Interesting trend Eagles bettors can take from Jacksonville’s visits OVER to London
The Eagles opponent this week has played a game in Wembley Stadium each of the last five years. All five games have gone over the over/under total.
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ATLANTIC CITY — This is the sixth consecutive season that Jacksonville will play a home game in London, which, as tidbits go, is about as compelling as a Bill Belichick press conference.
But what is interesting is the total score of their previous five games there: 52, 48, 65, 57 and 51. All have gone over.
Before running to play Sunday's Jaguars-Eagles total, which is 41.5, it's worth noting that Jacksonville has lost its last three games, and the offense can't stop turning the ball over. The Jags have scored 28 points total during the skid, none in the first half. That's not easy to do.
Some other odds and ends:
This will be the 24th NFL regular-season game in London. The over is 12-11, and four of the last five games have come under, including the first two this season. Seattle beat Oakland, 27-3, and the Chargers beat Tennessee, 20-19.
Jags quarterback Blake Bortles was benched Sunday, after his second fumble. He'll start against the Eagles, because Jacksonville doesn't really have a better option.
Bortles, though, has been adequate in the London games. He has eight TD passes and one interception in the last three games over there, including four TDs last season, when the Jags drilled Baltimore, 44-7.
The Eagles are 2-5 against the spread this season. They are 3-point favorites over Jacksonville. The Jags are 3-4 ATS this season and 2-3 ATS in their five London games.
The last four London games between teams both based in the U.S. Eastern time zone have gone over. The totals for those were 65, 57, 54, and 51.
Both the Eagles and Jaguars are 3-4 against the over this season, and, oddly, each has alternated under and over for all seven of their games.
If that pattern holds, this will be an over week, which is a coincidence.
Jacksonville's five London games all going over is more than a coincidence. That's a trend.
Don’t ‘dog Rodgers
If the Packers-Rams goes off at its current 9-point spread, it'll be the largest Aaron Rodgers has ever been an underdog.
In the 11 seasons since Rodgers has been the starting quarterback, the Packers have been underdogs by more than 5 points three times. They covered each.
In 2010, the Packers were +6 when they beat the Jets, 9-0.
In a 2014 playoff game, they were 8-point underdogs and lost to Seattle in overtime, 28-22. (They were up 16-0 in the third quarter.)
And in another postseason game the following season, they were 7-point 'dogs at Arizona and again lost in overtime, 26-20. (Rodgers forced the overtime with a Hail Mary at the buzzer to Jeff Janis. Otherwise, the game would have been a push.)
Bottom line: Might not want to lay so many points to Mr. Discount Double-check.
Litigation of the week
William Hill-US filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District in New Jersey this week, alleging rival FanDuel had plagiarized portions of its betting guide. In one instance, the suit said FanDuel even had a reference in its guide with the words "William Hill."
Good grief.
"As a policy, we do not comment on pending litigation," FanDuel said in a statement.
William Hill is seeking unspecified damages. And, twisting the knife even more, it said it would donate anything it is awarded to New Jersey schools for "creative writing workshops."
This and that
The Tropicana on Thursday became the seventh property in Atlantic City property to open sports betting. William Hill, which already operates at the Ocean Resort, will run it. The first bet at the Trop was by AC resident Victor Groynom, who put 20 bucks on the money line for the Lakers to beat Denver later that night … The sports books at the Tropicana and Ocean Resort will open at 7 a.m., Sunday; the Borgata at 8 a.m.; and Bally's and Harrah's at 8:30 a.m. The Eagles game starts at 9:30 a.m. … Covers.com sent out a tweet on Wednesday noting that 65 percent of NBA games had gone over. The last four Sixers games also have been over, and the oddsmakers are beginning to adjust. The total for Tuesday's Sixers-Pistons game was 214.5. For Wednesday's Sixers-Bucks, it was 228.5.
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