NFL Week 13 Pros vs Joes: Sharp money flips line for 49ers

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.

Before you make your NFL bets this weekend, it's worth knowing which side other bettors are backing - especially on games drawing sharp action.

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 this week's slate.

Colts (-3, 51) @ Texans, Dec. 6 @ 1 p.m. ET

A week after the Colts were blown out by the Titans, public bettors are expecting them to bounce back in a strong way against another division rival.

As of late Friday, Indianapolis had drawn six times as many tickets in straight bets with an 100-to-1 edge in money wagered, moving the line from 2.5 to 3 as of Saturday. Parlay bettors are also betting the Colts at a 4-to-1 rate over the Texans, who have won three straight against the spread.

"We've had several dime bets," Rood said Friday of the action on Indianapolis. "Nothing sharp to this point."

Jaguars @ Vikings (-10, 51), Dec. 6 @ 1 p.m.

Another public target is the Vikings, who are just the second team this season to give at least 10 points to their opponent despite having a losing record.

Bettors don't mind the price, laying 300 times as much money on Minnesota as of Friday against the Jaguars, the team with 10 straight losses since their season-opening win over the Colts. Some of that is sharp, Rood said, though most of it is public bettors expecting a Sunday blowout.

"We're not seeing any buyback at +10 on the Jags," Rood said.

Raiders (-8, 46.5) @ Jets, Dec. 6 @ 1 p.m.

The Raiders laid an egg as public favorites a week ago, but bettors are giving them a second chance this week in a bounce-back spot against the winless Jets.

Las Vegas opened as a 7.5-point favorite before some semi-sharp money bumped that number up to 8, Rood said. As of late Friday, the Raiders had seen seven times as many tickets with 150 times as much money wagered in straight bets. Las Vegas has had a major advantage in parlay activity, too.

"It's not necessarily about the Raiders but probably more about the Jets," Rood said.

Eagles @ Packers (-8.5, 48.5), Dec. 6 @ 4:25 p.m.

As has been the case for much of this season, bettors are all-in on the Packers - this week in a big chalk spot against the volatile Eagles.

Green Bay has earned 10 times as much money as Philly on twice as many straight-bet tickets, which nudged the opening line up from 8 to 9 before a small adjustment back to 8.5 on Saturday. A 20-to-1 advantage in parlay money toward the Packers suggests an even bigger run of public money could come on the home side by kickoff.

"It's almost all Packers money at this point," Rood said Friday. "Nobody's buying into the fluky cover by the Eagles last week."

Bills @ 49ers (-1, 47.5), Dec. 7 @ 8:15 p.m.

The only line to flip this week comes on Monday night, when the 49ers will likely close as favorites over the visiting Bills in one of Week 13's best matchups.

Buffalo opened as 2.5-point chalk, but a couple of sharp plays on San Francisco swung the line in its favor for the 49ers' first game in Arizona. Ticket count is almost even between the two, and the parlay activity is in favor of the Bills at a 5-to-1 clip.

It's still not enough to offset the sharp play on the Niners, who have seen eight times as much straight-bet money and will likely be favored for the first time since Week 5.

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

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.

Copyright (C) 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.