NFL Betting: A dog day afternoon
NFL Betting: A dog day afternoon
In the crazy world that is the NFL, a team that is 6-8 is still in the hunt for the postseason while another team sitting 7-7 currently is out of the hunt. Sunday's NFL action was equally nutty as the underdogs went 9-4-1 ATS and the Under cashed at an 8-5-1 clip. With just two weeks remaining on the slate, the focus now shifts to the last few remaining playoff spots, including a dandy of a three-way race in the AFC East.
The 7-7 New Orleans Saints will not make the playoffs this season. But the 6-8 San Diego Chargers are still alive.
Yup, it’s that time of year again. The NFL’s bubble teams are watching their playoff hopes burst, one by one. Week 15 saw the Saints go marching out with Thursday night’s 27-24 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears (-3). It’s a bitter pill to swallow for one of the most prodigious offenses in the league; the Saints have scored 390 points, more than any other team in the NFL, but they’ve also given up 355 points. There’s only so much Drew Brees (93.9 passer rating) can do.
Soldier Field is a tough place to visit, and this is a tough time of year for road teams, but by the time the dust had cleared, home teams were 10-5 SU and 7-8 ATS. The key stat for handicappers: home dogs were 3-3 SU and 4-2 ATS to continue their post-Thanksgiving assault on the betting odds.
The fun started at Paul Brown Field in Cincinnati, where the Bengals improved to 2-11-1 SU (5-9 ATS) with a 20-13 victory over the disintegrating Washington Redskins (7-7 SU, 5-8-1 ATS). The ‘Skins are still clinging to life in the playoff hunt, but after the game, Jim Zorn told the Associated Press he feels “like the worst coach in America.”
That might be being kind to Herm Edwards. The embattled coach of the Kansas City Chiefs (2-12 SU, 8-6 ATS) snagged another payday for handicappers in Week 15, but it came in an agonizing 22-21 loss to the visiting Chargers (-5). San Diego (5-8-1 ATS) scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes to keep hope alive in the AFC playoff race. After the game, longtime Chiefs CEO, president and GM Carl Peterson turned in his badge; he’ll step down at the end of the season after nearly 20 years of mostly awful results on the field.
In other positive news for the home dogs, the Jacksonville Jaguars (+2½) made a bad season worse for the Green Bay Packers (5-9 SU, 7-7 ATS) with a 20-16 victory at home; this was after ownership announced that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams would not be retained after one year in Jacksonville (5-9 SU, 4-10 ATS). But the biggest upset of all came courtesy of the Houston Texans (7-7 SU and ATS), who bounced the NFL-leading Tennessee Titans 13-12 as 3-point puppies. The Titans (12-2 SU, 11-3 ATS) also lost both Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch for the rest of the regular season.
Dick Jauron still has his head coaching job in Buffalo; not only that, he’s signed a contract extension through 2011 according to ESPN reports. But the 6-8 SU and ATS Bills won’t be going to the postseason – they lost 31-27 to the New York Jets (9-5 SU, 7-7 ATS) when QB J.P. Losman was sacked and stripped of the ball with under two minutes remaining. Shaun Ellis took it to the house for the winning score. The Bills still cashed in as 9-point road dogs.
Buffalo was able to get to the bank in a week where underdogs were the alpha dogs at 5-10 SU and 10-5 ATS. Favorites retain the advantage on the season, but not nearly enough to pay for the juice at 111-108-5. And the under was a tasty 8-5-1 to leave the total split evenly in half at 107-107 on the campaign.
The Monday nighter did nothing to sway the balance. The Philadelphia Eagles defense smothered the Cleveland Browns (+16) in a 30-10 triumph that created a push on the total of 40 points. It took a pair of defensive touchdowns (one for each team) to pump up the scoring on a cold night at the Linc. The Eagles are very much alive in the NFC East at 8-5-1 SU and 9-5 ATS; the Browns are playing out the string at 4-10 SU and 6-7-1 ATS. Get ready for regime change in Cleveland.
In the crazy world that is the NFL, a team that is 6-8 is still in the hunt for the postseason while another team sitting 7-7 currently is out of the hunt. Sunday's NFL action was equally nutty as the underdogs went 9-4-1 ATS and the Under cashed at an 8-5-1 clip. With just two weeks remaining on the slate, the focus now shifts to the last few remaining playoff spots, including a dandy of a three-way race in the AFC East.
The 7-7 New Orleans Saints will not make the playoffs this season. But the 6-8 San Diego Chargers are still alive.
Yup, it’s that time of year again. The NFL’s bubble teams are watching their playoff hopes burst, one by one. Week 15 saw the Saints go marching out with Thursday night’s 27-24 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears (-3). It’s a bitter pill to swallow for one of the most prodigious offenses in the league; the Saints have scored 390 points, more than any other team in the NFL, but they’ve also given up 355 points. There’s only so much Drew Brees (93.9 passer rating) can do.
Soldier Field is a tough place to visit, and this is a tough time of year for road teams, but by the time the dust had cleared, home teams were 10-5 SU and 7-8 ATS. The key stat for handicappers: home dogs were 3-3 SU and 4-2 ATS to continue their post-Thanksgiving assault on the betting odds.
The fun started at Paul Brown Field in Cincinnati, where the Bengals improved to 2-11-1 SU (5-9 ATS) with a 20-13 victory over the disintegrating Washington Redskins (7-7 SU, 5-8-1 ATS). The ‘Skins are still clinging to life in the playoff hunt, but after the game, Jim Zorn told the Associated Press he feels “like the worst coach in America.”
That might be being kind to Herm Edwards. The embattled coach of the Kansas City Chiefs (2-12 SU, 8-6 ATS) snagged another payday for handicappers in Week 15, but it came in an agonizing 22-21 loss to the visiting Chargers (-5). San Diego (5-8-1 ATS) scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes to keep hope alive in the AFC playoff race. After the game, longtime Chiefs CEO, president and GM Carl Peterson turned in his badge; he’ll step down at the end of the season after nearly 20 years of mostly awful results on the field.
In other positive news for the home dogs, the Jacksonville Jaguars (+2½) made a bad season worse for the Green Bay Packers (5-9 SU, 7-7 ATS) with a 20-16 victory at home; this was after ownership announced that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams would not be retained after one year in Jacksonville (5-9 SU, 4-10 ATS). But the biggest upset of all came courtesy of the Houston Texans (7-7 SU and ATS), who bounced the NFL-leading Tennessee Titans 13-12 as 3-point puppies. The Titans (12-2 SU, 11-3 ATS) also lost both Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch for the rest of the regular season.
Dick Jauron still has his head coaching job in Buffalo; not only that, he’s signed a contract extension through 2011 according to ESPN reports. But the 6-8 SU and ATS Bills won’t be going to the postseason – they lost 31-27 to the New York Jets (9-5 SU, 7-7 ATS) when QB J.P. Losman was sacked and stripped of the ball with under two minutes remaining. Shaun Ellis took it to the house for the winning score. The Bills still cashed in as 9-point road dogs.
Buffalo was able to get to the bank in a week where underdogs were the alpha dogs at 5-10 SU and 10-5 ATS. Favorites retain the advantage on the season, but not nearly enough to pay for the juice at 111-108-5. And the under was a tasty 8-5-1 to leave the total split evenly in half at 107-107 on the campaign.
The Monday nighter did nothing to sway the balance. The Philadelphia Eagles defense smothered the Cleveland Browns (+16) in a 30-10 triumph that created a push on the total of 40 points. It took a pair of defensive touchdowns (one for each team) to pump up the scoring on a cold night at the Linc. The Eagles are very much alive in the NFC East at 8-5-1 SU and 9-5 ATS; the Browns are playing out the string at 4-10 SU and 6-7-1 ATS. Get ready for regime change in Cleveland.