Sports
Betting buzz: Browns, Panthers end big underdog losing streak
Everything that happens in sports has additional context when viewed from a betting perspective. From season-changing injuries to record-setting moments and so much more, the news cycle will constantly and significantly affect the sports betting industry.
Our betting buzz file, with contributions from David Purdum, Doug Greenberg and others, aims to provide fans a look at the sports betting stories that are driving the conversation.
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Sept. 21: Browns, Panthers end big underdog losing streak
Doug Greenberg and David Purdum: Through two weeks of the 2025 NFL season, underdogs of four points or greater were 0-12 straight-up, the first time no underdog that large had won a game outright through Week 2 of any season in the Super Bowl era (since 1966), according to ESPN Research.
That streak ended emphatically on Sunday. First, the Carolina Panthers (+4.5) easily took down the Atlanta Falcons with a final score of 30-0. Then, a short time later, the Cleveland Browns (+7.5) stunned the Green Bay Packers with a 13-10 comeback win, capped off by a game-winning field goal as time expired. Cleveland was as long as +3000 on the live moneyline during the contest, according to ESPN BET odds.
Through Sunday afternoon’s games, underdogs of four or more points are now 2-16 straight-up, but are interestingly a perfectly balanced 9-9 against the spread.
As a result of their large favorite status, the Packers were a popular pick for survivor pools in Week 3. In ESPN’s Eliminator Challenge, 15.65% of players (third-most) picked Green Bay, while 1,817 players — accounting for 10.7% of the remaining player population (fourth-most) — picked the Pack in the $1,000-entry Circa Survivor contest.
Big favorites tend to be popular plays with the betting public every week, especially in moneyline parlays. The Packers very much lived up to that reputation in Week 3, being the most-bet spread side by tickets on Sunday at BetMGM and Hard Rock Bet. Green Bay was also Hard Rock Bet’s most popular moneyline play by bets and handle, as well as the most lopsided moneyline and spread play, attracting 95.44% of combined handle in those markets.
ESPN BET had 87.8% of its spread handle backing the Pack, the most of any team on Sunday, and they joined the Falcons as popular moneyline single and parlay bets.
“The Browns comeback will be a tough one for many bettors, as Green Bay-Cleveland ended up as our most bet game of the early slate by total handle, and the Packers were the most popular moneyline selection of the day,” ESPN BET senior director Adrian Horton said over email. “The Falcons were the fifth-most popular moneyline pick, and both teams were easily among our most bet parlay legs.”
The two outright underdog wins must be a relief for sportsbooks, who had suffered through favorite wins for the NFL season’s first two weeks. According to analysis from financial services group Macquarie, NFL hold — or the percentage of money sportsbooks make off of all their bets — was at 8% through Week 2, down from the baseline average of 9.5%. Specifically, moneyline hold was calculated at -3% due to the amount of favorites coming through.
“What drew the biggest shock after years of being their biggest fans each week, we fully expected the Browns to miss the game-winning field goal,” Caesars Sportsbook head of football Joey Feazel said over email. “Instead, there were cheers on the trading floor, as we were stunned that this was not the Browns we were used to cheering for over the years.”
Sportsbooks will have two more chances to recoup early-season losses via big underdogs in Week 3: The New York Giants are 5.5-point underdogs against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, while the Detroit Lions are 4.5-point underdogs for Monday night’s showdown with the Baltimore Ravens.
Odds & Ends
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Sunday afternoon’s showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles closed with the defending Super Bowl champions as 3.5-point favorites. The Eagles trailed 26-7 in the third quarter, at which point they were +2000 on the live moneyline, before launching a huge comeback that finished with them scoring a defensive TD on the final play of the game to win and cover by a final score of 33-26. It’s the first time a team holding the lead covered on a defensive touchdown in the last 10 seconds of a game since the Eagles did it in 2019 against Washington, according to ESPN Research.
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For the second week in a row, after Ravens RB Derrick Henry failed to find the end zone, two of the most popular and shortest odds Anytime Touchdown Scorers did not come through for bettors. Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley (-160) and Falcons RB Bijan Robinson (-250) were both among the most-bet players to score on Sunday at the major sportsbooks, including second and third, respectively, at ESPN BET.
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With Sunday’s 41-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Tennessee Titans fall to 3-17 ATS under Brian Callahan, the worst ATS record for any head coach in the Super Bowl era (minimum of 10 games) and the worst 20-game start for any coach’s tenure, according to ESPN Research.
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Thirteen entries failed to submit their Week 3 pick for the Circa Survivor contest, resulting in an automatic elimination.
Sept. 19: Warren eyes history as OROY co-favorite
Doug Greenberg: Just like his team as a whole, Indianapolis Colts TE Tyler Warren has gotten off to an excellent start this season, racking up 11 catches and 155 yards across his first two NFL games. That production, along with meager starts for several of the preseason favorites, has propelled Warren to the top of the Offensive Rookie of the Year odds board.
Warren is tied with Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka for the best odds to win the award at +425, per ESPN BET. Preseason favorites, Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty and Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward, have fallen to a tie right behind them at +500.
Ward, Jeanty and Egbuka being in the favorite conversation makes a lot of sense given quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers are, historically, the ones that win the award: The longest drought among those three positions belongs to RBs, who haven’t seen one of their own win it since Saquon Barkley in 2018.
By contrast, a tight end winning Offensive Rookie of the Year is exceedingly rare: It has only happened once in NFL history and that was by Hall of Famer Mike Ditka back in 1961, before the Super Bowl era.
Further, Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers put up a historically great rookie season in 2024, leading the position in yards (1,194) and receptions (112), breaking Ditka’s rookie tight end receiving yards record, and even setting the record for receptions by a rookie, regardless of position. Not only was that not enough to win Offensive Rookie of the Year over Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels, it wasn’t even close according to oddsmakers, as ESPN BET made him only a +900 underdog at his shortest odds.
So for Warren to be sporting a favorite’s +425 for the award this early in the season likely says something about the competition he’s facing this season, as well as how oddsmakers are trying to get ahead of his potential liability later on. For now, he has only the 12th-most bets (2.9%) and 11th-most handle (2.8%) at ESPN BET, which also notes that he’s drawn the third-most tickets and money since the beginning of the season.
If Warren were to pull off the historic feat, he has a chance to make history in another way.
New York Giants LB Abdul Carter (+200) is still the favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year after entering the season with the best odds. If both Penn State alumni were to win, it would be just the fourth time in NFL history that one school produced both Rookies of the Year in the same season, and the first time since 1997. Leaning into the storyline, ESPN BET posted a special market for Warren and Carter to both win the awards at +1500.
Sept. 15: Bengals’ odds plummet after Burrow injury
Joe Burrow‘s injured toe transformed the Cincinnati Bengals into Super Bowl long shots and underdogs to even make the playoffs.
Burrow, the Bengals’ star quarterback, will undergo surgery and miss a minimum of three months, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday Following the injury, the Bengals’ Super Bowl odds moved from 20-1 to 75-1 at ESPN BET. Cincinnati went from -155 favorites to make the playoffs on Sunday to +210 underdogs to reach the postseason at the sportsbook.
Burrow, at 11-1, was among the favorites to win regular-season MVP and attracted more than double the amount of bets of any other player at ESPN BET. On Monday, Burrow was taken off the board as a betting option on the MVP. While the Bengals’ futures odds took a big hit with Burrow’s injury, Cincinnati remained only a small underdog in its Week 3 road game at Minnesota. The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas had the Vikings listed as 1.5-point favorites in their early line on the game that was available last week. The point spread had ticked up to Vikings -3.5 Monday before dropping back to Minnesota -2.5 Monday afternoon, after reports that Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was battling an ankle injury and could miss Sunday’s game.
John Murray, vice president of the SuperBook, said the relatively small adjustment is mostly due to the quality of Cincinnati backup quarterback Jake Browning. “That speaks to the competency level of the backup,” Murray said of the line adjustment. “If Browning doesn’t play well today in relief of Burrow, you’re most likely looking at a bigger adjustment.” Browning threw for 242 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, after replacing Burrow in the first half of the Bengals’ 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars
Liam Rosenior has refused to be drawn on Enzo Fernández‘s agent’s criticism of Chelsea but insisted “things aren’t what people maybe think they are” regarding the player’s future.
Fernández was dropped for Saturday’s 7-0 FA Cup quarterfinal thrashing of League One strugglers Port Vale, but attended the game in support of his teammates.
The 25-year-old will also miss next weekend’s Premier League clash with Manchester City after twice casting doubt over his future, initially in an interview with ESPN Argentina after the club’s Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain.
Fernández went further when speaking during the international break, suggesting “I’d like to live in Spain, I really like Madrid” amid ongoing speculation over a possible move to Real Madrid.
He has a contract at Stamford Bridge until 2032 and sources have told ESPN they value Fernández in excess of £100 million ($132m).
Rosenior claimed Fernández had “crossed a line” and sanctioned the player with what is effectively a two-game ban.
However, Fernández’s agent Javier Pastore branded the decision “completely unfair.”
“We don’t understand the punishment because he doesn’t mention any club or say he wants to leave Chelsea,” Pastore said.
Asked about Pastore’s intervention, Rosenior said: “That’s his opinion. I don’t have anything to say on someone else’s opinion. Enzo knows what I think of him and it was brilliant to see him here to support the players today.
“We’ll move forward and make sure we have a really good run-in in the season.
“I said yesterday, the conversations I have with my individual players, with Enzo, with anyone in the squad when it comes to things like this, stay within.
1:21
Gibbs: Chelsea’s huge Port Vale win ‘a step in the right direction’
Kieran Gibbs reacts to Chelsea’s much-needed FA Cup win over Port Vale after an eventful week off the pitch.
“The dressing room is sacred. I made it really clear what I think of him as a person.
“He’s a top, top guy. But at the same time, I want us now to focus on the football and achieve what we want to achieve through the season.”
Rosenior was pushed to answer whether Fernández felt the suspension was unfair.
“In the right time, in the right moment, which isn’t now, going through what we’ve gone through, I’m sure the discussion will happen in terms of what’s been said between me and Enzo,” the Chelsea boss said.
“Enzo and I are in a very good place. I saw him today, had a really good conversation with him today one-to-one, and things aren’t what people maybe think they are.”
Chelsea eased to victory through goals from Jorrel Hato and João Pedro before an own goal from Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel put the Blues 3-0 up at the break.
– Enzo Fernández’s agent: Chelsea punishment ‘completely unfair’
– ‘Not a leader’ – John Obi Mikel slams Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández
– Chelsea hammer Port Vale 7-0 in FA Cup quarterfinal
Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Estêvão and an Alejandro Garnacho penalty ensured Chelsea reached the semifinals.
However, Rosenior revealed they had suffered a fresh injury blow after Jamie Gittens sustained another setback.
“Unfortunately, Jamie, in training yesterday, picked up what looks like a hamstring injury again,” Rosenior said.
“We have to scan him and make sure.
“It’s a real shame for him, I think it’s the third time it’s happened. We need to help him and we need to make sure he’s ok. I can’t give you a time frame on that at the moment.”
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The UConn Huskies men’s basketball team is headed back to the national championship game for the third time in the last four years after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Final Four.
The Huskies, who were leading by as much as 14 points, fended off a late 10-0 run from Illinois to keep their championship hopes alive. Tarris Reed Jr. ended the run with a lay-up in the paint, then a turnover led to a Solo Ball one-handed slam.
UConn forward Jayden Ross celebrates his shot against Illinois during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four in Indianapolis on April 4, 2026. (Abbie Parr/AP)
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
They don’t come any tougher — especially mentally — than Dawn Staley. She didn’t, by accident, drive her way out of North Philadelphia to become an All-American, All-WNBA and Olympic gold medal-winning player, and then an iconic, hard-charging national championship-winning coach.
So here’s guessing she’ll be fine, or already is fine, no matter the strange and wild outburst she endured from Geno Auriemma on Friday after her South Carolina Gamecocks defeated his UConn Huskies 62-48 in the national semifinals.
“We move on,” Staley said on ESPN, still seeming bewildered by what exactly had happened.
Indeed, she and her team move on to bigger and more important things, namely Sunday’s national championship game against UCLA, where Staley could win her fourth title as a coach.
Staley shouldn’t spend a second looking backward.
It’s Auriemma who needs to figure out how to deal with this. Not just in trying to make amends — he issued an apology Saturday (in which he didn’t mention Staley by name) that he should have delivered immediately. More importantly, he needs to keep it from ever happening again, because he has too much to lose if he doesn’t.
To recap, Auriemma began barking at Staley during the postgame handshake, which should have been congratulatory but instead got contentious. There these two were, shouting in each other’s faces, having to be held back by assistant coaches.
It was like some cartoonish WWE bit (it’s not like Staley was going to back down, after all). And it was over, what exactly?
Auriemma kept trying to dodge the question postgame before finally saying he was troubled that Staley hadn’t shaken his hand before the game (she actually had) and that he had stood around for “three minutes” waiting for her to meet him at center court.
“I just said what I had to say,” Auriemma said.
Except it didn’t need to be said. Whatever perceived slight Geno felt should have been internalized. He would never accept a player being thrown off her game from such a minor incident.
Instead, in a fit, he came across as petty, personal and completely unbecoming of who he’s always been.
Some of that sanity sunk in by Saturday afternoon.
“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina,” Auriemma said in a statement. “It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut.
“I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina,” he continued. “It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
Auriemma is an absolute legend in women’s basketball; a Hall of Famer, a gold medal-winning coach, a 12-time NCAA champion. Maybe most remarkably, 41 years into his career, he’s as good as ever. UConn is, at least until Sunday, still the reigning national champion. The loss to South Carolina broke a 54-game winning streak.
It’s more than just all these victories — 1,288 of them, at a .886 clip. It’s how he won them.
An Italian immigrant who grew up in Philly himself, Auriemma did it with intensity, bravado, charisma and unapologetic competitiveness. He took no quarter. He never accepted that women’s basketball should take a back seat to anything.
He’s never been for everyone. His scraps through the years have extended from NCAA administrators to chief rival Pat Summitt to even UConn colleague Jim Calhoun, who built a dueling powerhouse on the men’s side in Storrs.
Auriemma, along with Summitt and others, helped redefine women’s sports by ignoring a society that saw women athletes as fragile and instead coaching them just as athletes, thus driving them to levels no one saw as possible.
In the process, he lifted the entire sport by redefining greatness, annually raising the bar and by doing it in the Northeast, backyard to the national media.
You can’t write the history of women’s basketball, or basketball at all, without Geno Auriemma. The entire operation owes him.
Which is what makes Friday so disappointing to even his greatest fans.
At age 72, he needs to be particularly mindful of his actions. He needs to be supportive, not petulant; gracious, not emotional. He’s the elder statesman, not the kick-down-the-door young guy. Lashing out is an act of ego and immaturity. He’s better than such antics.
He needs to lift others up, even after bitter defeats, not try to tear them down.
He’s done too much, accomplished too many things, positively impacted too many people to tarnish his legacy in the final chapters of what is otherwise one of the greatest stories ever told.
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