NFL betting: Best and worst teams of the season ATS and O/U, plus Week 18 matchups to monitor

It's hard to believe we're already here, with just one week of the NFL regular season left. 17 weeks down, there's plenty of betting trends and data available for us to both examine and trust. The hope here is that we can find a few Week 18 games of interest by looking at the best and worst teams against the spread at against the totals.

Best NFL teams ATS this season

1. Detroit Lions (11-5)
2. Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
3. Cleveland Browns (10-5-1)
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6)
5. Miami Dolphins (10-6)
6. Las Vegas Raiders (9-6-1)
7. Los Angeles Rams (9-6-1)
8. Chicago Bears (8-6-2)
9. Seattle Seahawks (8-6-2)

There's some teams you'd expect to see here, like the Lions, Ravens and Browns, and then there's some surprising squads, like the Raiders and Bears. Perhaps for Las Vegas and Chicago, these performances against the spread are reasons for optimism in 2024, as both are eliminated from the postseason this year.

Each team that has covered the spread in four or more games than not would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

Worst NFL teams ATS this season

1. Carolina Panthers (4-10-2)
2. Atlanta Falcons (5-11)
3. New Orleans Saints (5-10-1)
4. New England Patriots (5-10-1)
5. New York Jets (5-10-1)
6. Buffalo Bills (6-10)
7. Los Angeles Chargers (6-10)
8. Tennessee Titans (6-9-1)
9. Denver Broncos (6-9-1)
10. Washington Commanders (6-9-1)

Quite the representation here from the NFC South and AFC East, with the two divisions combining to form the worst six teams against the spread this season. Only Buffalo is pushing for a postseason spot at this point among the 10 teams above.

Best teams against the over

1. Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
2. Arizona Cardinals (10-6)
3. Cleveland Browns (10-6)
4. Detroit Lions (10-6)
5. Green Bay Packers (10-6)
6. Miami, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Cincinnati (9-7)

For much of the season, unders were reigning supreme in the NFL betting market. Because of that, lines adjusted, which has aided a rush of overs in recent weeks. 11 teams are hitting the over at a 56.3% rate or better now.

Best teams against the under

1. Carolina Panthers (11-5)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (11-5)
3. Tennessee Titans (11-5)
4. New Orleans Saints (11-5)
5. Los Angeles Chargers (11-5)
6. Las Vegas Raiders (11-5)
7. Houston, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, NY Giants, Buffalo, Atlanta (10-6)

Another five teams are 9-7 to the under, but we can't simply go ahead and list 20 total teams in this section. As you can see, unders have been the more profitable path for the majority of the league this season. Curiously, there's only a few postseason teams in this bunch.