Thanksgiving and Black Friday delivered a crushing blow to bettors who stacked moneyline parlays on NFL favorites. The result was the best weekend many sportsbooks have seen all season.

"Traditionally, Thanksgiving weekend has been rough on bookmakers. This Thursday and Friday were really good," South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said.

Every Dog Has Its Day

The public flocked to parlay bets stringing together the four high-profile holiday games, hoping each favorite would deliver. Instead, underdogs systematically dismantled that strategy.

The Packers, 3-point road underdogs, defeated the Lions 31-24. The Cowboys, playing at home as 3.5-point underdogs, held off the Chiefs 31-28. Then came the biggest shock: Joe Burrow, making his first appearance since Week 2, led the 7.5-point road underdog Bengals to a 32-14 demolition of Baltimore on Thanksgiving night.

The damage continued Friday when the Bears, 7-point underdogs at Philadelphia, stunned the Eagles 24-15.

"It's no secret that Thursday was near enough to our best day of the NFL season. It's the best set of results I've seen for Thanksgiving," BetMGM trading manager Tristan Davis said.

"Results-wise, those were two of the best days we've seen in the NFL so far this year," fellow BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee added.

"Not the best week of the season for bettors," Caesars Sports head of football trading Joey Feazel conceded.

Sunday Give-And-Take

The Sunday slate opened poorly for public bettors, with underdogs covering 5-2 against the spread. The Panthers, 10-point home underdogs, shocked the hot Rams 31-28 and ended Los Angeles' six-game winning streak—a game that hit numerous parlay cards.

"It's funny the way that worked out. We needed the Rams to either blow the Panthers out or lose outright, and they lost outright. That was the big game for us," Andrews said.

The 49ers dominated the Browns 26-8 as 5-point road favorites, another win for the books. But not all sportsbooks benefited equally.

"We lost our biggest decision of the early games with the Browns. That wasn't good for us. Thursday and Friday were good. Today was no good," one oddsmaker noted.

Favorites finally showed up in the late window. The Seahawks and Chargers, both double-digit home favorites, rolled over the Vikings (26-0) and Raiders (31-14). The Bills, 3-point road favorites, cruised past Pittsburgh 26-7.

Still, underdogs had the final word. Washington covered as a 6-point underdog despite losing to Denver 27-26 in overtime.

"It was a good day, considering three of the last four favorites covered. We will sign for it," Davis said.

On Campus

College football bettors got their revenge on Saturday. Ohio State routed Michigan 27-9 as 10-point road favorites. Oregon covered convincingly as a 6.5-point favorite at Washington, winning 26-14.

But Alabama's performance generated mixed reactions. The Crimson Tide beat Auburn 27-20 as a 7-point favorite—but the spread opened at -5.5 and didn't reach -7 until shortly before kickoff. Bettors who grabbed the lower numbers cashed tickets while those at -7 received refunds.

"Saturday was no bargain. That Alabama game was terrible. We opened at 5.5 and went to 7," Andrews said.

With the game tied at 20 and 3:50 remaining, Alabama faced fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line. Coach Kalen DeBoer went for the touchdown instead of settling for a field goal.

"If Alabama kicked a field goal there, it would've been a thing of beauty," Andrews said.

"College football bettors probably had the best day they've had this season. Ohio State, Oregon and Alabama were widely popular plays that came through for bettors," Magee said.