NFL Week 9 Betting Recap at Bodog
by Richard Gardner | Bodog Sportsbook Manager - 11/10/2010
A home underdog paid off big for us last week when the Cleveland Browns (+5) hammered the visiting New England Patriots, 34-14. Not many of the bettors at Bodog's online sportsbook saw this result coming and it meant our biggest win of the Sunday morning games.
It will be interesting to see how bettors react to both teams in Week 10. The Pats (6-2) have a huge game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. For New England, most of the questions will surround the run defense, which was ripped apart to the tune of 204 yards by the Browns. In a related story, perhaps the most telling statistic from the Browns-Pats game was time of possession: 38:08 to 21:52 for Cleveland. At the risk of stating the obvious, it's tough to score when you don't have the ball.
For Cleveland, it was yet another impressive win over a perceived Super Bowl contender. In the Browns' prior outing, they beat the Saints in New Orleans. And now the Jets come to town as 3-point favorites. New York teams are always bet heavily at our book, not to mention the Jets have won six of their last seven, but a home dog that just knocked off the Saints and Patriots sure sounds tempting for value bettors.
Speaking of New Orleans, the public had a nice win when the Saints (-7) went into Carolina and thumped the Panthers, 34-3. It's taken a while for our players to trust the Saints again after the defending champs got off to a slow start, but a win over the Steelers the week prior to the Carolina game was apparently the catalyst for a renewed faith. Oh, and the Panthers are terrible. That was probably a factor, too.
The players had another big win on Sunday afternoon when the New York Giants (-7.5) rolled into Seattle and absolutely destroyed the Seahawks, 41-7. The Giants have now won five straight and are heavily favored to make it six this week at home to the walking disaster that is the Cowboys. We've got the G-men by 14, a point spread that nobody would've predicted prior to the start of season.
It's worth noting that the Cowboys received fairly strong support as 7.5-point dogs last week in Green Bay. (The action on that game was essentially split at Bodog.) Of course, Dallas lost 45-7, with coach Wade Phillips fired as a result. Was that pathetic performance the final straw for bettors? Or will a two-touchdown spread be too enticing to pass up?
As for Seattle, well, it's not looking good. The 'Hawks have lost two straight games (to the Raiders and Giants) by a combined score of 74-10. Pete Carroll's squad will play its biggest game of the year on Sunday in Arizona.
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