Colts’ cover painful to Eagles bettors

A controversial figure for his deplorable dog-torturing acts off the field, Michael Vick provides great entertainment as a quarterback. Vick is a high-speed thrill ride, and he makes the Philadelphia Eagles tough to bet against.

"Vick brings an element to that team," MGM Resorts sports book director Jay Rood said, "where the Eagles make it look easier when he's in there."

But it was a tough beat for Eagles' bettors Sunday.

Vick was standing still on the sideline as Peyton Manning rallied the Indianapolis Colts to a questionable point-spread cover. The Vick-Manning duel was a good one that ended in a split decision.

Vick passed for 218 yards and a touchdown, scrambled for 74 yards and a touchdown and carried Philadelphia to a 26-24 victory. The Colts, however, got the cash as 3-point underdogs.

The NFL is sometimes painful to watch and wager on, and not just because of Wade Phillips and his inept Dallas Cowboys. The proliferation of penalty flags and too many poorly officiated games has tainted the product.

With the Eagles leading 26-17, Manning was pressured and he fumbled on fourth-and-18. But Philadelphia's Trent Cole was penalized for slapping Manning's helmet as he swiped at the ball. The love tap gave Indianapolis 15 yards and a first down.

The Colts took advantage of their stay of execution and scored a touchdown with 1:50 remaining to beat the spread. It was a pivotal penalty because it also led to the score going over the total of 47.

Technically, a hit to the quarterback's head is a penalty. But it was an example of quarterbacks being protected to a ridiculous extent.

I bet the Colts, so this is not bitter commentary. But I've been on the other side of bogus calls -- such as the pass-interference flag that gave the New York Jets a win and cover at Denver.

"It's 50-50 whether it was right or wrong," Rood said of the Eagles penalty. "It's almost to the point where you try to handicap penalties. Who's more likely to get calls in this game? If they touch Peyton, it's going to get called. But you can't handicap any of that."

To be fair, Manning made plays to keep the Colts, who led 17-16 at halftime, within striking distance. And the Eagles left points on the board by settling for three short field goals.

Several close point-spread decisions highlighted Week 9 as underdogs went 6-5 against the spread. Two 'dogs, Cleveland and Oakland, won outright.

There were three overtime games, all decided by a field goal. The Kansas City Chiefs snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by falling 23-20 in OT to the Raiders, who closed as 1-point 'dogs.

The Browns, 4-point underdogs, whipped New England, 34-14. Put another notch on the belt of Cleveland rookie Colt McCoy, who in his past two starts punked Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

"The Browns were a total shocker to everybody," Rood said. "If anybody was holding a parlay ticket, it had the Patriots on it."

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings are still breathing after escaping with a 27-24 overtime victory over Arizona. The Jets, who were bet from 4- to 6-point favorites, pulled off a similar comeback to slay the Lions 23-20 in overtime in Detroit.

"Some of the sharp money went down, which helped save our day," said Rood, who was seeing wiseguy action on the Jets, Cardinals, Chiefs and Eagles.

Baltimore, New Orleans, San Diego and the New York Giants were four favorites who won and covered. The Chargers, who were 3-point favorites despite being 0-4 on the road, finally broke through with a 29-23 victory at Houston.

Philip Rivers passed for four touchdowns, including the winning score with 5:17 to go. Mike Tolbert's 2-point conversion run pushed it over the total of 50. Rood said public support for San Diego was heavy.

Nine of 12 games went over the totals. The Chicago Bears, 3-point favorites, beat Buffalo 22-19, and the score split a total that moved from 40½ to 41½.

The Cowboys were embarrassing in getting slaughtered 45-7 by Green Bay.

It's tough to tell which coach is the biggest loser, the Bills' Chan Gailey or Dallas' Phillips. Both wasted timeouts and used futile challenges. At least the Bills are playing hard.

Phillips continues to look like Harry Dunne in "Dumb and Dumber." Phillips is done, and that's an easy call.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the "Las Vegas Sportsline" weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.