Weekend Sports Gambler: Betting Line Rises on Raiders in Sunday Game vs. Cardinals
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By Dan Behringer, LVSportsBiz.com Betting Writer
Bring on the Cardinals.
That’s what Raiders fans and bettors could be saying about Week 2 of the NFL season after the Silver and Black suffered a humbling 24-19 loss to the San Diego Chargers, 24-19, in Week 1.
The Arizona Cardinals were similarly disappointed with the results from their opening game after they ended up on the wrong end of a 44-21 thrashing by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now the Raiders are laying 5.5 points — up from -3.5 — at what will surely be a rowdy and raucous Allegiant Stadium on Sunday. Covers.com notes the public is equally divided on the game with 50 percent of bettors on the Raiders and the other half on the Cardinals.
“We’re going to play another good team this week and so if we do the right things, we’ll have a chance,” said Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, who seems to have mastered the art of stating the obvious. “And if we don’t and we put ourselves in a hole, it’ll be hard.
It will be intriguing to see if bettors push the line to Raiders -6 or whether the number comes back before kickoff at 1:25 p.m.
The total has ticked down from 52 to 51.5.
There also some prop bets for those interested on wagering on the game within the game: Two that might draw interest are Davante Adams over/under 7.5 receptions, and Darren Waller over/under 48.5 receiving yards.
Elsewhere:
— Play on, play on: Yes, there will be a Game 4 in the WNBA Finals. The Connecticut Sun vanquished the Las Vegas Aces, 105-76 in Game 3 on Thursday. The game was a virtual pick and the total bounced around before settling at 160.5.
The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas had the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history to propel the win. Leading 77-69 at the end of three quarters, the Sun finished with a 28-7 outburst in the fourth quarter to put the game beyond reach.
“If you could encapsulate Connecticut, it’s physical and very resilient,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said of the Sun to ESPN. “They have kind of a battle-type mentality, and we didn’t match that tonight, in any category. They just kicked our ass in every way possible.”
Game 4 will also be on the Sun’s home court. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. Sunday. Despite their dominating win in Game 3, they are getting little respect from bettors. They are currently +1.5 with the total at 162.5.
— Rebels favored: For the second time this season, the UNLV football Rebels (1-1) will be favored. They are -2.5 vs the North Texas Mean Green (2-1) in the game slated for Saturday at Allegiant Stadium.
At Covers, 63 percent of bettors are favoring the home team. Seeing a suspect Mean Green defense, they have pushed up the total too. After opening at 58.5, the current total is 63.5.
After a tough 20-14 loss at Cal last week, in a game that coach Marcus Arroyo said was “up for grabs,” the final numbers on the scoreboard will be revealing.
Kickoff is at noon.
— Going, going, outta here: As of this post, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has 57 home runs and is closing in on the American League record held by another Yankee, Roger Maris, who hit 61 in 1961. Judge, who is averaging about a home run every 2.5 games, is anywhere from +200 to +230 to hit a home run on any given day. The “no” on that prop ranges from -260 to -300.
Superstar? “I just try to do whatever I can to help us win. I show up and am ready to go,” he told the New York Post in a recent interview.
— Play of the Week (1-1 for the season): We redeemed ourselves with a relatively easy win and cover by the Arkansas Razorbacks, -8.5, who put away the South Carolina Gamecocks last Saturday, 44-30, to even our record at 1-1. Our play this week: Syracuse -1 vs. Purdue.
