NFL Week 4 Betting Recap
by Richard Gardner | Bodog Sportsbook Manager - 10/6/2010
Is it time to consider the chance that Kyle Orton might just be a good quarterback?
The 27-year-old Purdue product was a bit of a running joke during his days in Chicago before he was traded to Denver along with two first-round picks for Jay Cutler. But Orton’s no joke with the Broncos. After four games, he’s first in the NFL with 1,419 passing yards and boasts a healthy 96.3 passer rating.
No question bettors at Bodog’s online sportsbook have started to believe in Orton. On Sunday, they were all over the underdog Broncos (+7) in Tennessee. The 26-20 Denver victory cost the book a nice chunk of change, as did Orton’s total passing yards prop (O/U 252.5), which went way over to most bettors’ delight.
Orton and the Broncos travel to Baltimore this week for a tough game with the Ravens. It will be interesting to see if bettors are as keen to back Denver against a 3-1 team that just went into Pittsburgh and stopped the Steelers’ three-game winning streak.
The players did well on a couple of other big games over the weekend. There was a landslide of wagers that came in on the Jets (-6), who went into Buffalo and hammered the lowly Bills, 38-14. After a poor performance in Week 1 against Baltimore, New York has rattled off three straight victories against New England, Miami and Buffalo, winning by a combined score of 97-51.
The Jets (-4) host Minnesota on Monday night in what’s arguably the game of the week in the NFL, and something tells me the crowd will be rather motivated to welcome Brett Favre back to town. The Vikings (1-2) have a brutal stretch of games coming up, starting with the Jets and followed by the Cowboys, Packers and Patriots. They have to be cognizant of the fact that their playoffs hopes could be dead by November if they don’t pull out a couple of wins.
Bettors also pulled money out of the book when they took the Texans to cover 3.5 points in Oakland. A 31-24 Houston triumph should get a few bettors back on the Texan bandwagon after a disastrous home performance against the Cowboys. Houston is a 3-point favorite this week at home to the Giants, who absolutely destroyed Cutler and the undefeated Bears on Sunday night.
Honestly, what’s to make of either the Texans or the Giants? Both of them can look great one week, and the complete opposite the next. I’ll be very curious to see how bettors treat this matchup. I wouldn’t be shocked if many just take a pass altogether.
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