Sports betting

NFL betting: Losing teams in Week 1

by Chad Rogers | September 18 2009

Coming up short to start off the NFL season is not the end of the world but it can have a different significance from one team to the next.

16 teams slipped a game below .500 after suffering defeat in Week 1 of the NFL season. Experience teaches sports bettors not to let one result weigh too heavily on predicting the outcome of a future contest and sorting through the losers, we've come up with a couple scenarios worth highlighting for the Week 2 card.

NFL betting: Let's look at these scenarios to keep in mind for NFL betting this week.

Expected to lose; did just that
When a team performs poorly week after week, year after year for long enough, a stigma develops in the eyes of fans that will automatically cause the loser to be seen as such. Betting against the spread allows for football handicappers to occasionally spot value plays on these teams but regardless of what happened in an 'upset' one week, bettors need to proceed with caution whenever considering a play on a "bad team to play good".

Cincinnati has been an awful team for so long that a loss for them doesn't surprise anyone. The Bengals did lose in Week 1 and it was an upset, but the only reason Cinci was favored in the first place is because they were playing at home against the Broncos. If Cincinnati had held on to beat Denver they would still be getting at least a touchdown's worth of points in Green Bay this week. The loss temporarily jacked the line to 10 points and money showed up on Cinci but until the Bengals win a game straight-up this year, bettors should proceed with caution before backing them, especially on the road.

Sometimes good teams just lose (to other good teams)
Tennessee is a classic example of a team who lost to another very good team. Their 13-10 loss to the Steelers in Week 1 was in Pittsburgh, it was a Thursday night marquee contest and it was in overtime! The Titans are home this week to a divisional rival that is also coming off a loss but in this situation it would seem that the pressure falls more on a Houston team that looked bad in losing, than it is on the Titans team that almost pulled off an upset.

Tough to call; may need some more information
By far the most common class following just a week of football, this is the group of teams that bettors were anxiously awaiting to see, had high expectations for, and had to settle for letdowns. Miami, Kansas City and Washington are three examples. Two things to consider with all these teams are location (all three were away from home) and opponent (all three lost to playoff teams from '08).

Given those circumstances perhaps these three losers aren't so bad after all? Or maybe they are. It's still too early to gauge how strong some teams are and bettors need to keep that in mind when making picks for Week 2.

Coming up short to start off the season is not the end of the world for some teams but it does place an added element of importance on their next outing.

Check out this week's NFL Lines.