Yesterday’s NFL action provided the entire gambit of emotions to football fans. There was no shortage of awesome plays to keep everyone entertained, including some down-to-the-wire finishes, but there was also a high number of injuries that are going to impact teams for weeks to come. Without the ability to train properly ahead of the start of the season, thanks to COVID-19, players are taking the field in other than optimum condition, and this doesn’t bode well for several teams that are now scrambling to fill unexpected and key vacancies. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to stop a late resurgence by the Denver Broncos to hold on for the win. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was everything Steelers fans expected him to be, throwing for 311 yards and two touchdowns. A single interception was the only blemish on the day, but that didn’t prevent Pittsburgh from taking the 26-21 victory. Things looked a little dicey toward the end when the Broncos mounted a comeback with less than two minutes on the clock, but the Pittsburgh defense sacked quarterback Jeff Driskel on fourth down to seal the deal. 

Driskel was only in the game because starting QB Drew Lock exited in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. Driskel did what he could to give Denver the advantage, but wasn’t able to overcome a powerful defense. The Steelers were the -334 favorite heading into the game, and they proved why they were getting such good odds with their second win of the season.

The LA Rams didn’t find too much trouble in the Philadelphia Eagles, taking the win 37-19. That’s two in the W column for the Rams and two in the L column for the Eagles so far this season, and the Rams are starting to look sharp. Rams QB Jared Goff had 267 yards in the air with three touchdowns to lead his team to victory; however, he was left without the help of running back Cam Akers, who took a shot to the ribs and was sidelined for the rest of the game. Chalk one up for the underdogs, as the Eagles were the -128 favorite to win against the +110 Rams.

The competition by sports betting operators in the US is fast and fierce, with the operators working overtime to secure new deals ahead of their rivals. DraftKings and FanDuel may have a solid piece of the action, but BetMGM has been making some serious moves this year to come out in first. The MGM Resorts International-led outfit has teamed up with NASCAR, the PGA Tour and MLB, among others, and is making a serious dent in the NFL world. It’s already tied to the Denver Broncos and the Detroit Lions, but just inked another partnership, this time with a league team in its own backyard. The Las Vegas Raiders, which just relocated to the city ahead of the current season, have given their blessing to BetMGM to be their first sports betting partner. 

MGM is based in Las Vegas and the partnership with the Raiders shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The two have been intertwined since the beginning of the year when MGM became the team’s official gaming partner. That opened the door for MGM to be able to place signage at Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders’ new home field, as well as naming rights to a stadium VIP entrance and an exclusive MGM Club at the venue. It also gave MGM the right to be called a “founding partner” of the stadium.

Raiders President Marc Badain says of the new agreement, “We are pleased to add BetMGM to the MGM Resorts partnership portfolio. The addition of BetMGM will open new levels of engagement for Raiders fans and guests of Allegiant Stadium.” Of course, for any of that to happen, Allegiant will have to allow fans to attend games and other events, which it currently can’t do because of COVID-19. For now, unless something drastic changes, attendance is prohibited for the entire NFL season.

Bill Hornbuckle, the CEO of MGM Resorts, adds, “All of us at MGM Resorts are proud to welcome the Raiders and the NFL to Las Vegas. We look forward to providing Raiders fans a world-class sports betting and entertainment experience, both in our BetMGM Sportsbooks and digitally, through the BetMGM mobile app.” BetMGM, previously called PlayMGM, introduced its mobile wagering app in Nevada this past March following a successful launch in Indiana the month before. 

The Cincinnati Bengals deserve a little credit as the NFL season gets underway – at least they’re being consistent. As Week 2 kicked off yesterday, the Bengals took on the Cleveland Browns and expected their new quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, to be a strong force leading the team. That hasn’t been working, though, and the Bengals are now 0-2 on the season after their 35-30 win last night. Realistically, Burrow can’t be blamed for all the team’s faults, especially after seeing some of the embarrassing plays the Bengals made last night, but he’s going to have to break out of his shell if he expects to live up to the hype of being the first player drafted in this year’s NFL Draft. 

The game was touch and go last night, with both sides showing some stellar abilities on offensive. However, the Browns’ defense proved to be too strong, and was able to take out Burrow three times on sacks. A miscue early in the second quarter forced the Bengals to lose 25 yards on third down, the type of mistake that can only be chalked up to inexperience. Burrow was lined up at shotgun and began the count before deciding to call a timeout at precisely the moment he should have been calling for the ball. He turned toward his sideline as the ball came out from the line of scrimmage behind him and he chased it back to the Bengals’ own 17 before falling on it. 

By the end of the night, Burrow had logged 61 pass attempts, the second-most for any rookie in NFL history (Chris Weinke still holds the record with 63 when he started with the Carolina Panthers). Of those attempts, only 37 were successful, but Burrow still managed to put up 316 yards in the air, including one nine-yard pass with only 43 seconds left on the clock for a touchdown. That put the Bengals within five points of tying the game, but a subsequent onside kick attempt failed, and the Browns walked away with their first win of the season.

The Browns star quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who took the Heisman in 2017, was more consistent, completing 16 of 23 of his passes. He had no problem throwing to different receivers, connecting with eight during the game to complete for 219 yards. Another 215 yards on the ground solidified the Browns’ domination of the game. 

The Tennessee Titans pulled off a win against the Denver Broncos as expected in the NFL’s Monday Night Football last night, but it wasn’t due to a confident leg of their kicker, Stephen Gostkowski.  It took the Titans a last-minute push to pull ahead of the Broncos and, if Gostkowski’s last attempt at putting his team on the right side of the victory had failed, there’s a good chance he would have been updating his resume.  Fortunately for him, the kick was good, but not before missing three field goals and an extra point attempt in the game. 

Gostkowski was picked up during the offseason after being cut by the New England Patriots last March.  In his season opener with his new team, he completely missed two field goals and had another field goal attempt blocked, and missed an easy freebie that no professional kicker should ever miss.  After the Titans moved into the end zone for a touchdown, his point after kick went wide and the virtual crowd went wild. 

Thanks to the unsure foot of Gostkowski, the Titans have now logged more missed field goals than those made, beginning the season with three misses.  It’s the second year that the team has had a lot of trouble with its kicks, and last season, the team also missed more than they had made.  They had been doing a lot better since 1987, the year of the last NFL strike, which was the last time any team in the league logged fewer made field goals than those missed. 

Gostkowski is a four-time Pro Bowler, which makes one wonder what he’s been doing wrong lately to get to where he is.  The Titans went 9-7 last year and were expected to not have too much difficulty with the Broncos, who had gone 7-9.  However, the game was a lot closer than it should have been, which is what will happen when a kicker misses out on the chance to add ten points to the scoreboard. 

The NFL had its 2020 season opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans last Thursday, ushering in a new – and different – year for football. That game was just a taste of what was to come this past weekend, which offered a slate full of hot games for sports fans. Sports gamblers didn’t waste any time getting in on the action, and the Bodog sportsbook saw a lot of interest in almost all the games. The NBA and MLB were there, as well, but nearly at the level enjoyed by the NFL.

The NFL was responsible for 38.83% of the wagers seen by Bodog this past weekend. Football is always the most attractive sport for gamblers, and even college football, which is currently only running at less than half its normal speed, attracted 16.34% of the wagers. The NBA Playoffs, and a couple of surprise victories, saw pro basketball take 15.47% of the action, while MLB came in just behind, with 15.32%.

Those were the only four leagues to hit the double-digit mark; everyone else was relegated to the low single-digit area. The U.S. Open gave Bodog 3.56% of its entire betting activity over the weekend, followed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which garnered 3.06%. The English Premier League and the NHL also saw a few bets, taking 2.53% and 2.12%, respectively. 

Out of the top ten individual games, NFL contests took five spots and the NBA grabbed three – the remaining two went to college football. Of the NFL games, the one that saw the most action was the battle between the Dallas Cowboys and the LA Rams. It was the hands-down favorite on Bodog, taking 25.77% of the wagers. If anyone thought that the Cowboys were going to get their season off on the right foot and turn things around from last year’s 9-7 finish, they missed, as the Rams pulled out a decisive, 20-17 victory. The Cowboys played well, but not well enough to log their first win of the season.

The Kansas City Chiefs want to show this NFL season that their Super Bowl championship from last year was not just a fluke. Based on their first game of the season last night, also the first game for the league, they’re off to a good start. Their home field, Arrowhead Stadium, is one of the few that has agreed to allow limited fan attendance, and, for four quarters, many people forgot that the world is dealing with a health pandemic. Football is back, and things are getting off to a strong start. 

Despite the lack of preseason games, the modified training camps that saw teams greatly reduce their full-pad practices and strict health and safety measures, the Chiefs and the Houston Texans didn’t seem to be deterred. The Chiefs, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, pulled out a playbook that was precisely what everyone had envisioned – a passing game built almost entirely around the Super Bowl MVP. The Texans had expected this and shifted from last season’s man-to-man coverage against him to a zone defense designed to keep Mahomes from finding targets. It didn’t work. 

Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid made the necessary adjustments on the fly, and Mahomes saved his arm by concentrating more on short passes, with just an occasional long ball with wings – his longest pass was for 19 yards, but he accumulated a total of 211 and three touchdown passes. It was highly successful, and Mahomes ended the night with spectacular numbers, becoming the first NFL player to pick up three touchdown passes and no interceptions in three consecutive openers. 

In addition to Mahomes, the Chiefs also have a ringer in rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Kansas City picked him up in the first round of the NFL Draft this year out of Louisiana State University, and he has proven to be worth every bit the Chiefs put in to acquire him. He ran for 138 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown run, and the Texans spent all night trying to figure out how to stop him. He is the first rookie in the NFL to rush for 100 yards in an opening game in the past 13 seasons, and more teams across the league are now studying films to figure out how to stop him.