NFL First Quarter Spread Betting

NFL 1st Quarter ATS Standings

Table Legend

• ATS: The team’s current record against the spread in the 1st quarter
• Cover %: The percentage of games covered ATS in the 1Q
• ATS +/-: Average ATS margin in the 1Q
• Home: ATS record for all home games in the 1Q
• Away: ATS record for all away games in the 1Q
• Last 4: The team’s record ATS in the 1Q over the last 4 games
• 2021: The team’s record 1Q ATS in the 2021 season plus cover %

NFL 1st Quarter Betting

There is no doubt that the single most popular sport to bet on in North America is NFL Football.

Traditionally, NFL fans have focused their betting attention on point spreads, moneylines, and over/unders.

However, as the betting industry continues to legalize across North America, sportsbooks today provide more options and types of bets for fans to play than ever before.

Some bets gaining popularity only focus on the first quarter of games. In MLB, the No Run First Inning bet (NRFI) is becoming the most popular game prop option for MLB bettors.

The equivalent in the NFL to an NRFI is betting on first-quarter results.

Below, we walk you through some strategies and trends around NFL first-quarter betting and help you become a better bettor for all your NFL first-quarter plays.

If you like betting on the first quarter, you might enjoy betting on the NFL 1st quarter O/U as well.

How First Quarter ATS Standing Works

If you are an NFL bettor interested in first-quarter betting stats, BestOdds.com needs to be a weekly destination to help with all your research and analysis.

After each week in the NFL season, BestOdds.com will have an updated standings spreadsheet detailing each team’s performance against the spread (ATS), specifically focusing on first-quarter results.

These standings will document precisely how teams have performed in their most recent game and have season-long statistics, providing a bettor with all the first-quarter ATS results they are looking for.

Using First Quarter ATS Standing For Betting

First-quarter ATS spread betting is very unique because you are only focused on the first 15 minutes of action and not the entire game. The first quarter is unlike any of the other four.

For a variety of reasons, the first quarter is more low scoring than the other three quarters.

Spreads are typically very small, most commonly found between 1-2 points.

Because spreads are so low, the moneyline tends to fluctuate more than the ML of a traditional over/under bet.

NFL Week 1 – 1st QTR ATS Odds

Game	1st QTR Spread	Favorite Odds	Underdog Odds
Bills vs. Rams	Buffalo -1	Buff -1 / +125	Rams +1 / -145
Browns vs. Panthers	Panthers -1	Panthers -1 / +135	Browns +1 / -155
Chiefs vs. Cardinals	Kansas City -1	Chiefs -1 / +105	Cardinals +1 / -125

Our table illustrates some of the moneyline odds variances when you are betting first-quarter spreads.

All three of the favorites listed above, the teams who must cover the -1, are all plus money ATS in the first quarter.

Our ATS standings page can be important information when you are handicapping games.

Understand the teams who have had first-quarter success. Use it to gauge how common streaks and trends are across the league.

How often do teams cover the first-quarter spread two, three, and four times in a row? Are there a few teams who appear to have more success in the first quarter than others?

There can be a few different resources that a bettor might use when handicapping first-quarter ATS bets.

However, BestOdds.com will provide you with a lot of the critical information you need to make your best first-quarter decisions.

First Quarter ATS Betting Strategies

There is not much information readily available for those who like to bet on first-quarter action.

An analysis by boydsbets.com, which is several years old now, suggests that the home team outscores the visiting team by an average of one point in the first quarter.

However, this analysis doesn’t dive into favorites vs. underdogs and who is more likely to cover the first-quarter spread.

A bettor can use the BestOdds.com standings page to monitor how plus money teams on the moneyline do.

Are you better off to take the favorite and cover the spread but at least get positive odds on the moneyline?

Or should you pay the juice to take those extra first-quarter points?

The BestOdds.com standings page will allow you to focus on several trends and ideas you want to experiment with and give you all the historical answers you are looking for.

NFL First Quarter O/U Standings

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How First Quarter O/U Standing Works

Much like the first-quarter ATS standings page we talked about above, BestOdds.com is the place you need to be each week of the NFL season, for all the first-quarter O/U information you require.

Each week, BestOdds.com will provide updated standings that track each game played and what the first quarter over/under result was.

A bettor has the ability to research on a week-by-week basis, or by the individual team.

If you are interested in placing wagers on a first-quarter over/unders for the NFL, then BestOdds.com has you covered.

Using First Quarter O/U Standing For Betting

The total (over/under) for a first quarter is not just 25% of the final total, even though the first quarter is 25% of the game.

Team	2021 1st QTR	2021 Total / GM	1st QTR %
Buffalo	6.5 / 1st QTR	29.8 / game	21.8%
Kansas City	7.2 / 1st QTR	29.4 / game	24.4%
Tampa Bay	6.5 / 1st QTR	29.9 / game	21.7%
Dallas	7.2 / 1st QTR	30.4 / game	23.6%
Indianapolis	6.3 / 1st QTR	26.5 / game	23.7%

Our table above illustrates why first quarter spreads are not just the final game total divided by four.

The Buffalo Bills averaged almost 30 points a game in 2021, but just 6.5 points in the first quarter.

Points can be tough to come by early in the game for a variety of reasons.

The BestOdds.com standings page will allow you to analyze each team’s performance over the course of the upcoming 2022 season.

The standings page will also allow you to analyze league-wide trends that are developing.

When there is a week where 10 of the 13 games all go under in the first quarter, bettors believe that a market correction is coming and will next week blindly bet all overs.

If you want to develop strategies and test your theories, using the BestOdds.com first quarter over/under standings page makes a lot of sense.

Always Shop Around

Like with all wagers being placed, the single greatest edge a sports bettor has against the sportsbooks is their ability to shop around for the Best Odds available.

When it comes to first-quarter betting, most sportsbooks will have similar totals, and similar point spreads because we are only talking about a small amount of game time.

However, where the advantage lies for the bettor is within the moneylines on those bets.

You might be interested in taking the Buffalo Bills to cover the Week 1 spread of -1 in the first quarter.

Although the overwhelming majority of sportsbooks will have the first quarter spread set at -1, the odds associated with that spread could vary significantly.

Buffalo might be as high as +145 to cover that single point or be as low as +105.

The difference in payout for a $100 bettor in that situation is $40 in profit, which as a percentage is an additional 40% ROI on your $100 wager.

Looking for more stats? Check out the NFL Second Quarter Spread stats for ATS betting.