It’s good to have football back, isn’t it? Following a full slate of NFL action over the weekend, we have a couple of more games on the Monday Night Football schedule. The Pittsburgh Steelers will head to New Jersey to face the New York Giants in the early game, while the Denver Broncos will host the Tennessee Titans in the nightcap.
Football season is the best time of the year for bettors, but football isn’t the only sport on the slate. There are also a handful of Major League Baseball games set to take place, and BetOnline has a few odds boosts ahead of Monday’s action that could be of interest to you. These odds boosts will give you a little extra bang for your buck as a bettor, so let’s take a look at the updated odds and try to uncover some value.
MLB: Braves and White Sox BOTH To Win (+285)
We have a number of doubleheaders on the MLB schedule for today. A couple of traditional nine-inning affairs will pit the Atlanta Braves against the Baltimore Orioles, while the Chicago White Sox will host the Minnesota Twins.
The Braves will have Touki Toussaint on the mound against Orioles right-hander Jorge Lopez. Atlanta currently leads the NL East by 3.5 games, and their 28-19 record is the third-best mark in the National League behind the Dodgers and Padres. The O’s, meanwhile, are in fourth in the AL East with a 20-26 mark. Atlanta is a sizable -167 moneyline favorite at BetOnline.ag.
The White Sox quietly have the best record in the American League at 30-16. Chicago will throw Dylan Cease to the mound on Monday night, while the Twins will counter with Jose Berrios. BetOnline has the White Sox as -138 moneyline favorites on the road.
While I do like the Braves’ chances of getting to Lopez and making things fairly easy for Toussaint, I’m not convinced that Cease has what it takes to shut down the Twins. Cease has really struggled to miss bats this season, with a low 15.4 percent strikeout rate. His 3.33 ERA is solid, but his 5.81 xFIP shows he’s been quite lucky thus far.
NFL: Derrick Henry To Score First Touchdown (+525)
“To score first” bets are generally risky because there are so many factors involved. The team that gets the ball first will have better chances to score first, for example. While many think of the Titans and Derrick Henry as a run-heavy offense, that really wasn’t the case last season. Henry led the NFL in rushing yards and had a couple of huge games in the playoffs, but this offense is much more balanced overall.
Here’s a Breakdown of Derrick Henry’s 99-yard TD run @KingHenry_2 pic.twitter.com/klvTHOv0QV
— Korked Bats (@korkedbats) September 10, 2020
That said, the Titans know where their bread is buttered. Henry dominating the game gives Tennessee its best chance to win, so I’d expect them to give him the ball early and often in Week 1. The former Heisman Trophy winner has scored a total of 30 touchdowns over the last two seasons combined, so he’s obviously a good bet to find the end zone at some point tonight in Denver. It’s just a matter of whether he’ll be the first player to do so.
NFL: Giants and Titans BOTH To Win (+475)
The Giants are six-point home underdogs against the Steelers tonight, while the Titans are three-point favorites on the road. You can get New York at +210 on the moneyline to top Big Ben and the Steelers, while Tennessee is a sizable -165 road favorite.
Ben Roethlisberger missed almost all of last season with an elbow injury, but the year before that he was the NFL’s passing yardage leader. Pittsburgh isn’t necessarily among the Super Bowl favorites with +2500 odds of winning the title heading into the new season, but oddsmakers do think this will be a playoff team. The Steelers have an over/under of nine wins following their underwhelming 8-8 finish last year.
The Giants have some talent on the offensive side of the ball, led by second-year QB Daniel Jones.
Saquon Barkley is looking to rebound following a somewhat lackluster sophomore campaign, while the Giants will be looking to see whether Darius Slayton or Sterling Shepard will enjoy a breakout season in the passing game.
The Titans made a Cinderella run all the way to the AFC Championship Game. The Broncos, meanwhile, are in search of their first playoff appearance since winning Super Bowl 50 five years ago. Denver is rolling with a solid young quarterback in Drew Lock, as well as a two-pronged rushing attack featuring newcomer Melvin Gordon with Phillip Lindsay out of the backfield.
The Broncos have an over/under of 7.5 wins after going 7-9 last year. The Titans, meanwhile, are right there with the Colts as betting favorites to win the AFC South.
NFL: Saquon Barkley To Score At Least Two Touchdowns (+475)
Barkley was one of the most productive rookies in NFL history two years ago, when he totaled over 2,000 total yards. He scored multiple touchdowns in three of 16 games during that rookie season. Last year, when he was limited to just 13 games due to injury, he scored at least two touchdowns twice.
Most 20+ yard carries since 2018 among RBs:
1. Saquon Barkley – 24
2. Nick Chubb – 22
3. Joe Mixon – 17 pic.twitter.com/lRJB8pEllM— PFF (@PFF) September 6, 2020
As is the case with Henry and the Titans, the Giants know that feeding Barkley as often as possible is their best chance to win. While Jones showed promise last season, this is still Barkley’s offense. It would be a massive surprise if New York didn’t look to get the Penn State product going early to try and set the tone in this game.
NFL: Steelers to Win and OVER 47.5 Points (+300)
The Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the most prolific offenses back in 2018 during Roethlisberger’s most recent healthy season, but even then they weren’t the greatest over bet. Pittsburgh went just 8-8 on an over/under basis two years ago. Last year, when they cycled through a few different QBs in Big Ben’s place, the Steelers were one of the best under bets in football. The under hit in 12 of the Steelers’ 16 games last season.
The Giants, meanwhile, hit the over in 10 of their 16 games last year. With Barkley fully healthy and Jones entering his second year, it’s not unfair to expect this offense to improve. I’m still skeptical of the overall talent of this unit beyond Barkley and Jones, but New York was involved in a number of high-scoring shootouts in 2019.
Of course, a coaching change could change things. Swapping the offensive-minded Pat Shurmur for former special teams guru Joe Judge may give New York an entirely different philosophy in 2020.
What’s The Best Bet?
While betting on Henry to score the first touchdown of the Titans-Broncos game at +525 offers the most upside, it’s also pretty easily the most difficult wager to peg. All sorts of different things can transpire over the course of a game, and you need an awful lot of things to go right for that bet to cash. I suppose you can take a low-dollar flier given the +525 odds, but I’ll pass.
I’m also not sold on the White Sox to hold up their end of the bargain in the two-way bet with the Braves. Atlanta should be able to take care of business against Baltimore, but it’s pretty easy to imagine the Twins getting to Dylan Cease. At +285, I think we can scratch the baseball wager off the list.
The New York Giants will put up a fight, but I’d have a very hard time betting against Roethlisberger and the Steelers in this one. I’d expect Pittsburgh to come out with a renewed focus, and I’m not sure how the Giants will look in their first game under Joe Judge. There is a lot less certainty with New York than with Pittsburgh, so Giants and Titans BOTH to win at +475 looks dicey.
With Big Ben back, the Steelers should be able to hit the over with more regularity than we saw a season ago. Duck Hodges and Mason Rudolph just couldn’t cut it. An over/under of 47.5 for this game is pretty low by modern NFL standards. Given the offensive firepower we have in this one, the Steelers winning a game that scores at least 48 total points is a very distinct possibility. The +300 odds are nice, too.
The Giants have an implied team total of 19.5 points tonight, so oddsmakers like New York to score at least two touchdowns here. Of course, that’s also the lowest mark of any of the four NFL teams in action tonight, so Barkley doesn’t have a lot of room to work with in order to score twice himself here. Barkley will have ample opportunity to make plays in this one, and the +475 odds are very attractive.
If you want a long shot with upside, grab Barkley to score at least twice at +475. If you want a safer play, bet the Steelers to win plus the over on 47.5 at +300.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
