Recapping NFL Week 5 Betting Lines
by Richard Gardner | Bodog Sportsbook Manager - 10/12/2010
There are times when a bet can be considered a good one in hindsight, even if it didn’t win. The many Bodog bettors who took the Green Bay Packers to cover three points in Washington on Sunday are perhaps consoling themselves with that theory today.
Not that Washington didn’t play some inspiring football in its fourth-quarter comeback versus the Packers, but if you added up all the breaks that fell the ‘Skins way, not the least of which was Mason Crosby hitting the left upright from 53 yards with a second left on what would’ve been the game-winning field goal, you could make the argument that Green Bay deserved to win.
Of course, deserved has nothing to do with it. It’s like Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after the game when it was pointed out that his team badly outgained the Redskins in the first half, “I think we all know yards don't mean anything. It's about points.”
What will be interesting to see is how bettors react in Week 6 when Washington welcomes Indianapolis to town.
The Redskins (3-2) will once again be home underdogs, but I wonder if their record is enough to convince bettors that they’re actually a good team. Donovan McNabb certainly hasn’t been among the best quarterbacks in the NFL this season, posting a mediocre 81.9 rating, and Washington’s running game has been downright terrible.
As for the Redskins’ defense, while it might not have surrendered many points, you might be surprised to learn that it’s given up the most total yards in the NFL.
You probably won’t, on the other hand, be surprised to learn that the book did extremely well when the Arizona Cardinals upset the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. We had more than 70 percent of the handle on the Saints to cover on what was our most bet game of the afternoon.
What’s wrong with the Super Bowl champs? The Saints are 3-2 on the season but have actually been outscored by three points when you add it all up. New Orleans travels to Tampa Bay this week where the 3-1 Bucs will be fairly significant home underdogs.
This is a tough one to call. Tampa Bay came away with a huge victory on Sunday in Cincinnati, but that was thanks in large part to a couple of ill-advised Carson Palmer throws late in the game. Besides beating the Bengals, the Bucs have only defeated the Browns and Panthers (congratulations?) and were absolutely blown away by the Steelers, so one might hold off on calling them “for real” just yet.
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