NFL Betting Markets Rocked By Brady Injury
(PRWEB) September 11, 2008 -- On the Sunday morning when the NFL regular season started the NFL football Futures betting markets were dominated by the New England Patriots. The question wasn't whether this team would defend its AFC East crown, they were close to a betting certainty to do that at 1/8 odds (all NFL betting odds as published on Online Gambling Insider in their Patriots betting preview (http://www.online-gambling-insider.com/online-gambling/ogi-new-england-patriots-2008-nfl-betting-preview.html), but rather if they could win the Super Bowl and repeat the perfect 16-0 regular season effort that made history last year. The Pats were heavy 4/1 favorites to win the 2009 Super Bowl, and 13/8 to be the AFC representative in the big game.
Before their first game with the Kansas City Chiefs was completed everything had changed dramatically. Tom Brady was injured, his knee done for the entire season, and the staggering lack of depth at the quarterback spot for this team was exposed for the betting world to see. The Patriots backup, Matt Cassel, was relatively unknown and completely inexperienced. He is currently the starter for New England, even though he wasn't considered good enough to start in College Football at USC. He has been a back-up his entire career, was a 7th round draft pick, and yet he was able to nurse the Patriots to a victory in Week 1 against the Chiefs.
So how have the betting markets reacted to this unexpected injury? New England's current odds to win the Super Bowl have blown out to a whopping 14/1 on Betfair and other sports betting exchanges overseas. US-facing sportsbooks have suspended their NFL futures betting markets for now, but we can expect to see the Patriots in double-digits and possibly as high as 20/1 there was well.
If your pre-season futures bet was on the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFL Championship then you're feeling pretty smug right now. The Cowboys were easy to back at 9/1 to win the Super Bowl, and while they demolished the Browns in their season opener they also benefited from the Patriots' misfortune, at least according to the latest futures odds. Dallas is now 9/2 to win it all.
The next two teams in the betting both lost in Week 1 - the Colts were routed at home by the Bears, while the Chargers impressed no one with a last second loss (also at home) to the Panthers. Their failures probably account for why the Patriots are not at even bigger odds right now.
We asked the our expert NFL handicappers for their forecasts for the NFL postseason. "Two teams that really looked good on Sunday were the Eagles (http://www.online-gambling-insider.com/online-gambling/ogi-philadelphia-eagles-2008-nfl-betting-preview.html) (in the NFC) and the Bills (http://www.online-gambling-insider.com/online-gambling/ogi-buffalo-bills-2008-nfl-betting-preview.html) (in the AFC)". Both teams were expected to be longshots for the playoffs, but based on Week 1 performances alone it wouldn't surprise us to see both teams in the mix come January," said a Online Gambling Insider spokesman said.
But are the Patriots done? Debate has raged in the past if this team wins or loses because of Brady or their much-reviled but equally respected head coach Bill Belichick. The Patriots have always put the team before any individual and this is the perfect (albeit extreme) test to see if that philosophy is resilient. Don't be too quick to count out this team, they might be able to withstand the loss of a star quarterback -- after all think back to how Brady got his start as a late-round afterthought selection all those years ago.
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