Will Hill

FOX Sports Betting Analyst

As the calendar flips to November, we come down the stretch for the back nine of the NFL season. 

Last week, we only saw one underdog win outright, as the Panthers beat the Saints. The chalk prevailed, after an early-season flurry of upsets. 

The signature performance of Week 9 was the Lions’ statement win in Green Bay. Detroit led the Packers 24-3 late in the game before a couple of late scores made it a 24-14 final — a score that did not reflect just how in control the Lions were from start to finish. 

With only one loss — a fluky, early-season defeat at home to the Bucs — the Lions not only look like the best team in the NFC but perhaps the best team in all the NFL. 

In the AFC, the Chiefs remained unbeaten, while the Ravens steamrolled a solid Broncos defense, as a rematch of last year’s AFC title game seems more and more possible every week. 

Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff all entered last week with single-digit odds to win the MVP. All four players led their teams to wins, leaving the odds fairly static, aside from a small tick up for Jackson (+250) and Goff (+600). 

While I don’t see a great bet in that market, there is another award bet that got my attention.

Joe Burrow To Win Offensive Player of the Year 100-1 (FanDuel)

Joe Burrow is quietly having an outstanding season, perhaps flying under the radar because of the team’s lackluster start to the year. 

But the team has played better as of late and is still around even money to make the playoffs. 

The MVP is typically reserved for quarterbacks who lead their team to 12 wins or more and capture a top-two seed. Burrow won’t fit that criteria in all likelihood, but is it possible he gets Offensive Player Of the Year? 

Does Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson need a win more in Week 10?

This award has not gone to a quarterback in several years but did get handed out to a QB three times in a four-year stretch from 2105 to 2018. Burrow is heading into Thursday night’s game against the Ravens having already thrown 20 touchdowns and only four interceptions, giving him a realistic chance to throw for 40 touchdowns or more. 

To put that in perspective, Jackson won MVP last year with 24 TDs the entire season, Mahomes won it the year prior with 41, while Rodgers threw 37 TDs in his 2021 MVP season. 

Burrow might not have enough team success to win the MVP, but at 100-1, with his gaudy statistics, a long shot bet on him to win Offensive Player of the Year is an interesting and perhaps lucrative bet to make. 

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.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!

Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ appeal against a five-game stadium ban was dismissed to “send a clear message” after he “undermined respect for the game of football,” says the Football Association (FA).

The 57-year-old was found guilty of improper conduct for spitting on the floor as the match officials walked past following Forest’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Fulham at the City Ground on 28 September.

Marinakis denied the charge and appealed against the Regulatory Commission’s outcome, before it was later dismissed by an Appeal Board.

In a statement adding clarity to the appeal rejection, the FA said: “Showing such contempt for match officials in a place where that can be seen by other individuals, significantly undermines respect for the game of football.

“Such behaviour is only more serious when it comes from an individual who himself has a position of both power and responsibility within the game.

“It is therefore vital that a clear message is sent that this behaviour will not be tolerated in any part of football.”

England interim manager Lee Carsley has handed first call-ups to Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle United full-back Lewis Hall for this month’s Nations League fixtures.

The pair could make their national debuts for the Three Lions as they prepare to face Greece on 14 November and Republic of Ireland on 17 November.

Manchester City defender John Stones is a notable absentee, while Jack Grealish is included despite missing City’s last five matches through injury.

Chelsea winger Cole Palmer has been selected, despite being an injury doubt for Sunday’s Premier League match against Arsenal.

Southampton’s Aaron Ramsdale has been included ahead of Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope, while Manchester United duo Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire miss out through injury.

It is Carsley’s final England squad as interim manager before Thomas Tuchel takes charge on a full-time basis.

Manager Mikel Arteta says it is “difficult to accept” that Arsenal were not awarded a penalty in their 1-0 Champions League defeat by Inter Milan.

Arteta felt midfielder Mikel Merino had been punched by Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer when he tried to claim a cross.

READ MORE: ‘We were harshly done by’ – but how much have Arsenal missed Odegaard?

Paul George heard about it in his return to Los Angeles on Wednesday night for the first time since leaving the Clippers last summer for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Fans booed George when he was introduced at Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena that wasn’t close to being full. They got vocal each time he touched the ball in the opening minutes, and he responded by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers that pulled the Sixers into an early tie.

“Boo him tonight and love him afterwards,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game.

George was playing just his second game of the season after a left knee injury kept him out. He scored 15 points in 32 minutes of the Sixers’ 118-116 loss at Phoenix on Monday.

“He gave us just a little bit more versatility defensively,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said beforehand. “He’s 6-9 and can kind of cover multiple things. Gave us a little size. Certainly settled us down on the offensive end.”

Late in the first quarter, the Clippers played a George tribute video on the giant halo board above the court. He waved to acknowledge the polite applause.

“He’s a special talent,” Lue said. “He’s seen everything, seen every defense.”

In five seasons with the Clippers, the native of nearby Palmdale helped them to their first-ever Western Conference Finals appearance, but they were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs the last two years.

George opted out of his player option in his $48 million contract with the Clippers to become a free agent and was wooed to Philly to play with Joel Embiid. He has yet to play this season because of a knee injury and is now serving a three-game suspension for shoving a Philly sports columnist.

The Clippers are 3-4 to open the season, hardly the kind of start they want to help attract fans to their new building.

Another fan held up a sign reading “Paul G, Please Come Back.” The Clippers are without Kahwi Leonard, who has yet to play this season while nursing his surgically repaired right knee — again. Besides George, they also lost Russell Westbrook from their Big Four that is now down to Leonard and James Harden.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more