Monday was a light sports day with no MLB playoff game as the Phillies-Astros World Series was set up with both teams clinching on Sunday.
There were NBA and NHL games slated for Monday night, but the focus of the day was clearly the Monday Night Football between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots even though the Patriots were big favorites. In the world of Circa Survivor, which drew a Las Vegas-record 6,133 entries at $1,000 apiece for a football contest, the Patriots were the most-picked NFL team with 175 of the 382 entries that entered the weekend choosing the favorite. For those who don’t know, survivor or elimination contests require players to pick one NFL team each week to win straight-up. One loss and you’re eliminated, plus you can only use a team once during the season. The Bears upset the Patriots 33-14 as 8.5-point road underdogs (we posted our “Monday night recap” story HERE to leave just 125 live entries in Circa Survivor heading into next weekend. As for our own wagering, we lost our Best Bet of the day (and only bet) on a 2-team, 6-point teasers on Patriots -2/Under 46 as both legs lost. Let’s recap the rest of Monday's betting action, including Contest Corner, and then look for a Best Bet for Tuesday as well as listing our early bets for NFL Week 8. Note: our Wednesday column will include our “takes” on the full NFL card.Monday’s Recaps
NFL: Bears (8.5-point road underdogs) upset Patriots 33-14 on Monday Night Football to wrap up Week 7 (game went Over the betting total of 40 points). Faves went 9-5 SU on the weekend (outright upsets by the Panthers, Commanders, Giants, Seahawks and Bears), but just 7-7 ATS. Home teams also went 9-5 SU and 7-7 ATS. Over/Unders alo split 7-7.
More NFL: Favorites dropped to 63-42-1 SU on the season with 2 pick-’ems, but dogs improved to 59-44-3 ATS (57.3%). Home teams lead 58-47-1 SU with 2 neutral-site games, while road teams improved to 54-49-3 ATS (52.4%). Unders dipped to 63-44-1 (58.9%), while primetime Unders dipped to 14-8 (63.6%).
NBA: Underdogs went 5-3 ATS on Monday with all 5 pulling outright upsets: Spurs (+ 8.5 at Timberwolves), Bulls (+ 5.5 vs. Celtics), Blazers (+ 5 vs. Nuggets), Raptors (+ 3.5 at Heat) and Rockets (+ 2.5 vs. Jazz). Home teams went 6-2 SU and ATS. Unders went 6-2.