Tom Brady exposes Browns, makes bookmakers pay
Not long after being caught on camera sunbathing nude in Italy, Tom Brady reappeared in uniform in Cleveland. He did exactly what almost everyone bet he would do.
Brady exposed the Browns, the NFL’s lone winless team, while putting the New England Patriots back in the end zone and the win column. After getting some free time to hang out with his wife, Brady made Las Vegas bookmakers pay.
“It was probably the worst game of the year for us,” MGM Resorts sports book director Jay Rood said. “The game was tremendously ugly.”
Back from a four-game suspension, Brady passed for 406 yards and three touchdowns in the Patriots’ 33-13 victory Sunday. It was 30-7 early in the third quarter, when the Browns threw in the towel.
Rood said New England was bet “two-fisted by everybody” as a favorite of 10 to 10½ points. The Patriots attracted more than 70 percent of the straight-bet money and were attached to all sorts of parlays and teasers.
There was a little money on Cleveland, but those bettors probably wish to remain anonymous, and the theory that Brady might be a little rusty coming out of Deflategate exile was blown up out of the gate.
The Browns are 0-5 and down to Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback. The Patriots, shut out a week ago to go 3-1 without Brady, opened as 8-point home favorites over Cincinnati in Week 6.
The Bengals were another side the bettors jumped all over in Week 5, and it got ugly early for those of us who made that wrong move. It’s called sharp money, but it does not always turn out that way. Dallas, which went off as a 2½-point home ’dog, led 28-0 in a 28-14 win.
The Cowboys’ rookies are legit. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and Dak Prescott passed for a score and ran for another as Dallas dominated the line of scrimmage and made a joke of the betting line.
“That’s the one game that saved us,” Rood said.
Dallas and four other underdogs — Atlanta, Detroit, Tennessee and Washington — were outright winners. The Lions, 3½-point home underdogs, rewarded contrarians while upsetting the betting public and the Philadelphia Eagles 24-23. So, that actually was a second game that saved bookmakers.
“Every parlay was going through the Eagles,” Rood said.
Matt Prater put a 29-yard field goal through the uprights with 1:28 left, and then rookie Carson Wentz threw the first interception of his brief NFL career as the Lions broke their three-game losing skid and the Eagles’ three-game win streak. William Hill sports books reported almost 75 percent of the money was on the road favorite.
Favorites finished the day 5-6-1 against the spread. In addition to New England, the public cashed with Indianapolis, Minnesota and Pittsburgh. The sharps forced a five-point line move in favor of Buffalo, which opened plus-2½ and closed minus-2½ in a 30-19 win at Los Angeles.
The Vikings, 6½-point home favorites, improved to 5-0 this season and 19-2 ATS in their past 21 games by hammering Houston 31-13. Sharp money showed up late on the Texans, who never showed up and trailed 24-0 early.
The Chicago Bears’ side turned into a bad beat in their 29-23 loss to the Colts, who trailed 23-19 late in the fourth quarter yet covered as 4-point favorites.
Bet from 7- to 9½-point home favorites, the Steelers outscored the Jets 17-0 in the second half to win 31-13. The score stayed under the total of 48½, helping a bettor from Hawaii (who wished to remain anonymous) cash a $50, 10-team parlay ticket that paid $40,000.
The Hawaiian and his friend from Las Vegas emailed me a photo of the ticket placed downtown at the California Hotel sports book. He played four totals and six sides (Vikings, Patriots, Redskins, Lions, Colts and Cowboys.) Well done.
The Falcons staged the day’s most impressive upset by going to Denver as 4-point ’dogs and beating the Broncos 23-16.
The Chargers, 3½-point road ’dogs, pulled off the day’s clumsiest cover. On fourth-and-1 late in the fourth, San Diego coach Mike McCoy showed he’s no gambler and sent out the kicker. Drew Kaser fumbled a good snap, and the kick never got off in Oakland’s 34-31 win.
The Raiders are gamblers, another reason they would be a good fit in Las Vegas. On a fourth-and-2 play late in the third, Derek Carr hit Michael Crabtree for a go-ahead 21-yard touchdown pass.
While the Chargers keep finding dumbfounding ways to lose, the New York Giants found a way to get a dramatic point-spread push in Green Bay.
Eli Manning’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr., who tightroped and toe-tapped in the back of the end zone with 2:54 to go, pulled the Giants within 23-16. The Packers, who closed as 7-point favorites after the line opened at 7½, ran out the clock.
The Cowboys go to Green Bay in Week 6. The Patriots go to Pittsburgh in Week 7. It’s good to have Brady back from Italy and fully clothed.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow on Twitter: @mattyoumans247