The Miami Dolphins are so bad oddsmakers have no idea how to handle it

No betting line has been big enough for the Miami Dolphins this season.

The Dolphins were an 18-point underdog against the New England Patriots on Sunday and lost 43-0 at Hard Rock Stadium. They’re now a 21 1/2-point underdog against the Dallas Cowboys, and the number should keep growing.

It’s an impossible challenge for Miami fans to face. It’s also an impossible challenge for oddsmakers to handle, as ESPN chronicled in a story Wednesday.

“This is unprecedented,” said Jeff Davis, the director of trading for the Caesars Palace Sportsbook in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Teams have been bad before, but this is different. They’re bad and not caring. Everyone wants out. It’s kind of crazy.”

For the Dolphins’ season-opening blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Miami Gardens, 93.7 percent of bettors backed the Ravens, who were seven-point favorites. For their loss to the Patriots, 82.9 percent of bettors went with New England, Caesars reported.

After Week 1, DraftKings offered a proposition bet asking whether the Dolphins would go 0-16, although it has since been taken down. The Circa Casino & Resort Sportsbook in Las Vegas has the prop available with +380 odds. Their win projection has moved frmo 3 1/2 in the preseason to 1 1/2, according to CG Technology.

“The spreads are obnoxious,” said Ed Salmons, the vice president of risk for the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas. “It’s like I’m looking at college [football].”

Westgate has increased the Miami’s Super Bowl odds all the way to 20,000-to-1. Football Outsiders grades the Dolphins (0-2) as the worst team in history through two games.

“There’s nothing you can do. You just make high numbers,” Salmons said. “We wanted to offer fair odds on a team that is not trying to win.”

Check out the full story on the oddsmakers’ challenges over at ESPN.com.

This story was originally published September 18, 2019 at 4:47 PM.