A Week 7 loss for the Detroit Lions might not have been a bad thing.
It’s OK for a good team to lose an early-season game, even if it’s in an embarrassing way. The Lions lost 38-6 to the Baltimore Ravens and while that wasn’t their plan, it can help refocus a team that had started 5-1 and didn’t know much about handling success.
All of this isn’t the best news for the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders are a 7.5-point underdog at BetMGM against a Lions team that presumably can’t wait to erase the memory of a 32-point loss. It’s not like Dan Campbell usually has a problem getting his team to play hard.
The Raiders are also coming off a bad loss, a 30-12 defeat to the Chicago Bears. The difference is that the Lions have looked like a pretty good team most of this season, and the Raiders are likely not as good as their 3-4 record.
It’s possible the Lions were exposed in that rout by the Ravens, but it seems doubtful. Every team has its off days, especially in this parity-driven season. That was the Lions’ bad day. They’re going to want to rebound right away. That might be bad news for the Raiders.
Here’s the first look at the sports betting slate for Monday:
A good World Series matchup
The Arizona Diamondbacks got what they wanted in Texas, taking one of two games from the Texas Rangers to start the World Series. Arizona was close to winning both games but blew Game 1 late. Still, a split was just fine.
Now the Diamondbacks return home and Game 3 is a coin flip, at least according to the odds. The Rangers and Diamondbacks are both -110 to win. The Rangers have Max Scherzer on the mound and the Diamondbacks will go with Brandon Pfaadt, who has been a revelation this postseason. There shouldn’t be much reason to doubt the Diamondbacks anymore, given how they’ve played the past month and particularly in Texas.
Busy NBA night
There are 11 games in the NBA, and some good ones. The Golden State Warriors face a New Orleans Pelicans team off to a 2-0 start, and New Orleans is a 3.5-point favorite. In the other marquee game of the night the Milwaukee Bucks, coming off a surprising home blowout to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, face the Miami Heat. The Heat knocked out the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs last season. The Bucks are favored by 5.5 points.
Plenty of NHL too
There are nine games on the ice on Monday. That includes the Florida Panthers at the Boston Bruins. Last season the Panthers pulled off one of the biggest playoff upsets ever by knocking off a record-setting Bruins team in the first round. The Bruins are off to a 7-0-1 start this season and they’re -165 favorites on Monday night.
What’s the best bet?
There’s a lot to choose from but I’ll stick with the NFL and go with the Lions. They have the ability to overwhelm and blow out the Raiders on Monday night, and I’d be surprised if they aren’t ready to play after the Ravens loss. It’s a fairly big spread but Detroit should be able to cover it.
