We have another National Football League double-header tonight caused by rescheduling necessitated by outbreaks of the Coronavirus. The game originally scheduled for last Thursday, the Buffalo Bills hosting the Kansas City Chiefs, will be played tonight in a contest set to begin at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The Bills home game had to be moved because outbreaks with the Tennessee Titans forced the Bills to play them last Tuesday … well you get it.
One thing leads to another.
This thing helps the Super Bowl Champions. Without the rescheduling, the Chiefs would have been forced to play a road game on a short work week. Now, with this game moved to Monday, Kansas City has had a full week to absorb the sting of their loss a week ago to the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bills are also coming off a loss, having suffered their first defeat of 2020 in that Tuesday night game in Nashville.
Which leaves us with this tonight, two of the best teams in football both coming off a loss. Good teams don’t usually lose two straight games, and are a lot less likely to lose three in a row. I don’t know who wins in Buffalo tonight even with the generous point spread, the Chiefs are currently favored by 5½ points. But I do know this, whomever does lose is unlikely to lose again next Sunday.
Which means this, the Chiefs are in a really good spot to beat the Denver Broncos at Mile High in Week Seven following Denver’s upset win over the New England Patriots yesterday … and in an even more enhanced situation if they are to lose tonight in Buffalo.
As for the Bills, if they lose tonight to the Chiefs, the New York Jets will move closer to wrapping up the number one draft pick when they host them next Sunday.
Tonight’s regularly scheduled Monday Night Football matchup features the struggling Dallas Cowboys against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cowboys are still looking for their first point spread win of the season and after opening as an underdog in this game have been moved to a slight favorite role.
Public money moving a line the wrong way?
Hardly.
The public likes the Cardinals in this game, who opened their season with a road win over the defending National Football Conference Champion San Francisco 49ers and have what many consider the next star at quarterback running their offense, Kyler Murray.
Conversely, the Cowboys had to turn to backup quarterback Andy Dalton last week when starter Dak Prescott suffered a season ending injury. Dalton guided the Cowboys down the stretch of their win last Sunday over the New York Giants, a closer than Jerry Jones would have liked for a home win over a Giants team that didn’t get their first victory of the season until yesterday’s one-point triumph over the Washington Redskins.
If the Cowboys couldn’t beat a point spread with Prescott, in fact only winning once in games he finished, then who the heck thinks they can win tonight with a backup at quarterback and a defense that hasn’t held any opponent under 30 points since their season opening loss in Los Angeles?
Well, it isn’t the public bettors, who were backing the Cardinals in this one even when they were favored on the point spread, they opened as a 2½ point choice. You can imagine how excited the public is to get down on the Cardinals now that they can have them with a point on the spread.
So who is backing the Cowboys tonight?
Do you know how much money it takes to move a line 3½ points against public money?
Neither do I.
But the books do, and that is why this spread has shifted to catch Cardinals money while those of us backing the Cowboys fully expect to meet up tonight at the payout window.
Qoxhi Picks: Dallas Cowboys (-1) over Arizona Cardinals