Manning Shows Value in Vegas as Colts Super Bowl Odds Slide Due to Injury
Peyton Manning this weekend will miss a game for the first time in his 14-year National Football League career. His injury puts the Indianapolis Colts in similarly unfamiliar territory: off oddsmakers’ lists of Super Bowl favorites.
The status of their 35-year-old quarterback, a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player who underwent additional neck surgery yesterday, has the Colts entering the regular season with championship odds as high as 35-1 at some Las Vegas sportsbooks, up from 14-1.
Oddsmakers for years have said no NFL player would affect the betting line more than Manning. After playing in 227 straight games since his rookie season in 1998, Manning had neck surgery in May and needed to have vertebrae fused yesterday. The Colts said he is out indefinitely until his prognosis becomes more clear. His absence is proving his value at sportsbooks.
“There is no doubt he is the most important player to his team as far as affecting the odds,” said Jeff Sherman, the assistant manager at the Las Vegas Hilton’s sports book.
The Hilton moved the Colts’ Super Bowl odds to 25-1 from 15-1 because of Manning’s injury. The Colts are 9-point underdogs against the Houston Texans in their season-opener Sept. 11, a game that started with an even spread at the Hilton.
Since Manning became their quarterback in 1998, the Colts have won 10 or more games 11 of 13 seasons and won the Super Bowl in 2007.
“Peyton Manning is the only player in the NFL that would affect his team’s odds by more than a touchdown,” RJ Bell, founder and chief executive of Las Vegas-based handicapping information website Pregame.com, said in an e-mail.
Super Bowl Favorite
The New England Patriots, who have won 10 or more games for eight straight seasons with two Super Bowl titles, are 9-2 championship favorites at the Las Vegas Hilton.
The defending champion Green Bay Packers, who beat the New Orleans Saints 42-34 last night to kick off the NFL season, are the second choice at 6-1. They’re followed by the record six- time Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles at 8-1.
The Eagles’ odds dropped after an offseason in which they added Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to highlight a free- agent haul that also included defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, defensive end Jason Babin and running back Ronnie Brown.
Philadelphia has never won a Super Bowl title.
“Our expectations are to win a championship,” quarterback Michael Vick, who last month signed a new six-year contract that could be worth $100 million, told reporters during training camp. “I would love to be a part of the group that gets it done.”
Jets’ Odds
The New York Jets, in the same division as the Patriots, have 12-1 Super Bowl odds after losing in the American Football Conference championship game the past two years.
“I don’t know what the experts say, I just know what I believe in my heart, and that’s that this is going to be our year,” Jets coach Rex Ryan told reporters at training camp last month. “Again, we have to find somebody out there to beat New England besides us, and I think that would help.”
Ryan has predicted Super Bowl championships for the Jets each of his previous two years as coach as well.
The Saints, San Diego Chargers and Atlanta Falcons also have 12-1 odds, according to the Las Vegas Hilton.
The Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens are listed at 20-1, completing the Hilton’s top 10.
At 25-1, the Colts are tied with the New York Giants and Detroit Lions, a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1999, Manning’s second year in the NFL. Indianapolis is just ahead of the Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are 30-1.
“It’s a part of the game,” Colts tight end Dallas Clark told reporters about Manning’s injury. “For him to do what he’s done for so long is remarkable. It’s unfortunate, but we still have to go out there and play hard.”
TEAM ODDS ============================ New England Patriots 9-2 Green Bay Packers 6-1 Pittsburgh Steelers 8-1 Philadelphia Eagles 8-1 New York Jets 12-1 San Diego Chargers 12-1 Atlanta Falcons 12-1 New Orleans Saints 12-1 Dallas Cowboys 20-1 Baltimore Ravens 20-1 Indianapolis Colts 25-1 New York Giants 25-1 Detroit Lions 25-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-1 Houston Texans 30-1 Chicago Bears 40-1 Kansas City Chiefs 40-1 Minnesota Vikings 40-1 St. Louis Rams 40-1 Miami Dolphins 50-1 San Francisco 49ers 50-1 Oakland Raiders 60-1 Tennessee Titans 60-1 Cleveland Browns 60-1 Jacksonville Jaguars 60-1 Denver Broncos 60-1 Arizona Cardinals 60-1 Washington Redskins 100-1 Seattle Seahawks 100-1 Buffalo Bills 200-1 Cincinnati Bengals 200-1 Carolina Panthers 300-1 ============================ Odds courtesy of Las Vegas Hilton’s Race and Sports Book
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
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