Backing Raiders deserves severe beating

Any handicapper who pumps up the Oakland Raiders is trying to breathe life into a corpse. There is no resuscitating coach Tom Cable or quarterback JaMarcus Russell, each auditioning to be the NFL's worst at their respective positions.

Cable, accused of roughing up an assistant coach in August, could be in some legal trouble. Now he's the one getting pummeled.

Russell lost three fumbles, was sacked six times and completed only eight passes Sunday. But it was a decent effort by his standards because he didn't throw an interception.

"People are saying six or seven teams are uncompetitive, but I say there's only one, and it's Oakland. I don't think you can bet on Oakland," professional gambler Steve Fezzik said. "Talk about across-the-board bad, that's the Raiders. The coach is an idiot, and the quarterback is terrible. Why doesn't the coach bench the quarterback? He's going to get fired anyway."

Harsh words, but the truth sometimes hurts.

The Raiders were 151/2-point road underdogs in a 44-7 loss to the New York Giants, who barely broke a sweat. Giants quarterback Eli Manning played less than a half.

Wynn Las Vegas sports book director John Avello said there were people who bet on Oakland, confirming my suspicions. We won't embarrass those people by publishing their names.

We're trained to search for live underdogs in the NFL. The Raiders, even getting double digits, are pronounced dead until further notice, and Avello illustrated that point with a hot dog analogy.

"There are two types of dogs. There is Hebrew National and the other is generic," Avello said. "One is all meat and one is garbage, and that's what you have this year in football."

The St. Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to stink it up, joining Oakland on the garbage pile.

The Buccaneers, 151/2-point underdogs, fell 33-14 at Philadelphia. The Rams, getting 101/2 points at home, were out of it early in a 38-10 loss to Minnesota.

A touchdown with five minutes left helped the Detroit Lions cover as 11-point home underdogs in a 28-20 loss to Pittsburgh. So only one of four double-digit 'dogs cashed in Week 5.

Wisely, the betting public is riding the blowout trend and landing on several easy winners. But it's a tough adjustment for some bettors because double-digit underdogs started 17-1 against the spread last year, when there was a semblance of parity in the NFL.

"It's just kind of ridiculous. It's a very, very strange season," Avello said. "There are the elite teams, there are a handful of teams in the middle of the road that could go either way, and there are some teams that are just awful.

"There has been no value in the high-priced 'dogs this year. They may be better later in the season, but they're not now."

Favorites covered 21 of 30 games in Weeks 3 and 4. But underdogs fought back to go 7-6 this week as Atlanta, Denver, Cincinnati and Cleveland posted outright wins.

The Broncos, 5-0 straight up and against the spread, erased a 17-7 halftime deficit to stun the New England Patriots 20-17 in overtime. Tom Brady did nothing in the second half and got upstaged by Kyle Orton, who passed for 330 yards and two touchdowns. It's a strange season, indeed.

There was an odd ending in Arizona, too. The Cardinals, 6-point favorites, pulled out a 28-21 victory by stopping the Houston Texans three times at the 1-yard line in the final minute. The game, which almost everyone bet over the total, amazingly snuck under 501/2.

Tennessee was a dead home 'dog in a 31-9 loss to Indianapolis. Peyton Manning toyed with the Titans, passing for 309 yards and three touchdowns as the Colts coasted as 4-point favorites.

The goats on the Titans, including myself, should have known better.

Fezzik said before the season to bet Oakland under six regular-season wins. Next week, the Raiders host the Eagles, and Fezzik already has bet Philadelphia at minus-13. He expects the line to rise to 15 somewhere, and then he'll take the underdog and hope to middle the numbers.

For now, that's about the only way to bet the Raiders.

"You don't usually see home underdogs with 14 points, but you're going to see one with Oakland," Fezzik said. "I know it's going to hit 14. I know I'm going to get mathematical value. You can forecast line moves. At some point, I get numbers I have to take."

As he said, the point spread is the "great equalizer." The Raiders are stretching that theory to extremes.

Contact Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting reporter/columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.