For fans of NJ sports betting, there has been no better NFL team to choose this season than the Kansas City Chiefs.
According to data received from BetStars NJ, the Chiefs have covered the point spread 80 percent of the time this season.
The data tells a lot of interesting tales about betting on specific football teams. And even more so, it shows that at the end of the day, NJ bettors bet with their heart.
Let’s take a closer look at the BetStars NJ sports betting data.
The Chiefs are the prize in NJ sports betting
Unsurprisingly, the Chiefs currently tie for the best record in the entire league.
Kansas City shares a 9-1 record with the Los Angeles Rams, and the Chiefs’ only loss so far was a 3-point defeat against the New England Patriots.
Interestingly, the Rams are nowhere near the top of the list for covering the spread. The LA team is a woeful 4-6 against the predicted line.
The determining factor for a team’s performance against the spread is its overall margin of victory. Both the Chiefs and Rams have been winning, but the Rams’ victories have been much tighter affairs.
The Chiefs, on the other hand, also have the highest margin of victory against the spread. They are generally scoring 7.3 points more than the margin predicts.
A side note on the Saints and division leaders
The New Orleans Saints are the only other team with the same margin against the spread. The Saints are also the second-place team to cover, having played (and won) one fewer game than the Chiefs.
Four other teams are performing quite well against the spread and sport 6-3 records for covering. They are:
- Tennessee Titans
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Chicago Bears
- Washington Redskins
The ability to cover shares at least some correlation with overall success, and all but one of the teams mentioned sits atop its division. The exception is the 5-4 Tennessee Titans, who are 2nd in the AFC South behind the red-hot Houston Texans.
NFL ATS Records 2018 via BetStars NJ
Check out the complete list of NFL team data from BetStars NJ below:
Team | ATS Record | Cover % | Margin of Victory | ATS +/- | % of total bets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas City | 8-2-2 | 80% | 11.3 | 7.3 | 4.8% |
New Orleans | 7-2-0 | 77.8% | 10.9 | 7.3 | 4.1% |
Tennessee | 6-3-0 | 66.7% | 1.9 | 5.1 | 3.0% |
Pittsburgh | 6-3-0 | 66.7% | 7.8 | 5.2 | 5.0% |
Chicago | 6-3-0 | 66.7% | 10.4 | 6.1 | 1.4% |
Washington | 6-3-0 | 66.7% | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.5% |
Arizona | 5-3-1 | 62.5% | -11.2 | -5.3 | 2.4% |
Minnesota | 5-3-1 | 62.5% | 1.9 | -1.3 | 3.5% |
Seattle | 5-3-1 | 62.5% | 3 | 5.2 | 3.0% |
Cleveland | 6-4-0 | 60% | -4.5 | -0.5 | 2.7% |
New England | 6-4-0 | 60% | 4.4 | -1.8 | 3.9% |
Detroit | 5-4-0 | 55.6% | -4.7 | -3.2 | 2.0% |
LA Chargers | 5-4-0 | 55.6% | 6 | 2.2 | 2.3% |
Carolina | 5-4-0 | 55.6% | 1 | 0.7 | 2.7% |
Miami | 5-5-0 | 50% | -5.7 | -1.7 | 2.1% |
Indianapolis | 4-4-1 | 50% | 2.3 | 3.9 | 2.0% |
Green Bay | 4-5-0 | 44.4% | 0.8 | -1.7 | 4.0% |
Baltimore | 4-5-0 | 44.4% | 5.9 | 3.6 | 2.2% |
Cincinnati | 4-5-0 | 44.4% | -5.9 | -5.3 | 1.8% |
Houston | 4-5-0 | 44.4% | 3.6 | 1.2 | 2.4% |
Dallas | 4-5-0 | 44.4% | 1.1 | 1.8 | 4.6% |
NY Giants | 4-5-0 | 44.4% | -5.7 | -2.1 | 9.8% |
Buffalo | 4-6-0 | 40% | -11.4 | -2 | 2.6% |
LA Rams | 4-6-0 | 40% | 10.4 | 2.8 | 2.1% |
Jacksonville | 3-5-1 | 37.5% | -4.3 | -6 | 2.3% |
Denver | 3-5-1 | 37.5% | -0.9 | 0.8 | 3.9% |
Tampa Bay | 3-6-0 | 33.3% | -6.6 | -4.3 | 2.4% |
Philadelphia | 3-6-0 | 33.3% | 1.7 | -2.2 | 3.3% |
Atlanta | 3-6-0 | 33.3% | -1.1 | -3.1 | 2.1% |
San Francisco | 3-7-0 | 30% | -3.6 | -0.9 | 3.2% |
NY Jets | 3-7-0 | 30% | -4.6 | -2.6 | 3.9% |
Oakland | 2-7-0 | 22.2% | -13.9 | -10.2 | 2.2% |
NJ bettors really like the NY Giants
One interesting quirk of the BetStars data is the discrepancy between the teams that have most often covered the spread and the teams that have received the most wagers.
If performance predicted the receipt of wagers, one might expect the Chiefs to be the most likely target of sports bettors.
However, at least in New Jersey, the biggest bloc of sports bets has been on the New York Giants.
Despite a 4-5 record against the spread and a woeful 2-7 win-loss record, New Jersey wagerers simply can’t avoid betting for the team from East Rutherford.
The men in blue and red have garnered 9.8 percent of all BetStars’ NFL bets. Most other teams receive less than half as many wagers, including the Chiefs, who’ve only commanded 4.8 percent.
The other local team, the New York Jets, whose 3-7 record against the spread is even worse than the Giants’ performance, still rank in the top 10 for betting activity, too.
So, in summary, New Jersey bettors are gravitating toward the hometown heroes more than any other. There’s something sweet about that, even if they’re losing money in the process.