Perhaps more improbable than Tom Brady leaving New England after 20 years and leading Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl title in his first season there was the manner in which the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs.
Betting
Las Vegas books reported a win their 29th Super Bowl in the 31 years since the Nevada Gaming Control Board started tracking the game in 1991.
If the poker pros who won the Westgate SuperContest were to go all-in on one of the six wild-card games, they said their best bet would be the Bills (-6½) over the Colts.
Handicapper Paul Stone (@PaulStoneSports) went 10-2 against the spread to win the contest.
Handicapper Doug Fitz, 24-16 ATS in the Review-Journal NFL Challenge, breaks down every game of Week 9 of the NFL season, with analysis, trends and final scores.
Mark Franco leads the contest with a 26-13-1 ATS record. Doug Fitz (24-16) and Dave Tuley (23-15-2) are tied for second place, and Lou Finocchiaro (23-16-1) is fourth.
In the biggest line move of Week 1, the Raiders are 3-point favorites over the Panthers on Sunday after the line opened at pick’em for the game at Carolina.
Circa had 1,760 entries on Monday in its Circa Sports Million II contest, which needs 3,000 entries to meet its $3 million guarantee.
Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who has 25 TD passes and seven TD runs, is on pace to join Cam Newton as the only quarterbacks with at least 30 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDs in a season.
Hank Goldberg and Jay Kornegay each went 4-1 ATS last week to stay tied for the contest lead at 38-25-2.
Kansas City (4-1), which closed as a 10½-point favorite, suffered its first loss of the season in a 19-13 defeat to Indianapolis on Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
South Point took a $55,000 bet on San Francisco minus 3½, the Westgate took a $33,000 wager on the Niners minus 4 and CG Technology took sharp bets on them at 3½ and 4.
Micah Roberts won the 2018 contest with a 52-32-1 record against the spread and will defend his title against a field that includes iconic broadcaster Brent Musburger.
The Patriots ascended from the 6-1 second choice, behind the Chiefs, to the 4-1 favorites at the Westgate sportsbook.
Cincinnati is a 20-1 long shot to win the AFC North, where the Browns and Steelers are plus 140 co-favorites and the Ravens are the 7-2 third choice.
