The Kansas City Chiefs finished the season better than anyone else with a 14-2 win-loss ratio. A bright team, the former champion, whose leader is Patrick Mahomes himself, definitely attracts the fans, which cannot be said about the bettors. The fact is that in only 7 out of 16 matches they managed to cover the difference that the bookmaker gave to win the clear favorite. In the final 8 games of the regular season, they only covered once! Needless to say, even in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs were considered the clear favorites but lost to the Bucks, led by Tom Brady.
In this article, together with Telecomasia.net, we will recall the NFL-2020 teams that bettors loved and most often played against the spread.
What is ATS in Betting?
Before we start talking about the best teams in this metric, let’s first understand what it means in general.
Against the spread (ATS) is a concept used to track how well a team is doing against the spread. You take the difference in points on the underdog, and if it either wins or loses less than the Point Spread, it means that the bet has played against the spread. For example, Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys play; the handicap offered by the bookmaker is defined as -7 and +7. To win the bet, you need Dallas to win the game or lose with a difference of fewer than 7 points. If the difference is equal to 7, the bet will be returned.
There’s not much left before the NFL-2021 season begins. Meta.reviews have a variety of bookmakers on their site, where you can get better acquainted with the odds on favorites and possibly make money on the underdogs’ victories yourself.
Top Teams Against the Spread
The players’ favorite teams at the end of last season were two teams from the AFC, the Buffalo Bills, conference finalists, and the Miami Dolphins. Both finished the regular season with ATS stats of 11-5, tied for the best record in league history.
The Dolphins failed to defeat Buffalo in Week 17, which left them one step away from the playoffs, but they were not expected to do anything at all at the beginning of the season. They finished the season 5-11 a year ago. They were expected to take time to rebuild, but Brian Flores did a quality job in the offseason, reinforced the team with several rookies, and from game to game produced a result that few expected, especially sports bettors.
As for the Bills, Sean McDermott’s guys had a 6-wins streak towards the end of the regular season, allowing them to finish the season with almost the same performance as the Chiefs. However, if expectations from Kansas were too high all year round, Buffalo was a little easier with the Point Spread.
Also, it is worth noting the performance of the Baltimore Ravens, which showed 10-5-1 against the spread. Just like the other two teams from AFC, Ravens did not live up to the bettors’ expectations only 5 times, but once they found themselves on the border of the Point Spread. In the playoffs, their stats on this indicator slightly deteriorated after they lost to Buffalo (3:17).
Worst teams against the spread
The main losers of the 2020 season are, perhaps, the Dallas Cowboys. On the eve of the season, management fired Jason Garrett and appointed Super Bowl-winning coach Mike McCarthy. McCarthy was expected to bring the Vince Lombardi Cup to Dallas and ended up with 10 defeats in the regular season. As for the spread, they played against the spread only 5 out of 16 times.
The same ATS stats were shown by the Cowboys’ division neighbors, the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia finished in the last place in the NFC by a margin of 4-11-1. It was easier for bettors to bet on a loss for the Eagles than to try to win on a plus handicap.
Note that NY Jets and Houston Texans showed ATS of 6-10. Both teams finished the season at the bottom of the American Football Conference.
