LAS VEGAS - These are ESPN Chalk's weekly NFL betting recaps for every Week 7 game -- with an emphasis on the word "betting."
Sometimes it's clear from the opening kickoff that a team is going to win and/or cover the spread. Other times it looks like one team is going to coast to victory when the other one rallies, causing bettors to wonder how they could have possibly lost that game and crying "bad beat!" Of course, there also are the back-and-forth, 50-50 games that are virtual coin flips.
This new column, which will also include my takeaways from each game, will separate the different kind of point-spread results from each week, and is intended to be a quick overview for those who have to work on NFL Sundays or otherwise aren't able to watch all the games. We'll also incorporate Rufus Peabody's numbers to give an analytical look at which teams should've covered.
So let's run down Sunday's Week 7 action (plus Thursday's game) as the San Diego-Atlanta game was the closest we had to a bad beat (though it certainly was for those on the Atlanta money line or using in a teaser). Arizona also should have won.
Note: We'll point out crazy over/under results, but this is primarily a recap of the against-the-spread (ATS) results.
Bad Beats (clearly wrong sides)
Atlanta (-6.5) losing 33-30 at home against San Diego
This wasn't the worst bad beat we've seen, but the Chargers have to feel great about being on the winning side of one of these.