Sharp action on ‘MNF’; bettor makes $40K bet on Giants to beat Bucs
Tom Brady has a 6-3 record in the Super Bowl, with two of his losses to the New York Giants.
The Tampa Bay quarterback has fared much better against New York in the regular season, going 5-1. Oddsmakers expect the 43-year-old Brady to cruise to his sixth regular-season win over the Giants on “Monday Night Football.”
The Buccaneers are consensus 12½-point favorites over New York and the line was up to 13 at multiple Las Vegas sportsbooks Monday afternoon after the spread opened at 10 last week.
“Early in the week, we got sharp action on the Bucs -10½,” Circa Sports sportsbook manager Chris Bennett said in a text. “It’s been pretty balanced on the side and total since then.”
The consensus total is 46 after opening at 47½.
The vast majority of the money and tickets are on Tampa Bay, including carryover on parlays and money-line parlays from Sunday’s games, so the books will be big Giants fans.
“We lose pretty good with Tampa,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said. “It’s the usual scenario on Monday. We need the underdog and the under.”
Underdogs dominated Sunday, going 9-4 ATS with seven outright wins. Though the two biggest favorites covered as Kansas City (-19½) beat the Jets, 35-9, and Philadelphia (-10) held off Dallas, 23-9.
Tampa Bay (5-2) has emerged as one of the leading Super Bowl favorites, tied with Seattle as the 6-1 third choice at the Westgate behind the Steelers (5-1) and Chiefs (+350).
The Jets (0-8) are the NFL’s only winless team. But the Giants (1-6) aren’t much better.
“One team’s rolling. The other team can’t get out of its own way. That’s why they’re +13 on the road,” Bogdanovich said of the Giants. “But as we saw (Sunday), that’s why we play them. Anything can happen.”
A BetMGM bettor is banking on New York to upset Tampa Bay. The gambler placed a $40,000 wager to win $200,000 on the Giants on the money line at 5-1 odds.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
