The NFL is offering plenty of offense this Christmas, with two of the top offenses in the league set to meet and four games with an over/under set at 51.5 points or more in Week 16.
The number of high point totals shouldn’t be a surprise, according to analysts from TheLines, which tracks odds in US regulated sports betting markets. In fact, the NFL is on a historic scoring pace.
Sunday night’s game between the Tennessee Titans and the Green Bay Packers promises two of the most prolific scoring teams in the NFL. The Titans lead the league with 31.1 points per game, while the Packers are third at 31 points per game.
Total points for the game as of Monday morning is 56, according to a consensus of the nation’s largest legal online sportsbooks including DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, PlaySugarHouse, BetMGM, Unibet, and William Hill. No game has offered more points this season.
However, games offered at 50 total points or more have not been uncommon this year, as there were five such games in Week 15 alone. Points have been up significantly all year.
Through the first 15 weeks, teams are averaging 24.8 points per game, which is up from the 22.8 points per game achieved in 2019. Unless there’s a points outage over the season’s final games, the 2020 season should break the average scoring record of 23.6 points per team per game set in 1948.
Brett Collson, lead analyst for TheLines.com: “In a season of anomalies, we may never see so many high point totals again.
“There are so many reasons why scoring is up, and many of them are related to the pandemic, from fewer distractions with teams being in relative isolation to quiet stadiums helping road teams stay in sync. Regardless, oddsmakers continue to do well in making adjustments.”
The Packers are four-point favorites in their Monday night game against the Titans, but the biggest favorites of the week are the Kansas City Chiefs, who are 10.5 point favorites in their home contest against the Atlanta Falcons.
Meanwhile, the biggest away favorites are the Cleveland Browns, as they’re 10-point favorites in their clash against the New York Jets, who won their first game of the season last time out against the Los Angeles Rams.
The consensus point spreads for Week 16, as of Monday, Dec. 21:
- Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints (-7); over/under 51.5
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-9) at Detroit Lions; over/under 53.5
- San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (-3.5); over/under 49.5
- Miami Dolphins (-2.5) at Las Vegas Raiders; over/under 47.5
- Carolina Panthers at Washington Football Team (-1.5); over/under 44.5
- Chicago Bears (-7) at Jacksonville Jaguars; over/under 47
- Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans (-8.5); over/under 45
- Cleveland Browns (-10) at New York Jets; over/under 44.5
- Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3); over/under N/A
- New York Giants at Baltimore Ravens (-10); over/under N/A
- Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers (-3); over/under 48.5
- Atlanta Falcons at Kansas City Chiefs (-10.5); over/under 53
- Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks (-1.5); over/under 46.5
- Philadelphia Eagles (-1.5) at Dallas Cowboys; over/under 49.5
- Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers (-4); over/under 56
- Buffalo Bills (-6.5) at New England Patriots; over/under 45
