NFL Betting Trends: Divisional Dogs of Seven

Many bettors don’t realize this initially, but divisional matchups are a lot different than regular contests. These teams know each other extremely well, so anything can happen.

Remember when the woeful Dolphins upset the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots on Monday Night Football a few years ago? How about the dreadful Bears sweeping the vastly superior Packers last season?

Not convinced yet? Well, because anything can happen in divisional battles, it would make sense to bet a big underdog in such a matchup. Listed below are ATS records of coaches in divisional games where the spread was seven or more (since 2002). As usual, it’s better to look at each situation than to bet something blindly.

Team	Coach	ATS Record as Divisional Dog of 7+
ARZ	Kliff Kingsbury	3-2
ARZ	Steve Wilks	1-2
ARZ	Bruce Arians	4-4
ARZ	Ken Whisenhunt	1-5
ATL	Arthur Smith	1-2
ATL	Raheem Morris	0-1
ATL	Dan Quinn	2-3
ATL	Mike Smith	3-3
BAL	John Harbaugh	4-2
BUF	Sean McDermott	2-3
BUF	Doug Marrone	2-1
BUF	Chan Gailey	4-2
BUF	Dick Jauron	4-5
CAR	Steve Wilks	1-0
CAR	Matt Rhule	2-3
CAR	Ron Rivera	5-2
CAR	John Fox	5-5
CHI	Matt Eberflus	1-2
CHI	Matt Nagy	1-3
CHI	John Fox	1-1
CHI	Marc Trestman	3-2
CHI	Lovie Smith	6-1
CIN	Zac Taylor	2-4
CIN	Marvin Lewis	7-8
CLE	Kevin Stefanski	0-1
CLE	Freddie Kitchens	1-1
CLE	Hue Jackson	2-7
CLE	Mike Pettine	2-3
CLE	Rob Chudzinski	0-2
CLE	Pat Shurmur	5-2
CLE	Eric Mangini	4-4
CLE	Romeo Crennel	3-5
DAL	Mike McCarthy	0-1
DAL	Jason Garrett	3-0
DAL	Wade Phillips	0-2
DEN	Nathaniel Hackett	2-0
DEN	Vic Fangio	2-4
DEN	Vance Joseph	1-2
DEN	John Fox	1-0
DEN	Eric Studesville	0-1
DEN	Josh McDaniels	0-2
DEN	Mike Shanahan	1-3
DET	Dan Campbell	2-1
DET	Matt Patricia	2-2
DET	Jim Caldwell	1-1
DET	Jim Schwartz	1-6
DET	Rod Marinelli	4-1
GB	Mike McCarthy	0-2
HOU	Lovie Smith	2-0
HOU	David Culley	2-2
HOU	Romeo Crennel	1-0
HOU	Bill O’Brien	0-2
HOU	Gary Kubiak	8-2
IND	Chuck Pagano	0-2
IND	Bruce Arians	0-1
IND	Jim Caldwell	0-2
IND	Tony Dungy	0-0
JAX	Urban Meyer	2-1
JAX	Doug Marrone	4-2
JAX	Gus Bradley	3-4
JAX	Mike Mularkey	1-0
JAX	Mel Tucker	1-0
JAX	Jack Del Rio	7-2
KC	Andy Reid	2-1
KC	Romeo Crennel	1-2
KC	Todd Haley	2-2
KC	Herman Edwards	6-3
LAC	Brandon Staley	1-0
LAC	Anthony Lynn	1-0
LAR	Sean McVay	2-0
LAR	Jeff Fisher	8-3
LV	Josh McDaniels	1-1
LV	Rich Bisaccia	0-1
LV	Jon Gruden	4-4
MIA	Mike McDaniel	2-0
MIA	Brian Flores	2-3
MIA	Adam Gase	2-2
MIA	PC Head Coach	1-1
MIA	Joe Philbin	0-2
MIA	Todd Bowles	1-0
MIA	Tony Sparano	2-1
MIN	Mike Zimmer	2-2
MIN	Leslie Frazier	2-4
MIN	Brad Childress	0-1
NE	Bill Belichick	0-2
NO	Sean Payton	3-0
NYG	Brian Daboll	2-2
NYG	Joe Judge	0-4
NYG	Pat Shurmur	0-2
NYG	Steve Spagnuolo	1-0
NYG	Ben McAdoo	1-1
NYG	Tom Coughlin	4-0
NYJ	Robert Saleh	3-2
NYJ	Adam Gase	2-5
NYJ	Todd Bowles	3-4
NYJ	Rex Ryan	7-2
NYJ	Eric Mangini	2-1
OAK	Jack Del Rio	2-1
OAK	Tony Sparano	2-4
OAK	Dennis Allen	1-4
OAK	Hue Jackson	1-0
OAK	Tom Cable	4-3
OAK	Lane Kiffin	0-3
PHI	Andy Reid	4-3
PIT	Mike Tomlin	4-0
SD	Mike McCoy	4-2
SD	Norv Turner	4-2
SEA	Pete Carroll	3-3
SEA	Jim Mora Jr.	0-1
SEA	Mike Holmgren	2-0
SF	Kyle Shanahan	2-4
SF	Chip Kelly	0-3
SF	Jim Tomsula	1-2
SF	Jim Harbaugh	0-1
SF	Mike Singletary	1-0
SF	Mike Nolan	5-2
STL	Steve Spagnuolo	1-7
STL	Jim Haslett	0-2
STL	Scott Linehan	0-2
TB	Bruce Arians	1-0
TB	Dirk Koetter	3-3
TB	Lovie Smith	3-1
TB	Greg Schiano	0-3
TB	Raheem Morris	4-4
TB	Jon Gruden	0-1
TEN	Mike Vrabel	1-0
TEN	Ken Whisenhunt	0-2
TEN	Mike Munchak	1-2
TEN	Jeff Fisher	4-4
WAS	Ron Rivera	2-1
WAS	Jay Gruden	2-3
WAS	Mike Shanahan	1-2
WAS	Jim Zorn	3-2

	Total Record	266-270