This Week's Best Spot Bet Opportunities
By Ben Burns
Covers.com
Letdown spot
For once, the Dallas Cowboys were on the winning side of bad clock management in their come-from-behind home win over the New York Giants in Week 1. Eli Manning bumbled the closing minutes of the game, leaving the door open for Tony Romo to march downfield and score a one-point victory. The Cowboys, high off that incredible win and missing an injured Dez Bryant, head to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in Week 2.
Philadelphia looked terrible in the opening two frames against the Atlanta Falcons but started to get the chains moving in the second half. Chip Kelly will iron out the kinks before the home opener and scores a huge break with Bryant out (especially after Julio Jones torched the Eagles secondary for huge gains Monday). We could see the Cowboys coming in flat and unable to match the points the Eagles can put up.
Lookahead spot
Ottawa is enjoying a successful summer in its second year back in the CFL. The RedBlacks are 6-4 and in second place in the Eastern Division, taking back-to-back victories into Week 13’s road game in Saskatchewan. Ottawa defeated the Rough Riders on home turf at the end of August with a 35-13 victory as a 3-point favorite. But it could get caught looking past Saskatchewan this Saturday and to an important provincial rivalry next week.
The RedBlacks host the Toronto Argonauts in Week 14 for a crucial matchup. The Agros are 6-5 in the standings and are enjoying a bye this week after suffering three straight losses, including two in a row at the hands of the division-leading Ti-Cats. Both teams will be putting everything they have into that game, so we expect the RedBlacks to be a little distracted versus the Riders.
Schedule spot
The South Alabama Jaguars are stacking the frequent flyer miles in the opening weeks of the college football season. They went to Lincoln to play the Cornhuskers – a 1,028-mile trip – last weekend and found a pissed-off Nebraska team, coming off a last-second upset to BYU. Needless to say, USA was a punch bag for their Big Ten foes, losing 48-9 as a 27.5-point underdog.
The Jaguars take another long flight, traveling west to play San Diego State – a 1,931-mile jump – this Saturday. Books opened with USA as a 15-point road pup but that has since jumped to +17.5. When it’s all said and done, the Jaguars will have traveled more than 3,860 miles in the past two weeks. That’s the same distance it would take to drive from Washington D.C. to Costa Rica. Southern Alabama players will be longing for their own beds well before the whistle blows in Qualcomm Stadium Saturday night.