National Football League

NFL Week 8 odds: 'Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda' parlay; five bets that would've won big

Updated Oct. 29, 2024 2:42 p.m. ET

With NFL Week 8 odds – and National Tight Ends Day – behind us, there are plenty of people playing Monday morning quarterback. So we at FOX Sports are gonna play Tuesday morning quarterback for the sports betting crowd.

No question, the public betting masses enjoy wagering on parlays. And we get it. Betting a little to win a lot is appealing, like the lottery, or in this instance, perhaps a mini-lottery.

However, remember this, too: Parlays are a bookmaker’s best friend.

That being said, what if I told you that betting $10 on: the second tight-end ever to record 1,000 yards in his rookie season to score first; the Bears leading rusher to score first; the NFC's Super Bowl participant from two seasons ago to win straight up; a team that made the AFC Divisional round last season to cover a three-point spread; and a matchup between last year's passing leader and a former Heisman Trophy winner to go over 46 points would profit you over $9,000?

In Week 8, it would have. So with that in mind, here’s this week’s edition of …

Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Wouldn’t it have been nice to turn 10 bucks into nine thousand dollars or so? The following five-team parlay in DraftKings Sportsbook’s NFL Week 8 odds would’ve done just that:

Kyle Pitts +1100 to score the first touchdown in the Falcons-Buccaneers game
D’Andre Swift +800 to score the first touchdown in the Bears-Commanders game
Eagles moneyline +130 vs. Bengals
Bills -3 (-110) vs. Seahawks
Cardinals-Dolphins Over 46.5 total points (-110)

Again, Sunday was National Tight Ends Day. So we had to include a tight end among first touchdown scorers. Pitts fit the bill, hitting the end zone just two minutes in during Atlanta’s 31-26 victory at Tampa Bay.

The Bears-Commanders game was a field-goal fest through almost three quarters, with Washington leading 12-0. So that was the biggest sweat of this hypothetical five-leg player-prop parlay.

Then Chicago running back Swift broke off a 55-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. By now, we all know how that game ended. But Swift got the first touchdown.

Philadelphia, a short underdog at Cincinnati, was a popular underdog bet to win the game outright. And the Eagles did just that, rolling to a 37-17 victory.

The public was all over Buffalo as a 3-point favorite, as well. The Bills breezed to a 31-10 victory at Seattle.

And with the return of Tua Tagovailoa, there was a sense that Miami – which scored 15 points or less in five straight games – would see its offense get back on track. That happened, and though the Dolphins lost 28-27 on a final-second field goal, the Over hit even before that field goal.

Add it all up, and you’ve got odds of +90433, or ostensibly 904/1. So that 10 bucks on a five-leg parlay turns a profit of $9,043.30. Don’t forget that 30 cents on the end!

To reiterate, there’s a reason the odds are so long on these types of bets. And bookmakers want nothing more than for you to add more and more legs to your parlay tickets.

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.