5 Best NFL Teams to Bet On In 2018: Bears Made Bettors A Lot Of Money
By Matt McEwan in NFL Football
Updated: March 2, 2021 at 2:48 pm ESTPublished:
- The 2018 NFL regular season has come to an end
- The Bears led the league with an impressive 12-4 record against the spread
- See the five teams who would’ve made bettors the most money in 2018
Every single football bettor has experienced the frustrations caused by the parity in the NFL, as well as the feeling of having absolutely no clue after a colossal upset like the Bills taking down the Vikings in Minnesota.
The league is simply too unpredictable. Big hits to your bankroll throughout the season are inevitable.
But if you just blindly bet these five teams throughout the 2018 NFL regular season, you aren’t worried about those handful of losses.
Here are the five teams who would have made NFL bettors the most money in the 2018 season.
5) New Orleans Saints ATS
- A $50 wager each week = +$199.16
- +3.98 units in 2018
The Saints would have been much higher on this list had the season ended three weeks earlier.
After failing to cover the spread in the first two weeks of the season, New Orleans ripped off nine straight ATS wins, covering 7.5 and 12.5-point spreads in the final two wins.
The Saints had the highest margin of victory in the NFL this season, beating opponents by an average of 9.4 points per game.
Unfortunately, they posted ATS losses in four of their last five, including three straight to close the season.
Thanks to an NFL-best 13-3 record, you won’t have an opportunity to bet the Saints this weekend, as they await the lowest remaining seed from the NFC Wild Card Round.
4) Kansas City Chiefs OVER
- A $50 wager each week = +$229.26
- +4.58 units in 2018
In spite of facing some of the highest game totals this season, the Chiefs consistently delivered, posting a 10-5-1 O/U record.
Patrick Mahomes led KC’s offense to an NFL-best 35.3 points per game, never scoring less than 26 points in a game.
Patrick Mahomes is now the 2nd player in NFL history to record 5,000+ pass yards and 50+ pass TD in a single season (Other: Peyton Manning, 2013). Manning was 37 years old when he accomplished this (Mahomes is 23)
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) December 30, 2018
The Chiefs defense did their part here, too. The unit allowed 26.3 points per game, ranking 24th in the league.
The Chiefs are also enjoying a bye in Wild Card Weekend, awaiting the lowest remaining seed in the AFC.
3) New England Patriots UNDER
- A $50 wager each week = +$260.17
- +5.2 units in 2018
This is a trend that you were better getting to late.
The Patriots offense did their part in trying to push the game total OVER this season, averaging 27.3 points per game (4th). But their defense was much better than expected.
New England’s defense only allowed 20.3 points per game this year (7th-fewest), holding teams to 17 or fewer eight times in 2018.
Here is an animated GIF of Tom Brady looking sad pic.twitter.com/tTFIP85XqJ
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) December 30, 2018
After hitting the OVER in four of their first seven games this year, the Patriots went UNDER the projected total in eight of their final nine games, resulting in a 5-11 O/U record.
You also won’t be able to capitalize on this trend in Wild Card Weekend, as New England is on bye.
2) Chicago Bears ATS
- A $50 wager each week = +$369.84
- +7.4 units in 2018
The Bears owned the NFL’s best record against the spread, going a blistering 12-4 this season. And you had opportunity to sell points and make even more money here.
They covered their spreads by an average of 5.5 points per game, also a league-best.
PICKED AND GOING THE OTHER WAY! #DaBears @EJackson_4
?: #MINvsCHI on NBC pic.twitter.com/4KTHOSu2r1
— NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2018
Matt Nagy’s brilliant scheme and creativity helped the Bears score the ninth-most points in the league. That number was also inflated by a defense that was generating takeaways at will, forcing a whopping 36 turnovers.
Add in the fact they surrendered the fewest points in the league, and it’s not hard to see how they covered the spread in 12 games this year.
This is the one trend from this list you can jump on this coming week, as the Bears host the Eagles on Wild Card Weekend.
1) Denver Broncos UNDER
- A $50 wager each week = +$420.35
- +8.4 units in 2018
Next to nothing went right for the Denver Broncos in 2018, posting their first set of back-to-back losing seasons since 1971-72.
But there was a way to capitalize on the Broncos miserable season: bet the UNDER!
Case Keenum evaluating his first year as the Broncos QB: “Not good enough” pic.twitter.com/xWldK6eWHL
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensBSN) December 31, 2018
Denver’s offense was yet again extremely disappointing, ranking 24th in points scored. Case Keenum posted a lousy 81.2 passer rating, leading the offense to just one game of more than 27 points.
Their defense managed to hold up better than last year, though, allowing just 21.8 points per game in spite of being put in many bad situations and forced to be on the field too long.
The result was a 3-12-1 O/U record, hitting the UNDER in each of their final eight games.
If you’re a member of #BroncosCountry, hopefully you at least capitalized on this trend to help mitigate another painful season.
Editor-in-Chief; Sports Betting Expert
With nearly a decade working in the industry, Matt is a seasoned sports betting veteran. He got his start with SBD in 2016 and worked his way up the ladder to become the Editor-in-Chief. Along the way he has done everything from reviewing sportsbooks to creating proprietary sports betting tools.
