot of these underdogs to cover but not win, and that’s the recipe that hurts us. But this week we did get two of the really big underdogs to win outright. It’s not going to be a banner day but we are a winner for the day, probably more of one than people would’ve expected given the results.”

Survivor pool slashed

More than half of the remaining Circa Survivor pool was eliminated by the Falcons (1,387) and Bengals (765), while four $1,000 entries inexplicably failed to submit their picks. A total of 2,057 entries remain in the quest for the $18.7 million prize, including 81 on the Chiefs on “Monday Night Football.”

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw four touchdown passes as Miami whipped the Falcons.

The Jets rallied from a 38-24 deficit with two touchdowns in the final 7:52 at Cincinnati en route to their first win. Quarterback Justin Fields finally managed to complete a pass — 21 of them, including a touchdown — after owner Woody Johnson ripped him for New York’s 0-7 start.

“Dolphins and Jets’ shock upsets were the early bright spots of a morning filled with chalk and points where customers won on same-game parlays and favorites,” Caesars Sportsbook head of football Joey Feazel said.

Favorites and overs

Favorites went 10-2 against the spread and overs went 9-1-2.

Besides the Falcons and Bengals, every other favorite covered, though the Texans (-3, beat 49ers 26-15) delivered a good result for STN Sports.

“There was a lot of action on the 49ers, so that outcome helped us even though the favorite won,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “There were two ’dogs that won outright, but there was not a ’dog on the schedule that actually covered the number.

“If the (Steelers-Packers) game goes over, there’s no scenario that we get out of the day with more than a break-even day.”

It went over as Green Bay (-2½) outscored Pittsburgh 28-9 in the second half en route to a 35-25 win.

The best games for the betting public were the Bills (-7½, beat Panthers 40-9), Patriots (-7, beat Browns 32-13), Colts (-15, beat Titans 38-14) and Buccaneers (-3½), who beat the Saints 23-3 in the only game that went under (two totals pushed).

“New England is so popular right now because they score a lot of points, they’re blowing people out and they’re also on a string where they’re just playing against a lot of bad teams,” Murray said. “The public loves to go against Tennessee and they love to go against Cleveland.

“It makes sense that that was a get-right spot for Buffalo and they sure took advantage of it.”

The other favorites that covered were the Eagles (-7½, beat Giants 38-20), Ravens (-2½, beat Bears 30-16) and Broncos (-4, beat Cowboys 44-24).

Dallas and Denver flew over the highest total on the board (52) as the Cowboys went over for the fifth straight game.

“In the afternoon, the betting public was interested more in the Cowboys, so that was the best outcome for the book,” Feazel said.

Baltimore snapped a four-game losing streak straight-up and ATS. The line dropped from 6½ to 2½ when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was ruled out Saturday, but they covered both numbers.

Forget the Titans

The Jets, Saints and Titans are tied for the worst record in the league at 1-7, and New Orleans and Tennessee are tied for the NFL’s worst spread record at 2-6.

“The worst team is clearly the Titans right now,” Esposito said. “Outside of the fluky finish when the Cardinals player (dropped the ball before crossing the goal line), they’re getting blown out at an epic pace. They don’t look competitive right now.”

Tennessee’s seven losses have been by an average of 17.3 points.

“There’s no question Tennessee is the worst in the league,” Murray said. “I think it is the worst team in the league by a good measure.”

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