Offseason upheaval prompts handful of line shifts

It has been a long wait, and everyone is fired up for the first Sunday of the NFL season. In reality, though, football has been back for a while, as full-season wagering lines have been on the board at a multitude of sports books for months.

Contests, futures odds and proposition wagers provide us with year-round opportunities to play on the most popular sport in the land. Now it gets serious.

When matchups were posted early this summer, one game that moved mightily involved the Cincinnati Bengals. It wasn't so much a play on Cincinnati as it was a play against the self-destructing Denver Broncos, who traded quarterback Jay Cutler to Chicago. The Bengals have ballooned to 41/2-point home favorites today.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants oddsmaker Sean Van Patten sees a long season in the cards for the Broncos.

"The ability to overcome defensive shortcomings with a potent offense doesn't exist on this year's Denver roster," he said. "The transition to a new head coach will probably take time, and the team chemistry issues are a prevalent concern."

Three teams fired their offensive coordinators in the preseason. Kansas City, Tampa Bay and most recently Buffalo decided to make immense changes, with the clock racing to the opening kickoff. All three are decided underdogs in Week 1, with the line steaming against them.

The Buccaneers, 51/2-point underdogs, host Dallas. The Chiefs, 121/2-point underdogs, are walking into a buzz saw at Baltimore. The Bills, 11-point underdogs, are at New England on Monday.

The upheaval for these organizations most certainly is not lost on the oddsmakers, but there will not be an overreaction heading into the first game.

"Obviously, when these situations occur, there are definite problems that are being dealt with by the organizations. Somebody has to be held accountable," LVSC's Ken White said. "Rarely are players sent packing, and the head coach will cut the cord on a coordinator's parachute. I still have to deal with how the game was played and the stats. Plus, it's not out of the realm of possibility that these teams may actually improve after the shakeup."

Two rookie quarterbacks will debut on the road, as Mark Sanchez leads the New York Jets into Houston and Matthew Stafford calls signals for Detroit at New Orleans.

Sanchez and the Jets are 41/2-point underdogs; Stafford and the Lions are getting a 13-point head start against the Saints.

"It's never a good thing to rely on a rookie QB to start a season," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kor-negay said. "But Sanchez has caught a bit of a break in this spot, going against one of the softer defenses in the league."

One of the day's best games has Philadelphia at Carolina. Money has poured in on the Eagles, as the line opened Carolina minus-3 during the summer, but now Philadelphia is a 21/2-point favorite.

"People are very high on Philadelphia with its aggressive offseason additions," LVSC oddsmaker Mike Seba said. "There is a direct correlation on Week 1 wagering lines to money wagered on futures odds and regular-season win totals."

This is the last chance to jump into the regular-season win total pool.

Bettors are looking under the totals for Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina, Miami, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Over money has surfaced on Cincinnati, Green Bay, Minnesota, Seattle, Philadelphia and Washington.

One sure bet is we all will be thoroughly entertained this season. Good luck to everyone.

Brian Blessing, project manager for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, can be reached at bblessing@lvsc.com. Listen to the LVSC oddsmakers on "Sportsbook Radio," weekdays at 3 p.m. on KWWN-AM (1100) and Sirius 98.