With apologies to Winston Churchill, halfway through the NFL season, handicapping the league remains a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
Sports Columns
While 6,010 entries from the field of 6,133 have been eliminated, Bob DeLuca still has all six of his entries in Circa Survivor, which pays $6.1 million to the winner.
Bettors loaded up on the Raiders (-1½) over the Saints and the game to go over 48½. But they never stood a chance on either count in a 24-0 loss.
For the past two decades, bettors could count on Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers to bounce back from a loss and not only win the next week, but cover. Those days are gone.
The Steelers upset Tom Brady’s Buccaneers 20-18 as 9½-point underdogs, and the Jets whipped Aaron Rodgers’ Packers 27-10 as 8-point underdogs.
It’s only Week 6, but the NFL will serve up a pair of possible conference championship games Sunday in Bills-Chiefs and Eagles-Cowboys.
Marco Piemonte isn’t a professional sports bettor and doesn’t sell his picks. He’s a Chicago-area car dealer who is married with three daughters ages 1, 3 and 6.
Caesars Sportsbook alone lost almost seven figures on the Raiders, and BetMGM lost six figures. The Westgate SuperBook and South Point reported losing days.
The Raiders are the only 0-3 team in the NFL, and the AFC West is a combined 5-7 straight-up and 3-6 ATS. The division also has gone under in eight of 12 games.
Miami, which closed as a 4½-point underdog, was one of eight underdogs that won outright Sunday and among nine that covered (9-4-1 against the spread).
San Francisco’s odds to win the Super Bowl dropped from 25-1 at Caesars Sportsbook to 19-1 after Jimmy Garoppolo replaced Trey Lance.
The Cardinals, who closed as 5½-point underdogs, dealt bettors their biggest loss of the day after Kyler Murray directed Arizona to an overtime victory over the Raiders.
Bring back the man bun. Aaron Rodgers has lost his receivers and his mojo. Start Jimmy G. Trey Lance is not ready for prime time. Are they overreactions or accurate?
The NFL kicked off the first weekend of the season in style with a tie, four outright upsets, five games decided in the final minute and countless missed kicks.
The NFL Week 1 lines have been on the board for four months and have seen some major moves and sharp bets, including several notable ones this week.
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