NFL win totals: Six teams win totals undecided before Week 18

For all of the playoff spots and seeding scenarios at stake in the final week of the NFL season, Week 18 also serves as the highly anticipated final chapter for one of the most expansive and sweat-inducing betting markets in pro football: preseason win totals.

Entering the final week of the regular season, 26 of 32 teams have already cashed their preseason totals at BetMGM: 14 went over, 12 went under, and six teams remain in the balance ahead of Week 18.

For those of you with pending tickets and too much anxiety to do the math yourself – hey, we’ve been there – here’s a look at where all 32 teams stand entering the final week:

Odds updated as of 12:15 p.m. ET on Jan. 5.

No team exceeded expectations more than the Eagles, who flew past their preseason total (9.5) in November and have a chance to finish with an NFL-best 14-3 record with a win on Sunday – 4.5 wins ahead of what the betting market anticipated entering the season.

Fittingly, the Cowboys (9.5) sit right behind them with a 12-4 record and a chance to leapfrog the Eagles for the NFC’s top seed if all goes well this weekend. The Chiefs (10.5), Vikings (9.5), Giants (6.5) and Seahawks (5.5) all surpassed their preseason totals by multiple wins entering the final week, too.

There are only six teams whose win total could go either way heading into Week 18. Here’s a look at each team’s current record, preseason total and chances of winning this weekend:

Yet again, a promising season for the Ravens was marred by injuries, leaving Baltimore bettors sweating out an all-important Week 18 matchup against the Bengals.

The Ravens became just the third team in NFL history to lead by double digits in each of their first 10 games while also never trailing by double digits. But an injury to Lamar Jackson (knee), who’s still uncertain to play in Week 18, hindered this team down the stretch and leaves them as 7-point underdogs to upset their division rivals on Sunday.

The Chargers’ profile looks awfully similar to the Ravens’ based on record and preseason expectation. But this story couldn’t be any more different.

A 5-5 start left this team vulnerable to its third losing season in four years, but a 5-1 run since then propelled Los Angeles into the postseason for the first time in Justin Herbert’s career. Here’s the issue for over bettors: that strong run leaves little incentive to play the starters for the entirety of Sunday’s contest against the Broncos (-2) with a playoff berth already in the Chargers’ back pocket.

If you told over bettors that they’d need to sweat out their Dolphins win total wager in Week 12, when the team sat at 8-3 after two straight blowout wins, they’d tell you to kick rocks.

Now those betting slips look more likely than not to end up as mementos for one of the worst collapses in NFL history. Miami has lost five straight and is priced as a home underdog to the Jets in Sunday’s finale, with third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson likely to start under center in a game that will decide the Dolphins’ playoff fate – and win total.

» READ MORE: Eagles open as huge favorites over Giants in Week 18 with No. 1 seed on the line

The Patriots’ late-season collapse hasn’t been quite as dramatic as that of their division rivals, but New England still looked like it was in good shape to cash the over after a three-game win streak propelled them to 6-4 heading into Week 12.

A narrow loss to the Vikings sparked a 1-4 run before last week’s win over those lowly Dolphins, giving over bettors some late hope ahead of Week 18. Still, the Patriots remain 7-point underdogs to the Bills in a game that is still in flux per the league office.

This season has been an absolute rollercoaster for Commanders bettors, who saw this team start 2-4 under Carson Wentz before ripping off a 5-1-1 run under Taylor Heinicke heading into Washington’s Week 14 bye.

Then the wheels came off for Heinicke, too, and this team lost three straight while sitting at seven wins. (No, ties don’t count.) It won’t get any easier in Week 18 against the Cowboys (-7.5), especially with rookie Sam Howell getting his first start in a game that could see extended action for the Commanders’ backups.

The betting market didn’t have very high expectations for the Panthers, and appropriately so after this team slogged through the first 17 weeks with a pedestrian 6-10 record.

Under bettors should be feeling good with Carolina dealing as a road underdog against the Saints (-3.5). That said, the Panthers have won three of their last four games outright when catching points and could surprise once again to reward over bettors in the finale.

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.