If nothing else, Week 1 in the NFL was eventful.
On the field, three teams saw their starting quarterbacks go down to injury, while home teams dominated on the moneyline (12-4 SU) and had a good showing against the spread (11-5 ATS). Both home-team betting and the injured quarterbacks will impact Week 2’s lines, as will the anticipated drop in handle from Week 1 to Week 2.
By all accounts, last weekend was huge at the books.
“(Sunday) was Super Bowl-like,” says Jay Kornegay Executive Director Race and Sports at Las Vegas Hilton. “Outside the Super Bowl, I don’t think I’ve seen that many people in the SuperBook.”
And he probably won’t see that many people in there until this year’s Super Bowl either.
“There is always a small dip in the action from Week 1 to Week 2 as the excitement of the NFL kickoff begins to wear off,” says Richard Gardner, Bodog.com Sportsbook manager. “The betting trend in Week 1 was to bet the home favorites and we believe that this betting trend will continue in Week 2 of the NFL regular season. I think the lines on some of the home favorites might move more aggressively this week after last week’s results.”
That means you ought to keep a close eye on big public teams like Dallas -8.5 at home to Chicago, Green Bay -13.5 hosting Buffalo and Minnesota -5.5 at home to the Dolphins. Indianapolis should also see a lot of action in the Manning Bowl, with Eli’s Giants coming into Indy as 5.5-point underdogs.
“Those are the games we’ll likely see some movement on leading up to Sunday,” says Chuck Esposito, Casino Operations Manager at The Tropicana.
“Square bettors likely won with some of the big public home teams in Week 1 and could come back looking for this trend again, so we’ll have to monitor those lines closely.”
Meanwhile, everyone will be keeping close tabs on the injury report this week. Quarterbacks Matt Stafford, Kevin Kolb and Matt Moore all went down with injuries. These aren’t considered first-tier quarterbacks by any stretch of the imagination, but they will factor into this week’s odds.
“Nobody affects the line more than the quarterback,” says Greg Sindell, SportsInteraction.com oddsmaker. “Normally when a team’s starting quarterback goes down to injury, the team’s odds increase greatly.”
These injuries probably won’t make a huge difference in the odds you’ll see this week, at least they won’t unless the wagering public forces the books’ hand with action.
The Detroit Lions could be in real trouble if Matt Stafford is out for a while. He was injured in Sunday’s controversial loss to the Bears on a sack by Julius Peppers. The Lions face off against another team that could have a quarterback decision to make in the Philadelphia Eagles.
After shipping Donovan McNabb to the Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles lost Kevin Kolb to a concussion. He will be evaluated Wednesday, though, Eagles coach Andy Reid wouldn’t rule him out for this week’s game.
If he can’t go, Michael Vick will step in again after he threw for 175 yards and a touchdown while rushing for another 103 yards on the ground in Philly’s 27-20 loss to Green Bay. Oddsmakers currently have Philadelphia set as a 3.5-point favorite on the road against Detroit.
“We could see a case where a team’s starting quarterback gets hurt yet, their odds are cut with the Eagles and the Kolb/Vick scenario,” says Esposito. “After Vick nearly led the Eagles to a comeback against the Packers, people will back Philly more with Vick running the show, thinking he could be coming back into form.”
Esposito adds that Detroit quarterback Matt Stafford is probably worth one to 1.5 points on this week’s spread.
Meanwhile, Matt Moore is said to be feeling “a lot better” according to coach John Fox, who wouldn’t rule out Moore playing against Tampa Bay in Week 2. Oddsmakers have yet to release a line for that game, but Moore’s status will play a factor with Jimmy Clausen pegged to fill in if he can’t go. Esposito says Moore is worth about 2.5 points on the line in this matchup
On the field, three teams saw their starting quarterbacks go down to injury, while home teams dominated on the moneyline (12-4 SU) and had a good showing against the spread (11-5 ATS). Both home-team betting and the injured quarterbacks will impact Week 2’s lines, as will the anticipated drop in handle from Week 1 to Week 2.
By all accounts, last weekend was huge at the books.
“(Sunday) was Super Bowl-like,” says Jay Kornegay Executive Director Race and Sports at Las Vegas Hilton. “Outside the Super Bowl, I don’t think I’ve seen that many people in the SuperBook.” And he probably won’t see that many people in there until this year’s Super Bowl either.
“There is always a small dip in the action from Week 1 to Week 2 as the excitement of the NFL kickoff begins to wear off,” says Richard Gardner, Bodog.com Sportsbook manager. “The betting trend in Week 1 was to bet the home favorites and we believe that this betting trend will continue in Week 2 of the NFL regular season. I think the lines on some of the home favorites might move more aggressively this week after last week’s results.”
That means you ought to keep a close eye on big public teams like Dallas -8.5 at home to Chicago, Green Bay -13.5 hosting Buffalo and Minnesota -5.5 at home to the Dolphins. Indianapolis should also see a lot of action in the Manning Bowl, with Eli’s Giants coming into Indy as 5.5-point underdogs.
“Those are the games we’ll likely see some movement on leading up to Sunday,” says Chuck Esposito, Casino Operations Manager at The Tropicana.
“Square bettors likely won with some of the big public home teams in Week 1 and could come back looking for this trend again, so we’ll have to monitor those lines closely.”
Meanwhile, everyone will be keeping close tabs on the injury report this week. Quarterbacks Matt Stafford, Kevin Kolb and Matt Moore all went down with injuries. These aren’t considered first-tier quarterbacks by any stretch of the imagination, but they will factor into this week’s odds.
“Nobody affects the line more than the quarterback,” says Greg Sindell, SportsInteraction.com oddsmaker. “Normally when a team’s starting quarterback goes down to injury, the team’s odds increase greatly.”
These injuries probably won’t make a huge difference in the odds you’ll see this week, at least they won’t unless the wagering public forces the books’ hand with action.
The Detroit Lions could be in real trouble if Matt Stafford is out for a while. He was injured in Sunday’s controversial loss to the Bears on a sack by Julius Peppers. The Lions face off against another team that could have a quarterback decision to make in the Philadelphia Eagles. After shipping Donovan McNabb to the Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles lost Kevin Kolb to a concussion. He will be evaluated Wednesday, though, Eagles coach Andy Reid wouldn’t rule him out for this week’s game.
If he can’t go, Michael Vick will step in again after he threw for 175 yards and a touchdown while rushing for another 103 yards on the ground in Philly’s 27-20 loss to Green Bay. Oddsmakers currently have Philadelphia set as a 3.5-point favorite on the road against Detroit.
“We could see a case where a team’s starting quarterback gets hurt yet, their odds are cut with the Eagles and the Kolb/Vick scenario,” says Esposito. “After Vick nearly led the Eagles to a comeback against the Packers, people will back Philly more with Vick running the show, thinking he could be coming back into form.”
Esposito adds that Detroit quarterback Matt Stafford is probably worth one to 1.5 points on this week’s spread.
Meanwhile, Matt Moore is said to be feeling “a lot better” according to coach John Fox, who wouldn’t rule out Moore playing against Tampa Bay in Week 2. Oddsmakers have yet to release a line for that game, but Moore’s status will play a factor with Jimmy Clausen pegged to fill in if he can’t go. Esposito says Moore is worth about 2.5 points on the line in this matchup
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