Inside the Week 18 battle for the AFC North at the sportsbooks

After the Baltimore Ravens misplaced to the New England Patriots in Week 16, their hopes of successful the AFC North virtually utterly evaporated. To have any likelihood, they would wish to beat the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers on the street and have the Pittsburgh Steelers lose to the hapless Cleveland Browns in Week 17.

As destiny would have it, each of these outcomes got here to fruition, because the Ravens and Browns overcame underdog standing to win their video games and arrange a winner-take-all showdown for the AFC North between Baltimore and Pittsburgh in Week 18. At DraftKings, the Ravens opened as 3-point street favorites in opposition to the Steelers.

Going into Week 17, Pittsburgh held commanding -1400 odds to win the division in comparison with +800 for the Ravens. DraftKings stories that within the final week, 87% of deal with got here in on the Ravens for the AFC North, whereas BetMGM mentioned that it acquired 83% of cash backing Baltimore in the identical time interval, although the Ravens are nonetheless its smallest legal responsibility for the division general.

It has been fairly the odyssey for the Ravens to get up to now. After coming into the season because the odds-on favorites, they briefly relinquished favourite standing to Pittsburgh forward of Week 7, earlier than returning to the highest of the percentages board for a number of weeks. Then, the Steelers’ head-to-head win over Baltimore in Week 14 propelled them forward till their loss to Cleveland.

With the division on the road, the Ravens opened at -170 on the moneyline. Regardless of some damage considerations surrounding Lamar Jackson, bookmakers are snug retaining Baltimore as a field-goal favourite.

“We do not really feel there may be a lot distinction between [backup QB Tyler] Huntley and this model of Jackson, what seems to be an injured model of Jackson,” John Murray, vp of the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, informed ESPN. “The Ravens offense regarded nearly as good as ever on Saturday, Huntley is aware of the offense properly and Lamar hasn’t been proper all season. Do not see it making a lot of a distinction.”

Joey Feazel, head of soccer at Caesars Sportsbook, sees a bit extra distinction between Jackson and Huntley, saying that he anticipates the sport transferring nearer to a decide ’em ought to the previous be dominated out.

Ravens-Steelers will not be the one recreation contested for a division title subsequent week.

Getting into Week 11, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been -1200 to win the NFC South, whereas the Carolina Panthers have been +1200 — in Week 18, the 2 groups will face off for the division. The Bucs opened as 3.5-point residence favorites for the showdown with the Panthers, in keeping with DraftKings odds.

The matchup is the end result of opposing tendencies for the division rivals. Tampa Bay has did not cowl the unfold in eight consecutive video games, the longest energetic ATS shedding streak within the NFL and the longest in franchise historical past, per ESPN Analysis. In the meantime, Carolina has come all the way in which again from an extended of +2500 to win the NFC South in Week 5.

In one other shut division race, if the San Francisco 49ers defeat the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night time Soccer, they’ll face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18 for the NFC West title and the convention’s No. 1 seed.

NFL Odds & Ends

• Regardless of lackluster matchups not proven on conventional TV shops, the NFL topped the NBA on Christmas Day by way of betting curiosity. At Caesars Sportsbook, the showcase NBA matchups solely attracted near half the sum of money that was wager on the least-bet NFL recreation between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders. “The NFL continues to be the king on the finish of the day, because the three low-stakes NFL video games simply surpassed the deal with of the entire NBA video games,” Feazel mentioned.

• Derrick Henry was DraftKings’ most-bet participant to attain 2+ touchdowns throughout Saturday’s two-game slate … he scored 4 within the Ravens’ large win over the Packers.

• Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase said his objective overtly heading into Week 17. “I feel the most important factor on the listing is to attain one other landing … I feel I have been overdue since Week 7,” Chase informed reporters final week. Bettors at DraftKings, who have been listening, have been rewarded. More cash was wager on Chase to attain a landing on Sunday than on another participant at DraftKings. He caught two touchdowns within the Bengals’ 37-14 rout of the Arizona Cardinals.

• With their thrilling win over the Buffalo Bills, the Philadelphia Eagles (+3.5) have now gained six straight video games outright as an underdog together with the playoffs, tied for the longest such streak since 2010, in keeping with ESPN Analysis.

Season-win totals on the road in Week 18
[Totals based on BetMGM openers]

Faculty soccer odds and ends