OBJ and the Giants take on Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium in London, treating UK fans to what is sure to be a rollicking football affair. Heck, OBJ and his antics alone are sure to make it entertaining.
Why, only last week, he took the nation by surprise when he proposed to the kicking net. Sorry girls, OBJ is officially off the market. It was so unexpected, yet ridiculously romantic and caused quite the twitter frenzy amongst men and women.
In any event, let’s get talking about the football and leave the sideshow for now. After all, at least football betting is still on the market and there’s profit to be had in this game.
It’s worth pointing out before we get started that the Giants only just touched down in London on Friday while the Los Angeles Rams, who have a greater distance to cover, wisely arrived earlier in the week. Took a bit of the London sights in too, they did. Jetlag can be an issue, particularly when long-haul travel is followed by a grueling game of American football so we can assume the Rams do have a little bit of an advantage already.
That doesn’t translate to the NFL odds board. Green Listed Bookmakers opened with the Giants as the odds-on favourites to win at -140 (or thereabouts depending on your preferred bookmaker). They also opened laying -2.5 points (-110) but have been bet up since to either -2.5 (-120) or up to -3 (+1035) with those latter bookies (such as William Hill) probably testing the waters.
For those avid football followers that viewed the G-men’s offensive explosion against the Baltimore Ravens in week 6 as a sign of what’s to come at Wembley then it’s likely the Giants will be your choice NFL wager. The temperature of the market shows similar such signs, the public mood swinging that very way – the Giants currently have 55.55% of the tickets taken and a whopping 97.99% of the money.
That the G-men were riding a three-game losing streak ahead of week 6 is now conveniently forgotten. The G-men are the vogue bet of the week and the fact that it’s sure to pass with a lot of fanfare helps it along.
What about the Rams, though. They’re proving to be a bit of a surprise package this season and Case Keenum has perked up since his abysmal opening defeat to San Francisco 49ers to lift the Rams into contention behind a 3-3 SU and ATS mark. Wins over the Seahawks and Cardinals is nothing to scoff at.
It would be churlish to dismiss the Rams out of hand. They are very much in it and that is underscored by the very tight NFL spread trading on this highly-anticipated game. In fact, it suggests they could keep it close, if not win outright against the NFL odds.
Suppose the two-game losing streak they’re riding on does take the shine off of the Rams. They lost to Buffalo and Detroit and overall have been outscored 110 to 137. Be that as it may, there are those that would argue that should only make the Rams the more desperate team to win. G-men have been unpredictable and inconsistent as well so they’re not really a sure bet either. What is sure is OBJ giving us more to talk about at the end of the weekend.
To sum it all up: the G-men are the vogue pick. They’re also favoured by bookmakers. For our money, we’re tipping this game towards the Rams for several reasons. Arriving early in London allows the Rams to get acclimatized better to the conditions; the losing streak is disappointing but it could prove the catalyst for a turnaround; and, finally –if not crucially – the Giants aren’t exactly a model of consistency or predictability.
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