Eagles’ bandwagon blows tire; Bills’ first loss boon for books

All the hype in August already looks ridiculously absurd. Four weeks into the NFL circus, Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles are living a bad dream.

Vick has been knocked silly, the losses are piling up, and it's getting ugly in Philly. Even the league's worst team would find it difficult to waste a 20-point lead at home to the San Francisco 49ers.

What shaped up as a potentially disastrous Sunday for Las Vegas sports books turned into nothing extraordinary, especially for the Eagles and their betting bandwagon, which blew a tire and careened into a ditch after a 24-23 upset.

"The public and sharps both landed on the Eagles," MGM Resorts sports book director Jay Rood said. "I was surprised by that."

Philadelphia and six other favorites -- Baltimore, Buffalo, New England, New Orleans, Atlanta and Chicago -- attracted one-sided wagering action. Underdogs covered in four cases.

"When I walked in (Sunday) I thought, this could get real ugly. We're going to need a good mix of 'dogs and a couple to win outright," Rood said. "We could have really gotten our heads cut off if it was a big day for favorites."

Rood and his bookmaker colleagues were more relaxed after lunch. In the nine morning games, only the Saints, who were bet from 7- to 8½-point favorites, did the betting public a big favor by covering in a 23-10 victory at Jacksonville.

The Bills were overdue for a reality check, and they built a 17-3 lead before letting down in a 23-20 loss at Cincinnati. The Bengals were 3-point underdogs, and the total ranged from 42½ to 43½.

"Everybody had the Bills on their tickets. It was heavy, heavy public action on the Bills," Rood said. "That game made the morning for us."

The most dramatic backdoor cover came courtesy of the Carolina Panthers, who were 7-point underdogs. Cam Newton connected with tight end Greg Olsen on a 3-yard touchdown pass with four seconds remaining to cut the Bears' winning margin to 34-29.

The Eagles, despite Vick passing for 416 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 75 yards, fell apart as 10-point favorites. Not only did they get beat, they got beat by the 49ers, with Alex Smith at quarterback.

"I've never been a huge Vick fan. He puts up amazing numbers, but he doesn't get the wins," Rood said. "But Vick can't play defense. When you're up 23-3, you should be able to win the game."

San Francisco paid off at plus-400 on the money line. The odds were far higher on Detroit tickets being redeemable for cash when the Lions trailed Dallas 27-3 early in the third quarter.

Then again, when Tony Romo starts clowning around, anything is possible. Romo tossed three interceptions as the Cowboys, 2-point favorites, collapsed in a deflating 34-30 defeat.

Romo is a lot like your girlfriend or wife -- unbelievably good one day, unbearable the next and overall just hard to understand. He passed for 421 yards and five touchdowns, but with 90 of those yards and two of the TDs going to the Lions.

"We had the sound on in the book for that game," Rood said. "The Cowboys fans were jumping around in the first half, and the Lions fans were jumping around in the second half."

New York Giants bettors were jumping around after Eli Manning passed for two touchdowns in the final four minutes. The Giants, 1-point road favorites, scored 21 fourth-quarter points to top Arizona, 31-27.

I made a few mistakes Sunday, and two were backing Minnesota and St. Louis, a pair of miserable 0-4 teams. Another error was jumping on the New York Jets, who closed as 5-point underdogs.

The Ravens won 34-17 with Joe Flacco completing 10 of 31 throws, and you might wonder how that was possible. It was possible because Mark Sanchez was far worse than Flacco. Sanchez fumbled snaps, was a sitting duck for sacks and completed 11 of 35 passes. Maybe the Jets should start warming up backup Joe Namath.

But the New England Patriots repaid our faith in them and the old bounce-back theory. Tom Brady was steady as the Patriots, 6½-point favorites, picked up a relatively easy 31-19 win at Oakland. Rood said New England money flooded in at about an 8-to-1 ratio.

"Those were the two biggest games of the day," Rood said of the Patriots' win and Bills' loss. "We won one, and we lost one. Not a bad day. I'll take it."

It was a different story in Philadelphia. What a nightmare for the overhyped "Dream Team."

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the "Las Vegas Sportsline" weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.