The Daily Sweat: Jeff Saturday’s Colts have been covering the spread
Jeff Saturday #JeffSaturday
Let’s not think too much about how the Indianapolis Colts have improved with a new interim coach that had no experience beyond high school, with an offensive play-caller that had never held that job before and most people hadn’t heard of.
Bettors just know that something has clicked, at least in a small sample size. The Colts were 3-6 against the spread through nine games. After firing Frank Reich and hiring Jeff Saturday, they’re 2-0 against the spread and covered easily in both games. They nearly beat the Philadelphia Eagles, who lead the NFL with a 10-1 record.
The Colts have an enticing line for their game on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re 2.5-point home favorites at BetMGM.
That line is either showing a pretty good amount of respect for the 3-7 Steelers or not much at all for the Colts.
The Steelers have been better since their bye a couple weeks ago. They beat the New Orleans Saints and then were competitive in a 37-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s arguable their two best offensive games of the season came in the past two weeks. Rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett is improving.
They need to pass a road test next. The Steelers are 1-4 on the road. The one win was in Week 1, when they had a plus-five turnover margin and still needed just about all of overtime to beat the Bengals.
It has been a disappointing season for the Colts and Steelers. This was a potentially interesting matchup when the schedule was released, and by now it’s not. But there is the curiosity of Saturday coaching the Colts. At least he has been good for bettors.
Here’s a first look at the sports betting slate for Monday:
More World Cup matches
The final two matches of Monday include World Cup favorite Brazil facing Switzerland and a good matchup between Portugal and Uruguay. Brazil is -210 on the three-way line, and Portugal is a +100 favorite for its match. Yahoo Sportsbook’s Nick Bromberg had a detailed preview of the matches.
A 10-game NBA schedule
The NBA has a fairly full night, but there aren’t a ton of great matchups. The Atlanta Hawks at Philadelphia 76ers should be a great game, but the 76ers have been without many players including stars Joel Embiid and James Harden. The 76ers are 1.5-point underdogs at home.
The most interesting game on the slate could actually be the Phoenix Suns at the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are one of the surprises of the season at 10-8 and they’re favored by 1.5.
The rest of the slate
There aren’t many great college basketball games after a wonderful week of hoops last week. The top game in KenPom’s ratings is Sam Houston State vs. Nevada. The NHL has six games, including the 18-4 New Jersey Devils vs. the New York Rangers. Both teams are -110.
What’s the best bet?
I don’t know if what the Colts are doing is sustainable, but I don’t yet trust the Steelers on the road. I’ll take Indianapolis, hoping the team that outplayed the Eagles most of last week shows up.