Monday Morning Gambler: Raiders Favored vs. Washington after OT Win over Dallas
By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
So now are you ready to bet the Las Vegas Raiders?
After the dramatic overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, the Raiders are now generally 2.5-point favorites when they host the Washington Football Team on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. The total is 49.5.
The Raiders, now 6-5, may have saved their roller-coaster season with the 36-33 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, a game that went nearly four hours long into the holiday afternoon and featured numerous big plays, 28 penalties (including four pass interference calls against the Cowboys), two ejections and one official with a bloodied chin who needed a Band-Aid.
Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, who toiled for five seasons as the Cowboys’ special teams coach: “We had some explosive plays and we gave up some explosive plays.”
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The line on the Raiders jumped from -1.5 to -2.5 over the weekend. At Circa and WynnBet, it has gone to -3.
Game time is 1:05 p.m. As usual, expect lines at the ticket counter prior to kickoff.
Elsewhere:
— Knights on a run: The Vegas Golden Knights are on a modest run despite a 3-2 loss on Saturday to the Edmonton Oilers. It was Oilers bettors who were in line cashing tickets at about +115.
Still, the Knights have now won three of their last five and six of their last nine.
Coach Peter DeBoer: “I told our team between periods when you’re playing good teams, it’s whoever can stick to their game for the longest amount of time. You can’t get away from it for 10 or 12 minutes against a team like that because you’re down 2, 3-nothing.”
They visit the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
— Football Rebels fade in closer: Air Force defeated UNLV, 48-14, in the final game of the season for the football Rebels. It was a cover for the Falcons, who were -18.5. The total went over 50.
Coach Marcus Arroyo: “Tonight wasn’t our night.”
The football Rebels were 2-10 for the season but were 7-4-1 ATS. Many handicappers would be proud of that percentage.
Meanwhile, the Runnin’ Rebels basketball team lost to No. 2 ranked UCLA on Saturday. UNLV was +10 for the game.
Coach Kevin Kruger: “We got in a hole and took a lot of 3-point shots. I think a lot of the shots were right there. There were a lot of drives where we were one (pass) away from finding a better shot. I don’t want to think the sky is falling, it is UCLA.”
The Runnin’ Rebels were six of 27 (22 percent) from 3-point range for the game. The Bruins also out rebounded UNLV, 47-27.
The Rebels are 4-3 for the season. But excluding the 101-45 win over Whittier College that was off the board, they are 1-5 ATS.
They will be on the road vs. SMU on Wednesday followed by a game at San Francisco on Friday.
— Streakin’: The Phoenix Suns won their 16th straight game, 113-107 over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. But what team leads in cashing tickets for bettors? According to TeamRankings, the Golden State Warriors lead the pack and are covering 79 percent of the time this season. The Cleveland Cavaliers, covering 72.2 percent of the time, rank No. 2. The Suns are actually in the middle of the pack at 55 percent along with several other teams. Dead last? It’s the Los Angeles Lakers, who are covering only 31.8 percent of the time.
In fact, Golden State covered -2.5 in their 105-90 win Sunday over the Los Angeles Clippers. And the Lakers failed to cover -10.5 in their 110-106 win over the Detroit Pistons.
But something will have to give Tuesday. The Suns (17-3) host the Golden State Warriors (17-2). An early consensus line on the game is Suns -2.
— A few lines for Week 14 of college football have Georgia -6.5 vs. Alabama, Michigan -10.5 vs. Iowa, Utah -3 vs. Oregon, San Diego State -5.5 vs. Utah State and Cal -2.5 vs. USC.
— Laugher of the week: Kentucky was +3 in college football on Saturday but jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead over Louisville on their way to a 52-21 rout. That’s a cover by 34 points — and bettors had to be chuckling all the way to the counter to cash their tickets.
