Summer is over and leaves colors are changing, but the Sports Books are seeing everything in tones of Browns, Cleveland Browns, in particular. On Sunday, the Jameis Winston-led Browns stunned the NFL world with an outright victory over the Baltimore Ravens, a team that garnered 88% of the tickets. In another stunner, the heavily favored Jets lost outright to the Patriots, and the Raiders scored a late touchdown against the Chiefs to get the ole backdoor cover.
“Everyone was riding Kansas City, so that game was huge,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director. “It was our best week in three weeks, but, from our side of the counter, it’s been one of the worst Octobers I can remember. It’s been one of the best Octobers for the guests, at least from an NFL standpoint.”
What’s been helping guests? The separation of the good and bad teams is just beginning, and even a Vegas dust storm can’t cloud that picture. With all that in mind, let’s quickly review the past week in sports and peek at what’s ahead on the STN Sports app and the STN Sports Books…
Buffalo Love?
While the Chiefs and Jets brands shine brighter than Neon Museum, everyone might be sleeping on the 6-2 Bills. “I think they’re being overlooked a little bit,” Esposito said. “They play in the same division with the Jets, who are getting all this ink with Aaron Rogers. They play in the same division as the Dolphins, who won the division last year. They play in the same conference with Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow and CJ Stroud.”
Buffalo is currently running away with the AFC East (they have as many wins as the rest of the division has combined!) and is nearly a touchdown favorite this Sunday against rival Miami. “They lost some players, but I thought all along that moving on from Stefon Diggs would give Josh Allen an opportunity not to have to force the ball to one guy. But I think the Bills are being forgotten a little bit. There’s so much buzz about other teams,” Esposito said, adding that the Eagles and Rams and quickly and quietly getting better. “I think Atlanta is a team that easily can win that division and be kind of sneakily good in the playoffs.”
Monday Night
On Monday, Steelers money came in droves, as 85% of the tickets were on the Terrible Towelers to cover the 6-point spread. (Bettors also hammered the over.) The Steelers are now in sole possession of the AFC North and seem to have settled on a quarterback: Russell Wilson. Clearly, guests are jumping on the Pitt bandwagon.
“[Steelers coach] Mike Tomlin is a Hall of Fame coach and is going to go down as one of the greatest coaches ever, probably. He understood Justin Fields, almost like a ‘I appreciate what you did for me, kid. You got us to 4-2, but you can’t win big games,’” Esposito said. Wilson can win big games. In fact, he won the biggest game 10 years ago.
Receive It
When you look at floundering NFL teams, you’ll notice a trend: they have no wide receivers. “You look at the struggles the 49ers had when both Brandon Aiyuk and Deb Samuel were out. You look at the struggles the Saints are having now with no receivers. Tampa is in a really tough spot with their two top receivers being out,” Esposito said. “Receivers have really been a big thing. When teams don’t have their receivers, it seems like they really struggle offensively.”
This past week’s results notwithstanding, teams such as the Panthers, Raiders, Patriots and Titans have been clear bet againsts. Go ahead and name one receiver on any of those teams. We’ll wait. You know what they say: catch footballs, not feelings.
Last Man Standing
The end is near… no, we’re not only talking about all those political commercials. Only 21 entries remain active in the NFL contests, as last week’s games eliminated half of the entries. Similarly, 22 entries remain in the college contest, down from 42 that began last week.
World Series
The Dodgers/Yankees World Series was billed as an all-time matchup, but it hasn’t lived up to the hype… like LIV nightclub. After the Dodgers went up 2-0, all money was on New York on Monday night. “In Game 3, there were some big parlays tied to the Yankees. The Yankees were a really popular bet, so we were huge Dodger fans there. Every large bet was on the Yankees in Game 3,” Esposito said. In Game 4, the public went with the Yankees again, and New York prevailed after coming out with more emotion than an Adele song. “We’re in good shape in this series,” Esposito said. “From a future book and series perspective, we’ll be better off if the Yankees win it, but we’re still fine.”
Bets To Know
The Knights have continued to be golden for bettors, particularly at T-Mobile Arena. They’re 7-0 at home, and they’ve covered the puck line in six of those games. Additionally, the over is 5-2 in those games, as the VGK has been scoring like a chef and fish filet. “Our betting public has been backing the Knights heavily, especially at home. They’ve been really good to the bettors this season,” Esposito said.