NFL Week 14 action report: Bettors love streaking Ravens

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The NFL season is entering Week 14 with some big matchups on the slate. Where is the sharp money going? Which lines are moving the most? We're tracking the games that are drawing the most interest from bettors.

We talked to Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader, to see how sharps and public bettors are playing the Week 14 schedule.

All lines courtesy of theScore Bet.

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints (-2.5, 44)

For the second straight week, the 49ers are road underdogs to another Super Bowl contender. This time, bettors are buying San Francisco, even after last week's straight-up loss to the Ravens.

The Niners are seeing a 2-to-1 edge in the bet count and a whopping 7-to-1 advantage in money. The money gap would seem to suggest some sharp play on the road 'dogs, but Rood says sharps have mostly stayed away from this game.

"We've got predominantly 49er money, but it's generally public money at this point," Rood said.

Could the line bounce back to Saints -3? Rood says parlay and teaser indicators hint at more money coming San Fran's way, so this game could easily close at -2.5 or shorter. If sharps like the short number, though, don't be surprised to see a solid -3 at kickoff.

Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots (-3, 49)

The Patriots have won 21 straight home games, covering 16 during that stretch. None of that matters to early bettors, who are fading New England as a short home favorite after two lethargic wins and two convincing losses in its last four games.

The Chiefs are drawing twice as many tickets and an eye-popping 10-to-1 advantage in money behind plenty of sharp play. It's a scary proposition for the book, Rood says - he'd much rather rely on a bad team surprising the public than on a quality team laying points.

"It's kind of bizarre right now," he said. "We're probably gonna need the Patriots. And typically when you're in a position where you need a pretty good team, that's always a scary position."

Baltimore Ravens (-6, 43.5) at Buffalo Bills

Rarely in recent seasons has a nine-win team caught this many points at home this late in the year. That says less about the Bills than it does about the Ravens, who are tearing through the NFL at a historic pace amid an eight-game win streak.

"The Ravens are getting all the money here as the road favorite under a touchdown," Rood said. "That's an enticing spot that most public players can't pass up."

Baltimore opened at -5.5 but took enough money to move to -6, where the Ravens are still drawing more action than the Bills. Entering the weekend, Baltimore was seeing six times as many bets as Buffalo and 70 times as much money - with less than $100 laid on the Bills.

"We slowed down the Raven train last week with the 49er cover, but they're still playing really good ball," Rood said. "Hopefully, we can get a Bills cover here."

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (-7.5, 41)

The week's biggest mover is the unappetizing matchup between the slumping Browns and one-win Bengals. Bettors saw early value on Cincinnati, which opened at +10 at theScore Bet and even higher elsewhere but sits at +7.5 as of Saturday.

"The market has kind of spoken and said 8.5 and 9.5 is too high," Rood said.

Rood says most of the action came at +8.5, leaving books holding 10 times more Bengals money than Browns money as of Friday. Parlay activity has been pretty split and there's decent two-way action at 7.5, but don't expect late Browns play to balance the books. Instead, Rood said, this could be a situation in which sharps and public bettors are riding the same side.

"I don't know if the public will come back around on the Browns," Rood said. "The public is kind of choppy on them right now."

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.

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