Heavy betting on Falcons shrinks spread for season opener
Starting the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions isn't scaring bettors away from the Atlanta Falcons.
Two NFC contenders draw the curtain on the 2018 regular season when the Falcons face the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night. Philadelphia opened at -4 and sits -1. The total has also moved from 47 to 44.5 as of Thursday afternoon.
The way the season ended for the Eagles under center is how it'll start, as Nick Foles gets the nod with Carson Wentz still not yet cleared for contact following a season-ending injury late in 2017. The backup turned Super Bowl MVP helped Philly nab a 15-10 home win over the Falcons in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Will Bernanke, lead analyst for CG Analytics in Las Vegas, offered some insight, noting that bettors have hammered the point spread down across a key number, with more money flooding in on Atlanta both on account and over the counter.
"(We) have not seen respected money show up yet as it's all public action on Atlanta," Bernanke told theScore.
In 2016, Atlanta leaned on a high-powered offense en route to the Super Bowl, but it dipped in production last season under new coordinator Steve Sarkisian. The Falcons were 11-5 to the under in 2017 and started the preseason 3-0 before going over in the finale.
Bettors might be taking that into consideration too, with four times more money on account and 1.5 times more over the counter on the under.
"(The) ideal result as of now would be a high-scoring Philly win that covers all numbers: -4 opener to current -1," Bernanke said.