Six days after the Colts spotted the Rams 13 and won by 36, the point spreads for NFL games still have yet to mimic the college-style 20-points-or-more margins.
Then again, the schedule doesn't have the same magnitude of haves-versus-have-nots as it featured in Week Seven, when the Chargers chopped up the Chiefs by 30, the Packers pummeled the Browns by 28, and the Bucs were blown out by 28 in Britain.
Still, five of the 13 games this weekend feature double-digit spreads. The Chargers lead the way in the USA Today Danny Sheridan line, giving the Raiders 16.5 points.
And in what surely is a first, the 3-3 Bears are favored against the Browns by 13 points, only one game after Chicago lost by 35 to the Bengals.
So maybe the spreads are starting to move farther north, and they surely will feature three- or four-touchdown margins when the Saints play the Rams later this year and the Buccaneers.
Twice.
Despite blowouts, point spreads stay in the teens
Posted by Mike Florio on October 31, 2009 11:32 AM ET
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9 Comments 
Latest stories in: Latest News and Rumors, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Top Stories
Latest stories in: Latest News and Rumors, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Top Stories
vegas wont risk going into the 20s, but if they ever do, im taking the dog every time
The wont go above the teens because they want action on both sides of the bet. If an NFL is favored by 20+ then the action will be one sided.
rockotica's right, this is still the NFL and you can't expect or faithfully predict any team to beat any other team by 20+ points.
This information is brought to you for entertainment purposes only.
question is why did this giants/eagles line go from phil -3 to giants as 1.5 to 2 favorites on the road and on a 2 game losing streak? when you see a 4 point shift in less than 2 days at midweek to boot, they know something that the public doesnt know. And I dont mean Westbrook who they knew when they set the line that he had suffered a concussion because it was announced during the game and the line for this game didnt come out until the next morning.
4 GAMES VS. TEAMS WITH LOSING RECORDS 5-23
(2-5)Washington Redskins 17 at New York Giants 23
New York Giants 24 at (0-7)Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
New York Giants 27 at (1-6)Kansas City Chiefs 16
(2-5)Oakland Raiders 7 at New York Giants 44
PF 118 PA 40
Avg PF 29
Avg PA 10
====
3 GAMES VS. TEAMS WITH WINNING RECORDS 14-4
New York Giants 33 at (4-2) Dallas Cowboys 31
New York Giants 27 at (6-0) New Orleans Saints 48
(4-2) Arizona Cardinals 24 at New York Giants 17
PF 77 PA 103
Avg PF 25
Avg PA 34
It's been a good year to bet on the NFL, at least for me. The good teams have been covering the spread most of the time, and the spreads aren't getting significantly bigger.
I'm trying to wrap my mind around why you are so worried about the spreads?? Are you in favor of the Bookies or the Gamblers?
Bob S.:
I don't get what your point is with all the game stats that you posted? Are you saying the Giants suck, or that they suck MORE or LESS than the Eagles?
It looks like you are saying the Giants suck and try to back it up with game stats and who they have played, but if you look at it the Eagles have played an easier schedule and are 4-2. The Eagles have played 5 games against opponents with losing records and have won four of those games with a combined 132 PF and 55 PA (Avg PF 33 Avg PA 14). The Eagles also lost to one team with a 2-5 record (The Raiders, 13-9) and lost to the only team on their schedule with a winning record, the Saints, by a score of 48-22. Their two losses are 31 PF and 61 PA. (Avg. PF 15.5 Avg. PA 30.5)
The Giants and Eagles have five common opponents so far. Against those opponents the Giants are 4-1 (Redskins, Buccaneers, Chiefs and Raiders - and of course the Saints loss) and the Eagles are 3-2 (Chiefs, Buccaneers, Redskins - the common theme of the Saints loss and a loss to the Raiders).
All in all BOTH teams have pretty pathetic records when you consider the COMBINED record of their opponents (If you exclude counting the 6-0 Saints twice) is 20-55. If you add the Saints record twice the combined opponents record is a more respectable 32-55, but still pretty bad.
The combined record of the Saints opponents, on the other hand is 19-20, but of those 20 losses by their opponents, 6 of them have been handed to them by the Saints, for a combined record (excluding their Saints losses) of 19-14. Basically, if you look at the combined teams played by the Giants and the Eagles, excluding the Saints, their opponents have combined for 20 wins, while the Saints alone have played opponents with a combined 19 wins.
Vegas spreads are based on money flow, not estimated point differentials. They are set high enough to get money flowing towards the dogs. If too much money is on the favorite, then they rasie the spread to encourage bets for the dogs to even things out. If too much money goes to the dogs, then they lower the spread. They have it down to a science.