Category Archives: NFL

NFL week 14 betting lines and trends roundup

We have our first playoff team for the 2018 NFL season. The Los Angeles Rams had a terrific Week 13. They avoided an upset bid by the Lions in Detroit and pulled away for a 30-16 win. That gave the Rams the NFC West title for a second straight year. In addition, the New Orleans Saints – the only team to beat the Rams – lost at the Dallas Cowboys.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

So, now Los Angeles is in the NFC’s top spot and needs to simply win out to get home-field advantage. The Rams will be favored in every game the rest of the way and are -3 this Sunday night in Chicago, the leader of the NFC North. That was flexed into the prime-time window. The Bears have covered six of their past seven at home.

For the first time in franchise history, the Green Bay Packers have fired a coach during a season. Mike McCarthy was shown the door following last Sunday’s stunning home loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin takes over as interim coach with the Packers as 6-point home favorites on Sunday against another disappointing team, the Atlanta Falcons. They have covered six straight trips to Green Bay.

Crypto-driven football league finds two more owners

Are you ready for some football (the American game, not the one that is actually played with the feet)? The National Football League (NFL) currently runs its season from around August to January, giving football fans a lot of downtime in the off-season. A new league scheduled to kick off next year will help fill the gap, while allowing armchair quarterbacks to show if they actually have the right stuff to call plays. As the Fan-Controlled Football League (FCFL) is gearing up, it has now added two new team owners to its rosters and both are NFL heavy-hitters.

Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman have signed on as team owners, as well as fan captains for two of the eight teams that will operate in the league. Lynch is currently with the Oakland Raiders as a running back, while Sherman is a defensive back with the San Francisco 49ers. They both have a long history of working together that goes back to their time with the Seattle Seahawks, for which they won Super Bowl rings in 2013.

The FCFL is a different kind of football. Most notably, the league is powered by cryptocurrency. It has partnered with New Alchemy, a blockchain company, which will introduce a digital token system that allows fans to buy, sell and trade digital coins, the Fan Access Network (FAN) token.

The fans – and the FANS – control the game. Fans are able to call plays, draft players, hire coaches, create team names and more. The fans with the most FANS will have more strength in being able to make decisions.

NFL week 13 betting lines and trends roundup

Entering Week 13, a majority of the league still has something to play for this season. That’s because 20 teams are either in the playoffs or within one game of a postseason position. Yet, it’s an interesting week with most games featuring one of those teams still having motivation for 2018 against one playing out the string.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

For example, the Carolina Panthers visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carolina has lost its past three games but is still in the wild-card chase, while Tampa Bay is closing a disappointing season under embattled coach Dirk Koetter. The Panthers have the NFC’s best December record over the past five years at 17-7 and are 3.5-point road favorites on Sunday. Carolina has covered its past five in Tampa, winning four.

The Houston Texans are in control of the AFC South and have become the first team in league history to win eight straight games following an 0-3 start. Could be a bit of a trap game Sunday for the Texans as they are on a short week and hosting the improving Cleveland Browns, who are +6. Houston has failed to cover its past seven December games.

Thursday night NBA betting preview & trends

There’s an excellent Thursday night game in the NFL this week with the New Orleans Saints visiting the Dallas Cowboys in a matchup of division leaders. However, some sports fans will be focusing on basketball from at least 8-10 p.m. ET or so when the Golden State Warriors visit the Toronto Raptors in the first game of the TNT doubleheader.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

This could be a preview of the NBA Finals – which Toronto has never reached – as the Raptors have the league’s best record and are favored to win the Eastern Conference. The Warriors aren’t quite atop the Western Conference yet but surely will be by the end of the regular season if healthy and remain heavy favorites to win a fourth NBA title in five years.

Two individual side plots for this game. First, Warriors All-Star and two-time MVP Stephen Curry could return from a groin injury that has kept him out the past 10 games. Golden State is absolutely loaded but not the same without Curry and just 5-5 without him in the current stretch. There was no early betting line on this game because of Curry, who did return to practice Tuesday.

‘Four to eight’ more states to have sports betting before next NFL season

As many as a dozen U.S. states are expected to allow for sports betting before the end of next year, according to a Reuters report.

Sports data provider Sportradar Group’s Vice-President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs Jake Williams estimated that four to eight states will “probably be accepting bets by the coming football season.” This will be in September 2019, with the current National Football League (NFL) season ending February next year.

Williams saw as many as 24 states in all having legal sports betting within the next 24 months.

At present, only a handful of states offer wagering on sports events. Nevada and Delaware have allowed it even during the federal ban, which the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional only last May. Since then, several states such as New Jersey and Mississippi have passed legislation prescribing tax rates and other regulatory measures for the industry.

NFL Week 11 betting lines and trends roundup

One of the best things about Week 11 in the NFL this year? It’s the last one with more than two teams on the bye. Six are this week: Buffalo, Cleveland, Miami, the New York Jets, New England and San Francisco. Five really bad teams and the Patriots.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

No question the marquee matchup of the week and perhaps the season is Monday night when the Kansas City Chiefs (9-1) visit the Los Angeles Rams (9-1) in a potential Super Bowl preview and between two of the highest-powered offenses in modern NFL history. This game originally was set for Mexico City but was moved due to the field conditions there being horrific. The Rams are -3.5 and the total of 63.5 is the highest in NFL history. Kansas City has covered eight of its last nine as an underdog.

It’s perhaps a playoff elimination game on Sunday as the Dallas Cowboys visit the Atlanta Falcons, with both clubs at 4-5. Very rare for teams 4-6 to play postseason football. The Falcons are 3-point favorites, and Dallas is just 3-7 straight up in its past 10 as a dog.

Super Bowl 53 odds: Rams sitting ahead of Saints

Major League Baseball teams play 162 regular-season games, while NBA and NHL clubs play 82. Thus, a regular-season result between two championship contenders doesn’t carry much if any weight in those leagues. There are too many games for one to make a difference in futures odds, plus NBA and NHL teams play every other team in the league at least twice.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

One might think it’s different in the NFL, which has just 16 regular-season games. Every team plays 10 different opponents once and then the other three foes in the same division twice. So, one victory should carry a ton of weight, especially against a non-division club.

Yet as we look at the odds to win Super Bowl LIII, the Los Angeles Rams are +325 favorites. Hard to argue against that considering the Rams were the last team to lose in 2018, but they are ahead of the team that beat them: The red-hot New Orleans Saints (+400). If the Rams and Saints finish with the same regular-season record, New Orleans would get to host a potential playoff game between the two. That’s big.

NFL Week 10 betting lines and trends roundup

Even though it’s Week 10 of the NFL season, it’s accurate to call it the halfway point because now every team in the league has played at least eight of its 16 regular-season games.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The living members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins may have celebrated a bit this week after the Los Angeles Rams fell from the ranks of the unbeaten last Sunday in New Orleans. That means those Dolphins will remain the only team to complete a perfect season through the Super Bowl. The Rams look to bounce back Sunday at home against the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks as 10-point favorites. The Seahawks nearly upset the Rams in Week 5 but lost 33-3  1. Los Angeles is 5-2 ATS in its past seven against NFC West opponents.

Could the Saints have a bit of a letdown game off that big win over the Rams? New Orleans is a 6-point favorite at the Cincinnati Bengals, who have the benefit of coming off the bye week but will be without injured star receiver A.J. Green. Cincinnati has covered nine of its past 11 as a home dog.

NFL week 9 betting lines and trends roundup

It’s an interesting Week 9 in the NFL. There are a lot of matchups that leave plenty to be desired, but then Sunday ends with two of the most important games of the 2018 regular season: Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints, and Green Bay Packers at New England Patriots.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Rams remain the only threat to the 1972 Miami Dolphins to complete a perfect season (through the Super Bowl) as Los Angeles is 8-0 for the first time since 1969. The Rams nearly lost at home last Sunday to the Packers, though, and are actually 1.5-point underdogs in New Orleans. While the Rams are the only team with zero losses in the entire league, the Saints are the only one in the NFC with a single defeat. The winner will be in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the conference. The Rams have covered six of the past eight in this series.

Packers-Patriots could be a Super Bowl preview, and it’s just the second-ever meeting between future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, both on the short list of the best in history. At 3-3-1, the Packers need this a lot more than the 6-2 and AFC East-leading Patriots do, but New England is a 6-point favorite. The Patriots are 9-2 ATS during an 11-game home winning streak.

Celtics small favorites hosting Bucks on Thursday NBA odds

When the NFL and NBA regular seasons overlap, the Thursday night NFL game usually steals the spotlight from basketball that day of the week. Might not be the case this Thursday, though, as it’s a wretched football game between two one-win teams from the San Francisco Bay Area. Thank goodness that area has the Golden State Warriors.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Lousy football could mean improved ratings for TNT and its weekly Thursday night NBA doubleheader. The opener features the Milwaukee Bucks at the Boston Celtics, who are 2-point favorites on the NBA odds. There was no immediate early line on the game because of the status of Bucks superstar and early MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The “Greek Freak” took an elbow to the head in Saturday’s win over Orlando. He was briefly knocked out and taken to the locker room to be checked but cleared concussion tests and did return to the game. However, concussions are tricky injuries and before Monday’s mega-showdown against the also then-unbeaten Toronto Raptors, Antetokounmpo was placed in the concussion protocol. On Wednesday, the Freak was cleared and practiced so he will play Thursday – and a line was posted.

MGM new official gaming partner of NFL’s New York Jets

Casino operator MGM Resorts has signed an “official gaming partnership” with the National Football League’s New York Jets.

On Wednesday, MGM announced that it had entered into a “first of its kind” multi-year deal with the Jets. MGM called the pact “the most comprehensive and integrated gaming partnership” to date between a gaming operator and the NFL since the league relaxed its anti-gambling stance this summer.

The deal involves the usual signage and branding opportunities, but also allows Jets fans access to “mobile play-along predictive game I Called It,” which will be available in the Official New York Jets App but will be labeled as “presented by” MGM’s in-house interactive gambling brand PlayMGM (which, as of August, includes a sports betting component in New Jersey).

The I Called It game is free-play and includes both pre-game and in-play options, but players can (for the moment, at least) only win non-cash prizes. However, MGM notes that the deal allows the company to promote “PlayMGM’s online gaming platforms and mobile apps to millions of fans,” thereby allowing New Jersey-based Jets fans to inadvertently stumble into a real-money betting opportunity.

Horseshoe Casino Baltimore partners with NFL’s Ravens

Maryland’s Horseshoe Casino Baltimore has struck a marketing partnership with the National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens, the second such partnership since the league relaxed its gambling advertising rules.

On Friday, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, a joint venture of Caesars Entertainment and JACK Entertainment, announced an official partnership with the Ravens, the first such deal for both the team and the Caesars casino family. Terms of the ‘multi-year’ deal weren’t disclosed.

The deal will allow the Horseshoe to make ample use of the team’s logos and trademarks at the gaming venue, including the property’s three-level bar, currently known as 14Forty but soon to be rebranded with the Ravens logo. The Shoe will also issue new customer loyalty cards showing off its new NFL links.

The casino’s logo will get ample visibility at the Ravens’ home field, M&T Bank Stadium, and frankly, the Shoe could use all the marketing help it can get. The venue has seen its monthly gaming revenue totals shrink by as much as one-third ever since MGM Resorts’ flashy new National Harbor casino opened two years ago and has consistently been relegated to third place behind MGM and Cordish Cos’ Live! Casino & Hotel.

NFL week 7 betting lines and trends roundup

It’s Week 7 of the 2018 season and also the first time this year there are just 14 games with now four teams on a bye week: Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Oakland and Seattle.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Teams get their bye week (unless they request not to) after playing a game in London. The Raiders and Seahawks did last week, and the Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers will be at Wembley Stadium for a 9:30am ET kickoff this Sunday. Two teams going in opposite directions, as the Titans have scored just 12 combined points in back-to-back losses, while the Chargers have scored at least 26 in winning three straight. Tennessee is a 7-point underdog and amazingly has failed to cover the past 10 in the series.

History is likely to be made Sunday afternoon when the New Orleans Saints visit the Baltimore Ravens in a matchup of division leaders. Saints quarterback Drew Brees became the NFL’s all-time passing yardage leader two weeks ago and can become the fourth member of the 500-touchdown passing club by throwing just one against the Ravens. Baltimore is -2.5 in its first home game in about a month and 6-1 ATS in the past seven in this series.

NFL week 6 betting lines and trends roundup

With the Arizona Cardinals becoming the last team to win in the 2018 season in Week 5, that means we enter Week 6 with every team having won at least once for the first time in 28 years. This is what happens when the Cleveland Browns become competitive.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The last time the previously sad-sack Browns were over .500 in a season was late in 2014. They can get back there on Sunday with a win over the visiting Los Angeles Chargers, who are 1.5-point favorites. Might want to expect an overtime game as Cleveland already has played three of them. That’s tied for the most through Week 5 in NFL history since regular-season OT was instituted in 1974. Cleveland has covered its past six against the Chargers.

We have our first London game in Week 6 as the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders both endure very long flights across the pond. Those games are often sloppy and turnover-filled with the time change and travel, etc. Seattle is a 3-point “road” favorite. The Seahawks are ahead of their bye and have won the past seven in that scenario (6-1 ATS).

NFL week 5 betting lines and trends roundup

The Kansas City Chiefs were the last team to lose in the 2017 season, although it didn’t lead to any playoff success. Could they be the last to be beaten again in 2018? The Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams enter Week 5 as the only two clubs with a zero in the loss column.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Kansas City appears to have a much tougher task on Sunday as the Chiefs put the NFL‘s top offense against the league’s No. 1 defense in the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars – who already own an impressive win over the New England Patriots. The Chiefs are 3-point favorites and have covered three of the past four against Jacksonville.

The Rams are in Seattle, which normally would be a huge challenge, but these Seahawks are trending downward. They also lost Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas to a season-ending broken leg last week. Seattle is getting 7.5 points, which is incredibly rare in the Pete Carroll era. The Rams have covered three of their past 11 in the Pacific Northwest.

Sports betting heroes battle forces of evil at House hearing

Thursday’s sports betting hearing in the US congress was not unlike The Lord of the Rings, in that the forces of darkness significantly outnumbered the wagering heroes.

Thursday saw the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations tackle the issue of what role the federal government should – or shouldn’t – have in overseeing sports betting activity in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down the federal betting ban.

Subcommittee chair Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) opened the proceedings by noting the lack of any real media presence, given the hearing was taking place at the same time as the Senate’s far more consequential hearing into whether a Supreme Court nominee was a rat-bastard frat-boy rapist.

Sensenbrenner immediately copped to his impartiality on the subject of betting, saying that the “temptation is there to throw games” and unless something – exactly what went unspecified – is done, Sensenbrenner foresaw “a huge amount of trouble in the future” as legal betting spread across the land.

NFL week 4 betting lines and trends roundup

The NFL loves to tout parity in its league, and that is on display through three weeks of the 2018 season as there were just three teams at 3-0: Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins. Fans of those teams should feel good about their playoff hopes because since the 12-team postseason format has been in place (1990), nearly 74 percent of teams to start 3-0 made the playoffs.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Dolphins are the surprise unbeaten team of that group after slipping to 6-10 last year without injured starting QB Ryan Tannehill. He’s back and playing well, and Coach Adam Gase is off the hot seat. Gase’s Dolphins are 7-point underdogs, though, this week at New England. A win would give Miami a whopping 3-game lead over the Patriots in the AFC East, but the Fins have dropped their past nine in Foxboro and failed to cover the previous six.

There are also three 0-3 teams in the NFL: Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The Texans likely are the surprise of that unfortunate group, and they are 1.5-point underdogs at AFC South rival Indianapolis, a place Houston rarely wins. Indy has won 14 of the past 16 at home in the series. The Texans are on an NFL-high nine-game losing streak overall and have failed to cover their past eight.

NFL week 3 betting lines and trends roundup

A common theme that NFL fans will hear entering Week 3 is the playoff probabilities of 2-0 or 0-2 teams. Seven teams entered this week at 2-0, and since the NFL adopted its current playoff format in 1990 more than 62 percent of teams to start a year with that mark did make the postseason.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Almost impossibly, there’s not a single matchup of 2-0 teams in Week 3. There is one meeting of 0-2 clubs as the New York Giants visit the Houston Texans, two teams struggling offensively. Eli Manning, at age 37, sure looks like he’s shot for the G-Men. On the flipside, Houston’s Deshaun Watson may just be a bit rusty coming back from last year’s ACL tear. The Texans are 6-point favorites but have lost eight straight overall and failed to cover their previous seven.

Perhaps the marquee matchup of Week 3 is a battle of Los Angeles, and possibly a Super Bowl preview, as the Chargers head across town to take on the Rams – those teams will share the same stadium in a few years. The Rams have been perhaps the league’s most impressive team thus far and are -7. They are 7-2 ATS in their past nine as a favorite.

NFL week 2 betting lines and trends roundup

It’s a big NFL week for every club that lost in Week 1 – and not all of them won or lost considering the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns played to a very rare opening-week tie – because history has shown that 0-2 teams rarely make the postseason.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

It can happen, though, as the New Orleans Saints proved last year. The Saints were the biggest favorites of Week 1 at -9.5 but were shocked at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-40. New Orleans is the second-biggest favorite of Week 2 at -9 against the visiting Browns. Cleveland has lost its past 21 road games by an average of nearly 12.8 points. However, the Saints have now failed to cover their past five at home in September.

The biggest favorite of Week 2 and a team likely to be used in many Survivor Pools is the Los Angeles Rams at -13.5 against the visiting Arizona Cardinals. Always a bit dangerous backing teams on a short week as the Rams will be after winning in Oakland on Monday night. However, the Cardinals were offensively inept last Sunday in a 24-6 home loss to the Washington Redskins. Arizona has won eight of its past nine following a loss.