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Craig Whymark

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Will Hill

FOX Sports Betting Analyst

As we rapidly approach the halfway mark of the NFL season, some of these award races begin to perhaps become clearer. 

I say perhaps because just last season, we saw how fickle and unpredictable these awards markets can be. 

Joe Flacco was 250-1 to win Comeback Player of the Year with just a month or so to play last season. Eventual Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski was 80-1 to win the award in mid-December. Even MVP Lamar Jackson was available at 15-1 with mere weeks left in the season. Eventually, a Christmas night showdown against the 49ers went the Ravens’ way, swinging the award to their quarterback for a second time in five years. 

These awards are not set in stone since there’s still some football left to play, and leaving a good final impression on voters goes a long way to deciding who ultimately wins.

As far as the MVP race goes, there are four players who have single-digit odds to win heading into Week 9. 

Jackson and Josh Allen are co-favorites, both at +300 odds (a $10 bet returns $40 total). 

Allen finally threw his first interception of the season last week, but it came in a blowout win in Seattle. Allen has his team on pace to clinch the AFC East title by Thanksgiving. 

Jackson continues to put up outstanding numbers, but his team is only 5-3 after an upset loss in Cleveland in Week 8. And I remain steadfast in my belief that winning this award for a third time will be extremely difficult for Jackson, especially considering he hasn’t duplicated his regular-season success in the playoffs. 

Fair or not, I believe voters will use those factors as a tiebreaker against voting for him. 

Should the NFL fear the undefeated Chiefs or 6-1 Lions more?

Patrick Mahomes is at +600 odds, and that’s largely because of his reputation and due to the Chiefs’ undefeated record. However, Mahomes does not currently have the statistical profile of an MVP, as he leads the NFL in interceptions. 

Lions quarterback Jared Goff is +800, and out of all of these options, he is still the best bet on the board in terms of value. 

But there is another award wager available at an even better number that caught my eye this week.

Jonathan Gannon 22–1 Coach of the Year

The Arizona Cardinals are 4-3 and are favored this week over the Bears. 

A 4-3 record doesn’t sound that impressive, but when you examine their schedule, you realize the Cardinals have played the toughest competition of anyone. 

They’ve already faced the Lions, Packers, Bills, Chargers, Commanders and the Dolphins with Tua Tagavailoa. They also played (and won) in San Francisco against the 49ers. That win could be huge when deciding division tiebreakers later in the season. 

A look at their remaining schedule gives hope to the Cardinals that they can be close enough to winning the NFC West that those tiebreakers can come into play. They’re favored this week, they’re favored next week at home against the Jets, and have games against the Panthers, Patriots, and two games against the Seahawks remaining.

The 49ers were heavy favorites to win the division coming into the season, but they have struggled so far this year and seem to lose an All-Pro caliber player every week due to injury. If the Cardinals can get to 10 wins or more — and I think they can — a division title is possible.

And that would give Gannon a great chance of cashing this ticket at 22-1.

Will Hill, a contributor on the Bears Bets Podcast, has been betting on sports for over a decade. He is a betting analyst who has been a host on VSiN, as well as the Goldboys Network.

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Patrick Everson

FOX Sports Betting Analyst

There are no automatics when it comes to betting on the NFL. 

Oddsmakers are dialed in on the point spread. And if your NFL wagers are somehow hitting above .500 over an extended period of time, then count yourself fortunate.

That said, if you just blindly bet the Detroit Lions against the spread (ATS) every week since the middle of the 2022 season, then you’d have a 29-8 ATS record and quite a bit more money. 

Does that trend hold up in NFL Week 9 odds, when the Lions travel to face the Green Bay Packers?

Early bettors seem to think so.

“To nobody’s surprise, they’re playing the team everybody loves to bet, which is the Lions,” Caesars Sports head of football trading Joey Feazel said. “The Lions are amazing, and they’re really fun to watch.”

Oddsmakers and sharp bettors serve up their insights on Lions vs. Packers and a handful of other games, as we dive into NFL Week 9 betting nuggets.

NFL Rocks On FOX

The known facts about Lions-Packers: This matchup is easily the Game of the Week, and it’s on FOX at 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday. Also known as the weekend approaches, Detroit is a 3-point road favorite at Caesars Sports, down from a -4.5 opener on Sunday.

But the unknown is the issue: Will Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love play? Love suffered a groin injury in the second half of the Packers’ 30-27 win at Jacksonville in Week 8.

Love didn’t practice Wednesday and remains questionable for Sunday’s NFC North showdown.

“This is a tougher game to book, because we’re really not getting the full picture on whether Jordan Love is gonna play,” Feazel said. “If he’s out, this line goes to Lions -4.5. If he’s playing, I think maybe we see this going to Lions -1.5/-1.”

But again, early bettors like the favorite.

“They don’t think Love is gonna play,” Feazel said.

Detroit is 6-1 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) this season, while Green Bay is 6-2 SU/4-4 ATS.

NFL Sharp Side 

Professional bettor Randy McKay went 1-1 on point-spread bets last week, cashing on Los Angeles Rams +3 vs. Minnesota Vikings and falling just short on New York Giants +7 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.

McKay has three NFL plays this week, starting with the Denver Broncos vs. Baltimore Ravens. He likes underdog Denver at +9.5 or +10.

“Baltimore is coming off the loss to Cleveland, and faces a Denver team with a strong defense that should match up with the Ravens’ running game,” McKay said. “Baltimore’s defense is still banged up, so I see this game closer and lower scoring.”

How much does Diontae Johnson help the Ravens?

McKay is also on the underdog Indianapolis Colts +5.5/+6 vs. the Minnesota Vikings. He likes the Colts’ move to Joe Flacco at quarterback, benching Anthony Richardson. Plus, the Vikes lost standout left tackle Christian Darrisaw to a season-ending knee injury.

On Tuesday, Minnesota acquired left tackle Cam Robinson in a trade with Jacksonville.

Despite losing with the Giants last week, McKay is going with Big Blue again this week. He likes New York +3.5/+4 vs. the Washington Commanders.

“The Giants are coming off a tough loss, where they looked like the right side against the spread,” McKay said of New York’s 26-18 setback at Pittsburgh. “This is a rematch from Week 2, where the Giants should’ve won the game, but the kicker got injured. I see another close one here.”

New York place-kicker Graham Gano was hurt early in that Week 2 game. The Giants lost 21-18 as 1.5-point road underdogs.

Commanding Attention

The public betting masses often tend to remember what they saw last. In Week 8, that was mostly a miraculous Commanders prayer answered in an 18-15 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Meanwhile, on Monday night, the visiting Giants lost to the Steelers 26-18.

“People are gonna remember Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary and Daniel Jones not playing well on Monday night,” Feazel said while speaking about this Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff on FOX between the Commanders and Giants. “We’re seeing one-way action on the Commanders.

“The Commanders are really becoming a public team. Daniels is making some noise in Washington.”

Nick wants Bears-Commanders bet back, Jayden Daniels not ranked over Caleb Williams

NFL Quick Hits

Feazel touched on two other notable games in NFL Week 9 odds:

• Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills: Caesars opened Buffalo as a 6-point home favorite, spent a couple days at -6.5, then went to -6 on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re taking a lot of Bills money here. It’s one-way action so far.” Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET Sunday.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs: In the Monday night game, Kansas City is pinned to -9 at Caesars. “So far, not a lot of action. It’s a pretty high number at 9, so some of the sharper customers are playing the Bucs. The Chiefs aren’t really winning because of Patrick Mahomes. They’re winning because of their defense. Kansas City has looked vulnerable at times. But I do expect to see more Chiefs action, because the Bucs are so banged up.”

I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie

There are no reported six-figure plays yet in NFL Week 9 odds. But trust me, they’re coming. They always do. Three notable wagers at Caesars Sports:

• $22,000 Panthers +7.5 vs. Saints: Carolina is a league-worst 1-7 SU and ATS. The Panthers have lost five consecutive games on the scoreboard and on the point spread. The Caesars customer is just hoping Carolina can stay within seven at home vs. New Orleans. If that happens, then the customer profits $20,000 (total payout $42,000).
• $11,000 Raiders +7.5 vs. Bengals: If underdog Las Vegas covers, then the bettor profits $10,000 (total payout $21,000)
• $11,000 Packers +4.5 vs. Lions: This bet will look a lot better if Love plays and the line drops to +1 or so by kickoff. If the ticket hits, then the bettor profits $10,000 (total payout $21,000).

And just a reminder: We like little bets that win a lot, too. 

If the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series, a FanDuel Sportsbook customer would move one step closer to turning five bucks into a whopping $823,705. 

Provided the Dodgers finish off the New York Yankees, all that remains is a Detroit Lions Super Bowl to complete this eight-leg parlay of championship winners. 

It’s hard not to root for that!

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas

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NEW YORK — The Los Angeles Dodgers had heard the minimizing and belittling of their short-season championship in the hours and days and months and years since they dogpiled between the mound and home plate at Globe Life Field four seasons ago. They believed what they did in 2020 amid adverse circumstances and a Texas bubble might have been harder and required even more than the typical season. Every other team, after all, had the same chance they did. 

And yet …

“You want the full season one, just to get that whole narrative out of the window,” Gavin Lux said. “I think it kind of bugs everybody a little bit that you don’t get the recognition that you deserve.”

For the past four years, it served as fuel, a little extra motivation to acquire the franchise’s first full-season World Series championship since 1988. The Dodgers had gone to the postseason 11 straight years before this one, with only one pandemic-shortened title to show for it. Many of the same characters from 2020 remained, craving a championship no one could question and a celebration that evaded them the last time they won in the middle of a pandemic. 

Thanks to seven relievers and the first five-run comeback in a World Series clincher Wednesday night in the Bronx, that parade they missed in 2020 will take place Friday in Los Angeles. 

“I’m going to enjoy the heck out of this one,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m sure there’s no asterisk on this one.”

In a season defined by persistence, the Dodgers outlasted the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series, battling back from an early five-run hole, falling behind again, then coming through with the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning of a 7-6 win that embodied their resilience en route to a second championship in five years. 

“Now it’s two, baby, what are you gonna say about that?” Max Muncy said. “World Series champions. Get that Mickey Mouse s— out of your mouth. We got a full season. It’s here.”

[RELATED: Full coverage of the World Series] 

At 1:18 a.m. in the Bronx, as Wednesday night bled into Thursday morning and the Dodgers’ eighth World Series championship celebration shifted from a champagne-soaked clubhouse onto a family-filled field at Yankee Stadium, a shirtless Walker Buehler, pants still drenched from the postgame libations, lifted up Will Smith’s 2-year-old daughter for a hug before embracing his catcher for the second time that night. The first, a couple of hours prior, came as more of a surprise. 

Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior had not discussed Buehler pitching at all in the deciding Game 5 of the World Series. That Buehler, an October star again after a turbulent return from his second Tommy John surgery, nonetheless secured the final out of the 2024 season represented a fitting finish to a year that took a path they never could have imagined after their billion-dollar offseason splurge. 

If the chance to celebrate with a parade wasn’t incentive enough, they would find plenty more sources of motivation as their juggernaut roster began to crumble piece by piece. Injuries tattered their rotation to the point that only one pitcher from their Opening Day rotation still remained upright by October. Of the three starters they entrusted to get them through the postseason, one, Jack Flaherty, didn’t arrive until the deadline and was chased after recording four outs in the final win of the World Series. Another, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, missed nearly three months with a shoulder injury. The third, Buehler, had an ERA over 5.00 in a season marred by inconsistent command and mechanics. 

Even the star-studded offense had taken its hits. Shohei Ohtani, the prize of the offseason who finally got his long-awaited opportunity on the sport’s biggest stage, partially dislocated his shoulder during the World Series. Before that, Freddie Freeman suffered a late September ankle sprain that was supposed to keep him out for 4-6 weeks. Freeman’s father, Fred, had to drive him to Dodger Stadium every day for physical therapy because Freddie couldn’t use his injured right foot on the pedal. 

“It was beyond what any human should do,” Freeman’s father said from the field at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, where he celebrated with his son. “I don’t know any other person that could have done that. Maybe Shohei, what he’s been doing right now. Shohei’s a warrior, also.”

Both players pushed through, though Freeman did a lot more than just survive en route to being selected World Series MVP. He set a major-league record with home runs in six straight World Series games (dating back to his 2021 championship run with the Braves) after homering in each of the first four games of this year’s World Series. The streak ended in Game 5, but his production did not. Freeman delivered a two-run hit as part of the Dodgers’ five-run fifth to tie the game. A medley of Yankees errors and miscues opened the door. An opportunistic Dodgers club knocked it down. 

“Get dealt a couple blows, come back from it,” Muncy said. “Get dealt some more blows, come back from it. This game was literally our season in a nutshell.”

Given their dearth of starting options, the Dodgers needed to rely on a cavalcade of relievers to persevere, as they had all October. Their postseason run included 22 more innings from their bullpen than from their starters. 

“I’d be one to tell you there would never be a bullpenning team that won the World Series,” said Blake Treinen, who recorded seven outs on Wednesday, marking the first time in six years that he’d gone more than two innings in an outing. “I’m eating crow.”

So depleted of starting pitchers, and needing to keep their highest-leverage arms fresh, the Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts chose to punt on certain playoff games when his team got down in a bullpen game. Roberts would live to fight another day, saving his most trusted relievers for more positive game scripts, so the opponent wouldn’t get as many looks at them. The dangerous strategy ultimately triumphed. Maligned for his decision-making in postseasons past, Roberts navigated a treacherous road deftly. 

“Doc,” Smith said, “pushed all the right buttons.” 

The most important might have come two weeks before the playoffs, when the team’s mounting injuries seemed to be taking a toll on the club both physically and mentally. In mid-September, after the Dodgers learned All-Star Tyler Glasnow’s season was over, Roberts read the room and saw a team that looked demoralized. The Dodgers had just dropped two straight games in Atlanta, and the Padres were clawing into their division lead. 

Roberts rarely calls for team meetings, but Teoscar Hernández said the timing of this one changed everything. The skipper told his players that he couldn’t believe in them more than they believed in themselves, and the change needed to begin that night. Buehler responded by bouncing back from a five-run outing to hold the Braves to one earned run in six innings. It was one of 11 wins in the final 14 games of the regular season for a Dodgers team that would be playoff bound for a 12th straight year, and it set a tone for a team that would then rebound from a 2-1 deficit in the National League Division Series against the Padres. It was around that time when Roberts realized this group, which would run through the Mets and Yankees, was different from recent iterations. 

“I believe in this team,” Roberts said before a do-or-die Game 5 of the NLDS, “more than any team I’ve had.”

After winning the 2020 World Series, the past three years didn’t go the way the Dodgers planned. In 2021, they couldn’t dig out of another 3-1 NLCS hole against Freeman’s Braves, who would go on to win the whole thing. In 2022, a historic team that won 111 games bowed out in the first round in a stunning upset against the upstart Padres. A year later came another shocking first-round shellacking at the hands of a division foe, this time with the Diamondbacks blitzing the Dodgers.

Getting swept yielded sweeping changes. 

The Dodgers opened the bank to bring in the most talented player in the game. A third MVP atop the lineup could, ideally, help stabilize an offense that had recently sputtered in October. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was at his son’s soccer game on a Zoom call recruiting another player when he got the news that Ohtani was on board, ending an emotional roller-coaster for a Los Angeles franchise that had long coveted the two-way sensation.

That Ohtani, determined to be part of a winning organization for the first time in his unmatched six-year big-league career, decided to set up his contract in an extraordinary way, deferring most of the $700 million he was owed over the next 10 years, freed up the Dodgers to continue adding. They made fellow NPB standout Yoshinobu Yamamoto the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history with a contract that was $1 million more in total value than Gerrit Cole, the ace who took the mound for the Yankees on Wednesday in Game 5 of the World Series. 

The Dodgers kept going, trading for and extending Glasnow and bringing in even more offensive firepower by adding Hernández on a one-year deal. They had formed what seemed to be an inexorable machine, one capable of exorcising their recent postseason failures and delivering their city the parade they never got. 

But more work would be required from the Dodgers’ front office to acquire the pieces necessary to get them over the top. In one of the most vital trade deadlines in franchise history, they acquired the best pitcher available on the market in Flaherty, the local Los Angeles product who did just enough for his hometown team in a volatile postseason to help his club survive. Just as importantly, they also swung a three-team deal for versatile defender Tommy Edman, who hadn’t played a game this year to that point as he rehabbed wrist and ankle injuries, and reliever Michael Kopech, who was languishing on the worst team in modern baseball history. Kopech would slot in among the bevy of relief arms Roberts would come to rely upon. 

Amid the injuries, the Dodgers knew they still possessed talent. And as they clawed through the postseason, they learned more about their ability to overcome adversity. There was perhaps no better example than the player who threw the final pitch of the season. 

Earlier in the day, Buehler told the Dodgers’ coaching staff and front office he’d be available in the bullpen. 

“Like, yeah, Walk, that’s awesome,” Friedman said, shaking off the thought. 

“Well, what if it gets wonky?” Buehler asked. 

With Flaherty departing in the second inning, things got wonky. 

The Dodgers had already deployed all those high-leverage arms they were saving, forcing Treinen to record seven outs as the bullpen options dwindled. From there, the Dodgers had a couple of options. They could turn to Daniel Hudson, who threw 20 pitches the night prior, one of which resulted in a grand slam, and had grinded through another grueling year that would end with the 15-year big leaguer declaring his retirement late Wednesday night. 

Or, they could go to Buehler, who had already made his way to the bullpen. With the Dodgers leading by one run in the ninth, after he threw four scoreless innings in Game 3 of the NLCS and five scoreless innings in his lone start of the World Series just two days prior, Buehler, in what could have been his final act as a Dodger, emerged and added another spotless frame. 

“What Walker did right there, he’s etched in Dodger royalty for the rest of his life,” Clayton Kershaw said. 

“I can’t say enough about him,” Friedman added. “It shouldn’t be surprising. Time and time again, what he’s done in October cements his legacy as an all-time Dodger great.”

It was also a fitting microcosm of the Dodgers’ year of fortitude. After recording the final out of the 2024 season, Buehler raised his hands in the air with his palms to the sky, in a motion that was less “I can’t believe it” and more “What else would you expect?” 

In a season that didn’t go the way Buehler hoped, he was still the October hero. 

In a year and a game that didn’t go the way the Dodgers scripted, they were still victorious. 

This time, four seasons after the previous title, a parade will mark the accomplishment. And there’s nothing anyone can say to diminish it. 

“First one’s just as much as this, in my opinion, Smith said. “People can say whatever they want, but this is No. 2 for us, No. 2 for me. Hopefully, we get a few more.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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La Liga champions Real Madrid’s match against Valencia, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed after the devastating flash floods in Spain.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has postponed all matches in the Valencia region, where at least 95 people have died and dozens more are missing after torrential rain.

Villarreal’s La Liga meeting with Rayo Vallecano has also been called off, along with three games in the Segunda division – Castellon v RC Ferrol, CD Eldense against SD Huesca and Malaga’s visit to Levante.

in Liga F, the women’s top flight, Valencia’s match against Deportivo La Coruna and Real Madrid v Levante are among the postponed fixtures.

The RFEF had received requests from La Liga, Liga F and the clubs themselves to postpone all professional matches in the area after the flash floods.

Several Copa del Rey matches, including Valencia’s trip to Parla Escuela, had already been rescheduled.

The RFEF said a minute’s silence will be observed during the weekend’s games to show Spanish football’s “solidarity for those affected, especially the relatives of those who have died in the natural disaster”.