The Seattle Seahawks upset the Denver Broncos 17-16 as 6-point home favorites on Monday Night Football to wrap up NFL Week 1
The Seahawks also closed at an average of %plussign% 224 on the money line in Las Vegas as they spoiled Russell Wilson’s first game back in Seattle after leaving for Denver this off-season. Wilson was outdueled by his replacement, Geno Smith, but the Broncos failed to score TDs on four red-zone possessions, fumbling twice near the goal-line and settling for two field goals.
Still, Wilson and the Broncos had the ball in a final two-minute drill with a chance to pull out the straight-up victory, but they were faced with a 4th-and-5 at the Seattle 46-yard line with a minute to play. First-year coach Nathaniel Hackett chose to have Wilson use the whole play clock and call a timeout with 20 seconds left before sending out kicker Brandon McManus for a 64-yard FG.
After Seattle used a timeout, McManus missed a practice attempt to the left and then missed again to the left when it counted as the Seahawks held on for the victory.
The first half was a shootout as the Smith-led Seahawks led 17-13 at halftime and it looked like the game would fly Over the closing total of 43.5, but only three points were scored in the second half as the game stayed Under by so much that even the popular Over (38) in 6-point teasers didn’t hit. The Broncos were also a popular teaser as bettors were just counting on them to simply win the game, so bookmakers were also rejoicing that result as it killed a lot of parlay and teaser liability left over from Sunday’s games.
In Week 1, Seattle’s win/cover meant favorites finished 10-5-1 SU (with the Colts and Texans playing to a 20-20 tie), but ended up splitting with dogs at 8-8 ATS. Road teams went 9-6-1 SU, but home teams led 9-7 ATS.
Thanks to the Seahawks’ upset, the subset of home underdogs went 2-6-1 SU but 5-4 ATS. There would have been a 10th home dog in Week 1, but the Minnesota Vikings, who had been a short home dog vs. the Packers since the schedule came out in May, were bet to 2-point favoritism (if you count the Vikes, home dogs would have been 6-4 ATS).
Unders dominated at 11-5, including 3-0 in prime-time games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights.
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