Carson Wentz, Eagles cash in as September surprise
It got ugly in Philadelphia, which was what the betting public expected. Sacked four times and intercepted once in a blowout, the losing quarterback was a battered, defeated man. But it was Ben Roethlisberger getting beat up.
The rookie on the other side was busy making the leap from North Dakota State to the NFL look too easy.
On another Sunday full of surprises, Carson Wentz and the Eagles punished Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-3. Believe it or not, the exciting, explosive Steelers produced only a field goal while the Eagles remained perfect through Week 3.
“I wouldn’t say the Eagles are for real, but they are better than I thought,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, oddsmaker at the South Point sports book. “There’s a long way to go. … 3-0 and a long way to go.”
It was a long day for most bettors, especially those who played the most popular favorites on the board and walked away with buyer’s remorse.
“The Cardinals, Steelers and Panthers were the big three,” William Hill sports book director Nick Bogdanovich said.
The Steelers, who closed as 4-point favorites, sucked in the public. Wentz passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns, and he walked away with a clean uniform after not getting sacked.
“That was totally unexpected,” Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “It’s pretty impressive what Wentz is doing and what the Eagles are doing.”
Arizona is a surprise of a different kind. The Cardinals, despite being in an unenviable spot in a trip to Buffalo, drew heavy action as 5½-point favorites. The desperate Bills rolled 33-18 to finally dent the win column.
“I was amazed by the amount of money that came in on Arizona in that spot,” Vaccaro said. “That was our biggest game of the day.”
The public took another beating with the Carolina Panthers, 6½-point favorites and around minus-300 on the money line in their 22-10 loss to Minnesota. Cam Newton, intercepted three times and sacked eight times, had an even rougher day than Roethlisberger.
The Vikings appear to be the real deal, mostly because of their dominant defense and coach Mike Zimmer.
“It was a great day. I’m not going to lie about that. It was our best Sunday so far,” Kornegay said. “But I try not to get too high over the good ones or too low over the bad ones. It’s a long year.”
The good on this Sunday also included the Denver defense and quarterback Trevor Siemian, the Oakland defense, Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker, Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, the Seattle offense, and Andrew Luck in the last two minutes in Indianapolis.
The Broncos are 3-0 and not missing Peyton Manning, who can be seen at the next commercial break for those who do miss him. Denver, getting 3½ points, was one of six underdogs to win outright by beating Cincinnati 29-17.
The Raiders, backed by public and sharp money, closed as 1½-point favorites in a 17-10 win at Tennessee. The Ravens closed as 2-point road favorites — the game opened pick’em — and edged Jacksonville 19-17 on Tucker’s four field goals, including the winner from 54 yards with 1:02 to go.
Winless in two home games, the Redskins hit the road and upset the New York Giants 29-27 in a wild one. Cousins redeemed himself, at least for a week, with two touchdown passes. Eli Manning threw two costly interceptions, which was not a surprise. The wiseguys backed Washington.
The bad on this Sunday was Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was intercepted six times in the Jets’ 24-3 loss at Kansas City. Nothing was worse than Fitzpatrick, but Chicago was hopeless, too. The Bears, 6½- to 7½-point ’dogs, were blown out 31-17 by Dallas, which closed the back door twice in the final three minutes and stopped an eight-game home losing skid.
“The Bears are pathetic,” Kornegay said, and we all can agree on that point.
Miami needed overtime to hold off Cleveland. The sharps bet the Rams in Los Angeles’ upset at Tampa Bay. Green Bay, which closed as a 6½-point favorite, squandered most of a 31-3 lead before beating Detroit 34-27.
“Despite their horrible performance, people will load up and bet the Steelers again next week,” Kornegay said. “Every week. That’s a gimme.”
While the Steelers were getting body-slammed, Vaccaro said, a bettor at the South Point put $300 on Wentz and the Eagles to win the Super Bowl at 80-1 odds.
Philadelphia wins the title as the surprise team of September. But the Super Bowl is in the distant future, and most of what happened in Week 3 will eventually get lost in the shuffle.
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