Browns, 49ers are America’s bet-against teams
Some days, it’s not better to be the bookmaker, and that’s because the bookmaker is forced to root — or say a Sunday morning prayer — for the Cleveland Browns to cover. A frowning coach Hue Jackson is the face of the Browns.
The bookmaker also is stuck with Chip Kelly and the stench of the San Francisco 49ers.
The betting public knows a skunk when it smells one. In this case, two skunks.
“People can’t wait to bet against Cleveland and San Francisco,” William Hill sports book director Nick Bogdanovich said. “It was like a feeding frenzy for the masses.”
The theme of this story would be the bookmakers getting crushed in Week 9 of the NFL season, if not for the Indianapolis Colts. Some days, it pays to have Andrew Luck on your side.
The Browns went down early as 7½-point home underdogs to Dallas, which again followed rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott to an easy 35-10 win and its seventh straight cover.
“How bad are the Browns?” Sunset Station book director Chuck Esposito asked rhetorically.
The Browns are bad enough that one of their linebackers guaranteed they will not finish 0-16. Cleveland is getting close to making history at 0-9 straight up and 2-7 against the spread.
“I continue to be really impressed with the Cowboys,” Esposito said. “It would be easy to overlook the Browns.”
Debate this: Are the Browns worse than the 49ers? Those hopeless losers have become America’s bet-against teams.
The New Orleans Saints, rarely road favorites, were suddenly a hot ticket laying 5½ points at San Francisco, which has lost and failed to cover seven straight. Drew Brees passed for 323 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-23 blowout that served as another embarrassment to Kelly, who needs to go back to college.
“The two biggest decisions by far were the Cowboys and Saints, and we never had a shot,” Bogdanovich said.
The books needed some Luck, and he delivered. The Colts, 7½-point ’dogs and plus-300 on the money line, stunned the Packers 31-26 in Green Bay.
“The light schedule made us nervous heading in because the popular teams were facing bad teams. We knew we were going to need one 6- or 7-point underdog to win a game or else it was going to be a losing day,” Westgate book director Jay Kornegay said. “The Packers winning and covering would have spelled disaster, but the Colts came through. I’m writing my thank-you card to the Colts.”
Favorites finished 5-4-2 ATS, counting Oakland as a favorite. The Raiders closed either minus-1 or pick’em in their prime-time domination of Denver. The final was 30-20, but the Broncos were lucky to be that close.
“We needed the Broncos bad,” Bogdanovich said. “If the Colts didn’t beat the Packers, it would have been pretty ugly.”
Depending on the book, it was either a bad or break-even day. Of the four big decisions — Dallas, Indianapolis, New Orleans and Oakland — three went the bettors’ way.
Ben Roethlisberger returned for Pittsburgh, and money made the Steelers 3-point favorites at Baltimore, but the Ravens rolled to a 21-14 win that was not that close. Roethlisberger’s status kept the game off the board most of the week, so the wagering was light.
The day’s two pushes featured the type of point-spread shenanigans that are all too familiar to NFL bettors.
Carolina was a 3-point favorite in its 13-10 win at Los Angeles. The Rams rallied improbably in the final three minutes with Case Keenum keeping a 15-play, 75-yard drive alive with an 11-yard pass on fourth-and-9. On fourth-and-goal from the 10, coach Jeff Fisher strangely opted against a field goal, and Keenum connected with Kenny Britt for a touchdown with 34 seconds left.
Miami opened minus-3½ and closed minus-4 in its 27-23 victory over the Jets. After New York seized the lead, the Dolphins’ Kenyan Drake scored on a 96-yard kickoff return with 5:15 left.
Jacksonville, a 7-point ’dog in a 19-14 loss at Kansas City, covered through the back door on Blake Bortles’ touchdown pass with 4:10 to go. San Diego, a 3½-point home favorite, beat Tennessee 43-35 thanks to two Marcus Mariota turnovers that the Chargers turned into defensive touchdowns.
Not to be overlooked, Doug Pederson coached Philadelphia to a loss in a game the Eagles should have won, and Minnesota fell for the third consecutive week as a favorite.
New England was one of six teams on a bye. While the Patriots were resting, the Raiders were announcing their rise to No. 2 in the AFC.
“The Raiders look like one of the elite teams,” Esposito said. “Right now, it’s the Patriots, there is a little gap before the Cowboys, and then it’s everybody else.”
Stinking up the basement are the Browns and 49ers.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow on Twitter: @mattyoumans247
