NFL Public Betting Trends – Latest Bet & Money Percentages for Week 2

NFL public betting trends for the 2025-26 season reveal how bettors are wagering across spreads, totals, and moneylines. The tables above display the latest NFL public betting splits for every game of the 2025-26 NFL season. You can see the breakdown in bets/tickets as well as money/handle for the moneyline, spread, and total for all matchups.

NFL public betting splits above are updated hourly; the data presented in the public betting chart is an average of the NFL public bets and NFL public money from multiple North American and global sportsbooks that are approved by SBD.

Here is what we’re seeing from the money bet on Week 2 of the 2025-26 NFL season:

• In spite of the Lions’ lousy showing in Week 1, the public is loving them as they take on their old offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson. Detroit is seeing 91% of the money bet against the spread as 6.5-point favorites, and this split has gone more and more in the Lions’ favor since we saw the Packers, who made them look bad last week, beat up the Commanders too.
• There are three other teams receiving at least 80% of the ATS money in their respective matchups as of very early Sunday morning: the Chiefs +1.5 (vs Eagles), Cowboys -5.5 (vs Giants), and Falcons +3.5 (at Vikings).

If you have found the justification needed to place a bet from these NFL public betting splits, we also include the best odds for each in the table above. We know how valuable, yet tedious, line shopping is, and wanted to make sure we help you avoid one of the most common betting mistakes.

As you follow along each week, if you do see dramatic shifts in the public betting splits for any game, don’t always jump to the conclusion that you’re seeing some sharp money come in, or that there has been a big injury you missed. Quite often we will see ATS money percentages heavily influenced by key numbers in football spread betting. It’s important for you to know the key numbers in NFL betting, as it will help explain some of these movements/trends, and also help you determine if/when you should jump on a line.

Public’s NFL Betting Record

Betting against the public has become such a popular method for so many. But it’s not always the right strategy. I have tracked the public’s betting record against the spread above to help you determine whether you should tail or fade the public.

The public is off to a rough start this season, going 3-13 against the spread in Week 1. It hasn’t gotten better in Week 2 yet, as the public lost backing the Commanders on TNF.

Here is how the public has fared against the spread in games where more than 75% of the money is on one side (a pick they are very confident in) at closing:

• Week 2:
• Week 1: 1-3
• 2025-26 Overall: 1-3
• 2024-25 Overall: 28-16-2
• 2023-24 Overall: 32-28-2

Here are some quick stats looking back to the public’s 2024-25 (last year) record against the spread:

• Public went just 5-10-1 in Week 1
• First winning week did not come until Week 4
• Went on a crazy 23-5-1 run in Weeks 6 and 7
• Best performance of the season was Week 15, when the public went 13-3
• After a hot 5-1 start to the playoffs, the public broke even at 6-6 ATS

Sharp vs Public

Tracking sharp vs public action can be quite difficult, as many sportsbooks do not disclose the wagers of their VIPs immediately, or do not include them in their pre-game reporting. In an attempt to do so here, I am going to consider any game where there is (a) more than a 20% difference between bet and money percentages, and (b) the bet percentage favors one side, while the money percentage favors the other.

Here are the sharp vs public against the spread situations setting up for Week 2:

• Bears at Lions: Detroit is seeing 91% of the ATS money on just 37% of the bets. The public is backing the Ben Johnson narrative, while the sharp money seems to be on the Lions to bounce back in Week 2.
• 49ers at Saints: San Francisco is receiving 58% of the money bet against the spread on just 30% of the tickets. It appears the public wants to fade Mac Jones, who is starting in place of Brock Purdy, while the sharp money feels the 49ers have enough to still overcome Spencer Rattler.
• Falcons at Vikings: The public is falling in love with the JJ McCarthy story, as 79% of the ATS bets are on the Vikings -3.5, but the Falcons are seeing 81% of the handle.

Here are the results of the previous sharp vs public scenarios this season:

• Sharps: 0-1
• Public: 1-0

How to Read NFL Public Betting Data

Within each bet type – moneyline, spread, or totals – we have broken down the total bets and money placed on each side to bring you a percentage for each side. The sum of the two sides will of course be 100%. There are two different data points to consider for each bet type: money percentages and bet percentages.

When one side/team is showing more than 50% of the bets or money, it means the majority of the public is betting that side. When you see a percentage of 75% or above, it means the public is overwhelmingly in favor of that team/side.

What Are NFL Betting Trends?

Online sports betting sites are very good at bookkeeping. Every single bet they take from a customer is recorded and stored in their system. Using all these financial transactions, we can sew together NFL betting percentages based off the total number of bets placed and total amount of money bet on any given game, whether it be the moneyline, spread, or total. This data can help inform your decisions on any NFL betting apps you’re wagering with.

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What are Money Percentages?

In my opinion, the money percentage is the more important of the two NFL public betting percentages. You’ll often hear money percentages referred to as the “% of handle”. First off, the betting handle is simply the total amount of money wagered on an event, often broken down by bet type.

The money percentage simply pools all the money wagered on any game together, first sorting it by the type of bet (moneyline, against the spread, or over/under), and then breaks down what percentage of the handle is bet on each side.

The money percentage (obviously) tells you which side the money is on, and can give you a better picture of who the sharper bettors are siding with.

What Are Bet Percentages?

Though I don’t value betting percentages as much as money percentages, they still vital in helping to paint the full picture of NFL public betting. Bet percentages are frequently referred to as “% of tickets” or “% of bets”. Tickets are just a term used for all the bets placed – when you make a bet, a ticket is created.

To get the bet percentage, you look at all the bets placed (regardless of the amount of money risked on each one), again, sorting first by the type of bet, and then look at the percentage of tickets on each side of the game.

This is a more square way to look at NFL betting trends, since a $1 throw-away bet holds the same weight as a $1,000+ play.

How Can Bet Percentages and Money Percentages Signal Sharp Action?

As mentioned, ticket percentage does not consider the amount risked on each ticket, and just counts each bet placed. If we compare the bet percentage and money percentage of the same team (for the same bet type), you’ll know something is up if they are not relatively similar.

For example, if Team A has 78% of the tickets bet against the spread, but only has 50% of the money, we now know the bets being placed on Team A are quite small – or the bets being placed on Team B are quite large.

A large difference between a team’s bet and money percentages can help signal sharp action. In order to calculate this, just subtract their bet percentage from their money percentage. If the result is a positive number, you’ve got larger bets being placed on this team. If the result is a negative number, you’ve got larger bets being placed on the other team.

This is not 100% accurate in signaling sharp action, however. It does provide an early sign, but you’d need to know the total handle bet on the game to properly sniff out sharp action. For example, if a game only has $1,000 wagered on it, you can throw out the idea of sharp action.

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NFL Public Betting Trends FAQ

What is NFL public betting?

NFL public betting is a breakdown of the bets and money sportsbooks have taken from public bettors.

How accurate are public betting trends?

The accuracy of public betting trends depend on the source of your information. If you’re simply looking at the betting splits from one sportsbook, that won’t give you the full picture. Our public betting trends consider the bets and money taken at all major sportsbooks, and is accurate up to the hour.

Where can I find NFL public betting percentages?

SportsBettingDime’s NFL public betting splits page contains betting percentages and money splits for each NFL game of the season.

Is it better to bet against the public in NFL?

The general belief is that it is better to bet against the public. This is because public bettors are typically fans of the game, and will frequently back favorites and overs. But as we know, underdogs do win sometimes and the under also cashes.