It’s far too early to learn the words to the Super Bowl Shuffle, but the Chicago Bears are looking legitimate. Ben Johnson’s squad drubbed the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football, winning 34-17. With apologies to San Francisco, the game could be a preview of the NFC Championship Game.
“It had a playoff feel to it,” Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director Chuck Esposito said of the game. “The handle was great, but we were clearly Bears fans. It was a great result for us.” The Book’s Bears fandom was aided by the fact that two tickets — one for $180,000 and another for $150,000 —sided with Seattle, as did 58% of the tickets. The Book needed a big win after guests bested it on Sunday, as favorites controlled the board like a chess player.
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…
NFL
After early spreads were posted, the NFC West saw much of the action, as sharps threw support behind the 49ers and Rams, and under money showed on the Seahawks/Cardinals game. Esposito, though, sees value elsewhere this weekend.
“I hate to lay the number, but I think the Lions will destroy the fish in that Dolphins game. I don’t think that they can hang with them,” the oddsmaker said. He could also be swayed to take the points with the Minnesota Vikings if the line jumps up over a field goal in their game against the Bills.
“This is the best defensive team the Bills have gone against, and I think that hook there is big,” he said. The NFC North is arguably the best division in football, and when it comes to first place, all four teams could be In-N-Out like an animal style burger.
The Los Angeles Chargers haven’t won a game since before last Christmas, and they’re not favored to beat the Texans this weekend either, but they may be a key to the season, as Jim Harbaugh’s team could unload some pieces like Khalil Mack to competitors.
Let’s not get it twisted, the Chargers stink worse than a landfill, and they’re essentially out of the playoff hunt, particularly because they share a division with the Chiefs and Broncos.
“They say they’re not trading anyone, but I don’t believe them for a second,” Esposito said. “How can they think they legitimately are still in the hunt at 0-7?”
Last Man Standing
The NFL Last Man Standing contest, which guarantees an aggregate payout of $150,000, is getting down to the nitty-gritty, as entries are fallin’ like an Alicia Keys song. Going into last week, 42 of the initial 6,855 entries remained active. After the week finished, only 10 remain, as picks of the Bengals, Vikings, Ravens and Chargers claimed the most victims.
In the college football Last Man Standing contest, which pays an aggregate payout of $100,000, just 23 of the initial 3,121 entries remained active going into last weekend. Now, only 12 remain.
VGK
The Vegas Golden Knights have been quietly playing well, sitting in second place in the Pacific, but they’re not garnering the early-season headlines like the Oilers and Hurricanes. That might be exactly where the VGK wants to be, lying in wait… like the Democrats Tuesday night.
“Last year, remember, they really got off to a kind of a slow start before they really got it going, and I think that’s kind of the case here,” Esposito said, adding that Vegas could once again go big-name hunting at the trade deadline. The name Dylan Larkin, of Detroit, keeps being linked to Vegas, among others.
“They just have the knack to go out and make that big move, so they sit in a much better position than they did last year at this time. I’m not really worried about them at all right now,” Esposito said.
Bets To Know
This Saturday marks one of the biggest and most important college football weekends we’ve seen in a while, with multiple ranked vs. ranked matchups, including Miami/Notre Dame, Georgia/Ole Miss, BYU/Utah, Alabama/LSU, Tennessee/Kentucky and Texas/Missouri. “When you talk about college football, this, to me, is by far the best college football weekend of the year,” Esposito said. We’ll have all the action on STN Sports.
Weekly Winners
Shout out to this bettor who turned $5 into $4,139.96 with a 10-team parlay.
🏒 Calgary Flames ML (+115)
🏒 Sharks/Flames Under 6.5 (-115)
🏒 Blackhawks/Avalanche Over 6.5 (+100)
🏒 Panthers/Red Wings Over 6 (-108)
🏒 Bruins/Golden Knights Under 6 (+100)
🏈 Bears +3 (+100)
🏈 Seahawks/Bears Over 46.5 (-110)
🏒 Boston Bruins ML (-105)
🏒 Detroit Red Wings ML (+150)
🏒 Colorado Avalanche ML (-230)