Reliable Colts help bettors bite back a bit

Bettors who prefer to play favorites still can count on the Indianapolis Colts to deliver more often than not. Peyton Manning covered a number for the second week in a row.

This week, I'll deliver the good news before the bad.

Manning passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns to propel the Colts, 6-point road favorites, to a 27-13 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

"That was our biggest loser of the afternoon," MGM Resorts sports book director Jay Rood said.

Seven days after Las Vegas books bludgeoned the bettors, there was a little payback. It was not a reversal of fortunes, but at least the public was not making all the wrong moves in Week 3.

The average NFL Sunday is as unpredictable as Christmas with the Griswold family. But Manning winning big in September is pretty predictable.

The Colts cashed along with four other popular favorites -- Cincinnati, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh -- and one underdog that received heavy public support, Atlanta.

The Falcons, getting 3 to 3½ points at closing time, upended the New Orleans Saints 27-24 in an overtime thriller.

"Last week, we almost swept the board," Rood said. "This was a good Sunday. It wasn't fantastic. We won the biggest game of the day and we lost the second-biggest game of the day. Everything else kind of shuffled out."

Make no mistake, the books got the better end of the deal, as has been the case all season as the 'dogs are bringing home the bones. Underdogs went 10-5 against the spread Sunday, and seven were straight-up winners.

Baltimore, a 13-point favorite, failed to cover in a 24-17 victory over Cleveland. Rood referenced "the biggest game of the day," and that was it.

"The Browns were big for us," he said. "A lot of the morning parlays were going through Baltimore, so that knocked out that liability."

The second-biggest decision went the bettors' way, as Adrian Peterson's 160 yards and two touchdowns carried the Vikings to a 24-10 victory over Detroit.

Minnesota avoided an 0-3 start and barely covered 13 points.

The Lions penetrated the red zone twice in the final three minutes, but Shaun Hill threw interceptions.

"Everybody was on the Vikings, both the pros and the public," Rood said.

It's hard to figure why everybody was on the Vikings. But I do know this because I've heard it about 1,000 times: Brett Favre is a Wrangler guy. Always has been, always will be.

We also know Dallas coach Wade Phillips won't get fired this week. The Cowboys closed as 2½-point underdogs at most books and picked up their first win, 27-13 over the Houston Texans.

Saints coach Sean Payton gambled on an onside kick and won the Super Bowl. He got a bit conservative against the Falcons and paid for it. With a first down at the 11-yard line, Payton sent out Garrett Hartley for a 29-yard field goal attempt in overtime. Hartley hooked it left, and Atlanta rallied for the upset.

Rood questioned Payton's "decision to not run at least a couple of plays." Most bettors were doubting the Saints all week.

"For some reason, the public kind of shied away from the Saints this week," Rood said. "But we had a couple really strong games that helped us out."

Upsets normally define those strong games. Atlanta and Dallas were joined by Kansas City, Seattle, St. Louis, Tennessee and the New York Jets as underdog winners.

Underdogs are 2-1 straight up and 3-0 ATS on Monday this season.

That trend may or may not mean good news for the Chicago Bears, who are 3-point home underdogs to the Green Bay Packers tonight.

Through three weeks, underdogs are 27-17-3 ATS. That's the type of scoreboard that puts bookmakers on the winning side.

But Manning and the Colts remained reliable favorites, and they helped assure the books would not sweep the board again this week.

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