Books capture Week 15 win

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The Super Bowl hangover for the Philadelphia Eagles came to a resounding end with a 30-23 road win at the Los Angeles Coliseum over the L.A. Rams, who were favored 13.5-points. It was the signature Philly win of the season and most Nevada sports books won because of it. 
 
Hangovers require lots of water, three ibuprofen, chicken soup, Gatorade, or maybe a massive greasy burger, but in this case of Week 15 NFL action it required a bit-of-the-hair and a back-to-the-future moment. For those of you who forgot, the Eagles captured a huge 43-35 win at Los Angeles in Week 13 last season and backup quarterback Nick Foles led the the way after starter Carson Wentz had his season end due to a knee injury.
 
Foles, a free-agent next season, was under center again this week and had the Eagles leading the entire way. Their win on the money-line was plus-625 (Bet $100 twin $625) at MGM properties, which didn't get too many takers, but the Rams loss ensured a decent day for the majority of Nevada sports books.
 
"We had a good day thanks to a couple house players (whales), one of which played the Seahawks for a total of $569,000 on money-line plays of -230 and -250," said MGM Resorts sports book hub manager Jeff Stoneback. "The Patriots losing was good for us because we had one of those players were also on the Patriots money-line (-145)."
 
The Steelers (+2.5) won and covered, 17-10, against the Patriots after three straight non-covers in their recent meetings. It ended Pittsburgh's three-game losing streak and now puts New England on a two-game losing streak.

The 49ers won 24-21 in overtime against the Seahawks. But it all wasn't rosy in MGM-ville among their heavy win.
 
"We had a loss with an $8,000 six-team parlay on the first-halves that paid out $378,000," said Stoneback. 
 
They still won bigger than most bet shops.
 
Over at William Hill's 100-plus books across the country, the Eagles win capped a decent day. 
 
"It was a good day," said William Hill's head [...] Nick Bogdanovich before the late game kickoff. "The two late games were huge. The Rams and Over the total would be bad but wouldn't ruin our day."
 
Depending on where you got your 'over' bet is the matter here because it started at 54, went down to 52.5 and then back up to 54.
 
"It wasn't a great day," admitted CG Technology VP of risk management Jason Simbal. "We were down after the early games, but up a peanut now after the two late upsets. We'll lose for the day if the Rams cover and it goes Over."
 
Maybe a cashew for the CG bet shops after the Eagles win.
 
"The players got the best of this weekend," said Wynn Resorts sports book director Doug Castaneda. "The Browns and Vikings were the worst games of the week by far and we squeezed out a small win on the Lions game."
 
The Browns won, 17-16, at Denver on Saturday night to halt an 11-game winning streak for the Broncos in the series. The spreads dropped for Broncos -3 to 1.5 by kickoff and stayed 'under' 47.5 where the total opened at 44.5. 

The Vikings (-8), 41-17, at home against the Dolphins. The Bills won 14-13 at home, but the Lions got the money at +2.5.
 
"The Steelers and 49ers were must-win for us after essentially losing all the morning games," said Station Casinos sports book director Jason McCormick. "The Steelers were our biggest win of the day and the Titans were our biggest loser."
 
Two NFC East teams, the Cowboys and Giants, got shutout. Could we see a .500 team win the NFC East? Running back Saquan Barkley let down a bunch of fantasy players in the first week of many fantasy playoffs with only 56 total yards and no touchdowns in rainy conditions at MetLife Stadium from East Rutherford, New Jersey. 
 
The Titans beat the Giants, 17-0, and speaking of fantasy playoffs, how about Titans RB Derrick Henry who has scored all six of the Titans TDs the past two weeks. He had 170 rushing yards and two TDs in Sunday's win. He's only got nine TDs on the season and his only 100-yard games have come the past two weeks. Better late than never for fantasy owners. As for the betting, the Giants opened as 2.5-point home favorites and sharps bet the other side again and again until the Titans closed as 2.5-point favorites. 
 
The bigger picture here is Henry wasn't overused during the first 12 games so he's fresh for a playoff run and his style of running works well in the cold as well as being on the road as the Chiefs found out at Arrowhead Stadium during the wild-card round last season when he posted 156 yards and a TD in the Titans 22-21 win. The Titans have now won three straight and finish the season at home against the Redskins and Colts, but they'll need some help as the No. 8 seed in the AFC, chasing Baltimore. They can handle business with the Colts in Week 17, but they'll need the Chargers or the Browns to beat the Ravens in the next two weeks.
 
The Cowboys were shutout for the first time since 2003 at Indianapolis in a 23-0 loss to the Colts. The number stayed Colts -3 for the duration of the week and got equal two-way action. The losses ended the Cowboys five-game losing streak, but they still hold the NFC East lead at 8-6 and also the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. The Colts offensive line protecting Andrew Luck and opening up huge running lanes makes them dangerous if they should make the playoffs. They get the Giants this week and then go to Tennessee for what looks to be a mini-wild card game.     
 
Baltimore's 20-12 home win against the Buccaneers saw bettors on both sides of the game cash and some other push. Middles are one of the sports books' worst nightmares. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook opened the Ravens -7.5, were pushed up to -8, then bet back down to -7.5 Wednesday and bet back up to -8 on Thursday, and then to -8.5 and -9 on Sunday. 
 

Roberts is a former Las Vegas sports book director that has been covering the sports betting industry for the last 14 years.