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We’re Going to Hit All Five of These Weekend Bets on the Eagles, Union, Temple, Penn State, and UFC
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Welcome!
It’s time for another edition of the award-losing, money-winning weekend bets column. We’re gonna hit all five of these wagers and then say “cash me outside how bou dah,” as Bhad Babie once told Dr. Phil:
Eagles at Cowboys
The Eagles are 8-2, the Cowboys are 4-5-1, and yet the Eagles are only getting -3 as a road favorite in Jerry World.
On one hand, it’s a divisional game, and they’re typically close. The Birds did lose to the Giants this year, and they oftentimes split with the Cowboys. Vic Fangio’s defense looks amazing and Kevin Patullo’s offense, not so much. Throw in the fact that the Eagles barely got by Dallas at home in the season opener and there’s enough there to be slightly concerned.
On the other hand, this Dallas defense still totally stinks. The beat the Raiders last week? Wow! What a win! The other three are against the Jets, Commies, and Giants, so it’s not exactly the world’s greatest resume.
Eagles moneyline at -170 is easy enough, but if you think all of this bluster is nonsense, and the Birds offense wakes up inside a climate-controlled, indoor stadium with a turf field, playing against a crap defense, then move the line the opposite way. I’d put a few units on the Eagles to win outright, then ladder the alternate spread of -3.5 and -6.5 at -102 and +135, respectively.
Union vs. New York City FC (Eastern Conference Semifinal)
The U were going to be a favorite playing at home in the second round of the playoffs no matter what happened during the lengthy international break. Then, NYC’s leading scorer Alonso Martinez, who bagged two goals in the Charlotte series, tore his ACL on Costa Rica duty. Andres Perea suffered a fracture in the opening round and Aiden O’Neill is suspended for yellow card accumulation. They’ll be down multiple starters.
These teams have played twice this season, two 1-0 games that were split one apiece. The later playoff rounds are typically cagey and low-scoring affairs, so under 2.5 goals at -102 is a good value play, but let’s not complicate things. Just take the Union moneyline at -118 straight up, or use Union “to qualify” at -225 in a parlay. The latter cashes if they tie in regulation and win on penalties.
Temple vs. Tulane
This is Temple’s last realistic shot at bowl eligibility. They got to 5-3, then blew a couple of winnable games vs. ECU and at Army, and now they have to dispatch either 8-2 Tulane at home or 9-1 North Texas in Denton.
This line has moved a point after opening at 8.5 in favor of the visitors. You can get the Owls +9.5 at BetMGM and move it to +10.5 at -130, which is what we’re playing. Two of the Owls’ three conference losses have come by a single point, and five of Tulane’s eight wins were by a touchdown or less. If you believe, like I do, that the Owls give it their best shot in their final home game, then they should cover 10.5.
Penn State vs. Nebraska
This line reeks because both teams are playing without the quarterbacks who started the season. With no Drew Allar and no Dylan Raiola, the Nitters are -8.5 favorites vs. a 7-3 Nebraska team at Beaver on Saturday night.
The Huskers aren’t world beaters, but they only lost to Michigan by 3 and USC by 4, one game with Raiola and one game mostly without. They got thumped in Minnesota but otherwise they win close games against typical Big 10 competition, case in point, backup TJ Lateef getting the job done vs. UCLA last week. The Lions ended their six-game skid with a road win against 3-7 Michigan State, but they ran the ball 50 times and only threw it 13 times.
The best players on the field in Happy Valley will be running backs. PSU has Kayton Allen and Nick Singleton and Nebraska has Emmett Johnson. This feels like one of those games where both teams will try to get the ground game going and chew up some clock while punting a bit. That’s why I think you hold your nose and play the under 44.5 points.
UFC Fight Night
Arman Tsarukyan is a huge -625 favorite against Dan Hooker in Saturday’s five-round main event. No value there, so what I’d do is take fight not to go the distance at -235 and parlay it with Ian Machado Garry to win against Belal Muhammad in the co-main. -235 plus -275 gets you a clean -106, two-leg parlay.
Flyers/Sixers –
Full odds aren’t out for the weekend games, but bet Tyrese Maxey OVER points, and bet the Flyers to lose the 1st period but win the 3rd period. Then we celebrate our winnings by playing US online casino and online slots.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com