NFL betting recap: The Bengals' victory over the Chiefs had massive impacts everywhere, including the betting world

Week 13 of the NFL schedule was littered with interesting matchups. Overall, the week featured six matchups between teams with winning records. The most intriguing game of the week might have been the Kansas City Chiefs visiting the Cincinnati Bengals. It was a rematch of the AFC Conference Championship game from last season, where the Bengals came from behind to clinch a spot in the Super Bowl. Kansas City entered this matchup as a 2.5-point road favorite over Cincinnati.

Kansas City entered the week as the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl, and they had the inside track to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Bengals were neck-and-neck with the Baltimore Ravens for the top spot in the AFC North. Additionally, they were trying to distance themselves from the rest of the teams competing for a wild-card spot in the AFC.

On top of all of that, there was the betting intrigue. The Chiefs-Bengals game was one of the more bet games of the day, and that action was rather lopsided. At BetMGM, 77% of bets were backing the Chiefs to cover as a short road favorite. Additionally, 79% of the money was on the game to go over the extremely high total of 53 points.

Bengals pulled out big win

Things started off extremely well for Cincinnati. They got the ball to begin the game and found the end zone on their first drive, as Joe Burrow capped things off with a 4-yard touchdown run. Kansas City answered with a field goal, but Burrow and company went on another impressive drive. It was capped with a Tee Higgins touchdown that extended Cincinnati's lead to 14-3.

Cincinnati forced a punt on Kansas City's next drive, and it felt like they had all the momentum. Then, things suddenly turned. They were forced to punt themselves. Then, Patrick Mahomes embarked on a 14-play, 81-yard drive that was capped with a 2-yard touchdown reception from Jerick McKinnon. On Cincinnati's next drive, they drove the ball inside Kansas City's five-yard line. Facing a 4th-and-1, the Bengals decided to go for it but a jet sweep called for backup wide receiver Trent Taylor was immediately sniffed out and blown up.

Entering halftime down three, the Chiefs had the momentum and they took advantage of that on the first drive of the second half. Isiah Pacheco found the end zone, and suddenly, the Chiefs had a 17-14 lead. Cincinnati answered with a field goal to tie the game. On Kansas City's next drive, the Chiefs went for it on 4th-and-goal from the three-yard line. Mahomes scrambled and just barely broke the plane of the goal line before fumbling to give Kansas City a seven point lead. The Bengals responded with a field goal to cut the lead to four, and then the game turned.

Mahomes found Travis Kelce for a nice gain near midfield, but Kelce was stripped of the ball by Germaine Pratt. Cincinnati recovered the fumble and armed with a short field, Burrow took advantage. The drive was capped off by Burrow finding Chris Evans for a touchdown. Suddenly, the Chiefs trailed by a score of 27-24.

Needing a field goal to tie, the Chiefs got into range for Harrison Butker. Facing a 3rd-and-3 from the 33-yard line, the Bengals' defense made a play when Joseph Ossai sacked Mahomes for a four yard loss. Suddenly, the kick was a 55-yarder and Butker couldn't make it. The Chiefs never saw the ball again as the Bengals ran out the clock on offense. The key play was Burrow standing in the pocket and delivering a strike to Tee Higgins for a 14-yard gain on 3rd-and-11 for a game-clinching first down.

With the Chiefs' loss, the Buffalo Bills now have the top seed in the AFC due to head-to-head tiebreaker. As a result, the Bills are once again the Super Bowl favorites. The Bengals are also now basically a coin-flip to win their division at +115. Lamar Jackson was injured for the Ravens on Sunday.

Of course, it was also a bad loss for the betting public who lined up to back the Chiefs. Laying less than a field goal with Mahomes and company will always be appealing, but the Bengals got it done against Kansas City for a third straight time. They've been an underdog in all three games.

The under in Commanders-Giants was quite the sweat

The New York Giants and Washington Commanders met at MetLife Stadium for a key game in the NFC wild-card race. The Giants were 2.5-point home underdogs and the total was set at 40.5 points.

The game went according to script. The Commanders came out to an early 10-0 lead but by halftime, the game was tied at 13. Both teams managed one touchdown each in the second half to force a 20-20 tie at the end of regulation.

If you had the game to go under 40.5-points, your only chance for a win was a scoreless overtime period and the game ending in a tie. Well, somehow, you got just that.

The teams exchanged punts to open overtime. The Giants had the ball on the plus side of midfield, facing a 4th-and-3 from Washington's 45-yard line. Brian Daboll, who has been quite aggressive all season long, suddenly wasn't. He took the delay of game penalty and punted the ball to Washington. The Giants' defense forced another punt from the Commanders.

The Giants got the ball back with 28 seconds left at their own 43-yard line. Daniel Jones found Richie James for a 14-yard gain to get into Washington territory. They picked up a few more yards before trotting Graham Gano out for a game-winning field goal attempt. However, Gano was way short from 58-yards out and the game ended in a tie.

The bettor in the above tweet had a nice payday, but if you took the over, it was a miserable experience. Also, anyone who took the Giants on the moneyline rather than at +2.5 on the spread must have been kicking themselves as well. Ties are always weird, not just in the standings, but from a betting perspective as well.

Cowboys bettors were sweating for three quarters

Sunday Night Football wasn't an appealing matchup on paper. In fact, a lot of people were upset the game wasn't flexed out of a primetime slot. The Dallas Cowboys closed as an 11-point favorite over the Indianapolis Colts.

However, for a while, we got a much better game than we expected. The Colts took an early lead in the first quarter and hung around for a while. When they scored in the third quarter, they cut Dallas' lead down to just two points at 21-19. If you laid the points with Dallas, you weren't feeling great. If you had the Colts as an 11-point underdog, you had to be feeling good entering the fourth quarter.

Those good feelings quickly dissipated in what could be best described as a surreal and impressive meltdown in the fourth quarter by the Colts. Michael Gallup scored early in the quarter for Dallas to open up a nine point lead. Still, the Colts were covering. It looked like this game was going to come down to the wire. Maybe not from an actual outcome perspective, but at the very least, bettors were expecting to end their Sunday nights with some sweats.

On Indianapolis' ensuing offensive possession, they had a chance to cut into Dallas' lead. Instead, Mo Alie-Cox fumbled and former Colt Malik Hooker scooped it and scored. Now, Dallas was up 15 points. They were covering, but the backdoor was wide open. Could Matt Ryan and the Colts get there?

The answer was no. Ryan threw an interception on his next drive. Tony Pollard then found the end zone from 30 yards out. Matt Ryan then threw another interception that was turned into a touchdown from Ezekiel Elliott. On the Colts' ensuing drive, Matt Ryan was sacked and fumbled. Malik Davis, Dallas' third string running back, turned that turnover into a touchdown. Suddenly, Dallas was up 54-19.

It ended up being a 35 point win for Dallas. If you were just checking scores at the end of the night, you probably though Cowboys' bettors had an easy win as an 11-point favorite. However, they certainly weren't feeling good entering the fourth quarter. A two point deficit was turned into a 35 point loss thanks to four turnovers and zero defensive stops from Indianapolis.

Browns' offense doesn't score, but they still cover as touchdown favorites

Deshaun Watson made his season debut for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. He's expected to take the offense to another level, a level higher than we've seen from Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett in recent seasons. His first test was a road game against his former team in Houston. The Browns were 7.5-point road favorites.

If I told you the Browns' offense would score zero touchdowns, you probably wouldn't have liked their chances to win the game. You certainly would have thought they'd have almost no chance of covering as a favorite of over a touchdown on the road.

Well, the Houston Texans find a new way to impress every week. Watson completed just 12 passes for 131 passing yards. Nick Chubb had a solid game, but nothing too crazy with 80 yards. The Browns' offense was lifeless.

They trailed Houston 5-0 late in the first half. It was as ugly as that score would indicate. However, the Texans punted the ball back to Cleveland, and Donovan Peoples-Jones returned the punt for a 60-yard touchdown. Cleveland entered halftime with a 7-5 lead. They extended that lead to 14-5 when Denzel Ward recovered and returned a Kyle Allen fumble for a touchdown. The two teams exchanged field goals, giving Cleveland a 17-8 advantage.

At that point, Tony Fields, a Browns' linebacker, intercepted Allen for a pick-6 touchdown. Cade York added another field goal. The Browns had a 27-8 lead late in the fourth quarter. Allen and the Texans' found the end zone with a garbage time touchdown to Nico Collins, but the Browns still pulled out the 27-14 win.

If you're laying over a touchdown on the road in the NFL, you're gonna want the team you bet on to score at least one touchdown. Browns' bettors didn't need it on Sunday.