I never get in to the actual betting process when it comes to football, but I like looking at the point spreads nonetheless. This week, despite being on the road, losing the opener to the Cincinnati Bengals, and having a generally unproven team, the Browns will walk into Indianapolis as two point favorites. How often are team's favored to beat the Colts in their own stadium?
"The last time Indianapolis were home dogs in a game where they were not resting players at the end of a season was in Week 9 of 2007 against the Patriots," says Richard Gardner, Manager at BoDog.
I wish I could say that the Browns were enough of a powerhouse to warrant this "honor," but obviously the loss of Peyton Manning is what contributed to this spread. "Injuries to quarterbacks will always affect the game line, total or future odds but I have never seen a QB like Peyton Manning have such an impact to this degree," says Gardner. "They [Colts] have a good matchup this week as 2 point underdogs against Cleveland, but if they lose that one will easily go to 100-1 or more [in their Super Bowl odds, down from a start of 14-1 and 60-1 at the beginning of this week]."
The Browns' odds to win the Super Bowl during the preseason were 100-1. Heading into Week 2, they have dropped to 150/1, tied for the worst in the NFL.