Thanksgiving day football is a tradition that most hold near and dear to their heart. Watching the Lions and Cowboys both shock the world with their mediocrity year in and year out is cherished by their rival fans. In recent years the rise of degenerate sports betting has been at the forefront of the news, with discussions about its nature and legality. Sports betting and football have combined to make Thanksgiving a prime day to bet on football. This Thanksgiving, however, my family looked at the lines to see what Vegas was predicting for the games ahead—instantly seeing that the Lions were home underdogs of +9.5 against the Bills. I was stunned. How could Vegas think that the Lions would lose by that much at home on a winning streak? It puzzled me, so I went and looked back at the lines set in the games this season. The results are quite confusing.
We start the year off as +6 home dogs to the Eagles, which is understandable based on our record last year and the additions by the Eagles in the offseason. The Lions covered in this game. The next opponent was Washington at home as a pick’em. The first red flag on the list, as the Commanders barely squeaked by a poor Jacksonville side at home. The Lions ended up winning this one by nine. The next game to raise questions this year was the week 9 matchup against the Packers. The lions were once again home dogs at +4. The lions were very disrespected coming into this game, not only because we were home but also because the Packers had a similar lackluster start to the season too. The Lions ended up winning in a close game.
While these three examples are small in their own right, it seems to show a bigger picture. With the rise of sports gambling becoming more prevalent than ever it seems that Vegas disregards the Lions in the same way that the national media does. It seems to imply that they take us as an irrelevant team that consistently fails to impress on a national scale. In recent history its hard to debate that narrative, but we’ve seems again and again in the Campbell area that these arent the same old Lions, and Vegas needs to see that too.
