Lions a good bet
Looking for a sure thing when handicapping the NFL this season - or as close as you can come to such a thing?
Try the Detroit Lions.
Yeah, those Detroit Lions.
Those 0-4 Detroit Lions, who happen to be 3-1 against the spread and lost that one game for their backers by a mere point.
But what we're seeing with the Lions - who lost, 28-26, to Green Bay on Sunday but easily beat the spread of 141/2 points - is representative of the NFL so far this season.
On Sunday, the underdogs shredded the line in the afternoon games, going 9-3 and winning six outright.
"When the dogs are this fierce, it's good for us," said Todd Fuhrman, sports analyst at Caesars Palace. "What you're seeing is the NFL's dream - parity. But the way things have gone so far this year, I call it mediocrity."
For the season, underdogs are leading favorites against the spread, 37-23.
Among the underdogs that won outright Sunday were:
Baltimore getting 21/2 on the road against Pittsburgh.
Cleveland, a three-point home dog to Cincinnati.
St. Louis, getting two points at home against Seattle.
Denver with 61/2 at Tennessee.
Jacksonville, a seven-point home underdog, against Indianapolis
And, of course, Washington getting five points at kickoff and beating the Eagles, 17-12.
The Eagles had opened as six-point favorites, but bigger wagers on Washington moved the needle by game time.
The one favorite that hurt some bookmakers Sunday was San Diego, whose line moved from minus-8 to minus-10, reflecting huge public support for the Chargers. In a rare instance of an outcome's going according to form, the Chargers crushed the Cardinals and the spread, 41-10.
"We're not exactly Derek Anderson fans," Jay Kornegay, vice president of sports and race book operations for the Las Vegas Hilton, quipped regarding Arizona's journeyman quarterback, who threw for just 64 yards and two interceptions before he gave way to backup Max Hall.
In addition to the Chargers' stinging some books, the Browns - as underdogs - were a heavy wager by the so-called smart money. Cleveland, playing at home, surprised Cincinnati, 23-20.
"The wise guys bet [the Browns] early and often," said Jay Rood, MGM Resorts' director of race and sports book operations.
"I don't get it," he added, "considering you don't have a lot [of information] to go on with [Browns quarterback] Seneca Wallace. . . . It would be a game I'd scratch off and move on to the next one."
Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20101004_Want_a_good_bet__Try_the_Lions.html#ixzz11Ot5BaqD
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