Bookmaker's Corner: NFL Week 7 Odds & Week 6 Oddities
by Richard Gardner | Bodog Sportsbook Manager - 10/20/2009
It has been a bumpy ride these past few weeks, but Week 6 turned out to be darn good for us over at Bodog Sportsbook. Before you bring out the tiny violins, hear me out…
Bettors have been hammering the big favorites all season long, much to their success and our misery. A turn of events can change one's luck in a heartbeat, though. With the Oakland Raiders beating the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns barely covering a two-touchdown spread in their loss at Pittsburgh, well…that had to be a tough pill to swallow.
And now that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots seem to have found their scoring touch, let's just say that we will be erring on the side of caution as New England travels to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers.
The Bucs' defense is laughable this season and their offense hasn't been much better. You have to know that the point spread on this matchup is going to be big. This is a New England team that two years ago was laying three touchdowns or more at times, so we know how far bettors will go.
The Pats did a number on us last year, though. We did well with the Pats in the last few weeks of the 2007 season, but then we were the ones getting killed in the beginning of the year. Bettors couldn't get enough of New England, and they couldn't pay a high enough price. And then they failed to cover nine of their last 10 games, including all three of its playoff contests, and bettors were singing the blues.
There is at least one team that we don't quite know how bettors will react to: New Orleans. Drew Brees and the Saints destroyed the Giants at the Superdome and now they're off to Miami to play a Dolphins team that is not only coming off a week's rest, but they also did a nice number on the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets - both home wins.
Still, the Saints are picture perfect and their bandwagon is filling up fast. They were 2-6 on the road last season and haven't really faced stiff competition away from home this year, with wins at Philadelphia (with no Donovan McNabb) and Buffalo.
We opened at New Orleans by a touchdown despite many of the other books going with 6. But that could change.
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