NFL oddsmakers give red-hot Lions plenty of respect versus Packers
By Colin Kelly
A month ago, the Green Bay Packers were the toast of the NFC, and the talent-laden Detroit Lions were a mess.
Detroit got shellacked at Kansas City 45-10 as a 3-point pup on November 1. But on that same day, in the Sunday night game, Green Bay was dealt its first loss of the year, a 29-10 setback at Denver as a 2.5-point favorite.
Since then, the Packers have lost three of four games SU and ATS, while the Lions have won all three of their outings SU and ATS, including a stunning 18-16 win catching 10.5 points at Green Bay on November 15. On Thanksgiving Day, both teams played, with Detroit ripping Philadelphia 45-14 as a 3-point home fave and the Pack continuing to slide in a 17-13 home loss giving 7.5 points to Chicago.
Now, struggling Green Bay (7-4 SU, 6-5 ATS) heads to surging Detroit (4-7 SU and ATS) Thursday to kick off Week 13. John Lester, senior lines manager for Bookmaker, opened the Packers as 3-point chalk.
“Through the first two months of the season, we’d be looking to make the Packers double-digit chalk here, but things have changed drastically,” Lester said. “We’ll obviously see a ton of Green Bay money from the betting public, but I’m interested to see where the sharps stand. The Lions have looked more in sync and confident of late, but this will be a hungry Packers bunch.”
Johnny Avello, executive director of race and sports for Wynn Las Vegas, gave Green Bay a little bit more of an edge.
“The Packers are struggling, and the Lions seem to have found their best stride,” Avello said. “I opened the Packers a 3.5-point favorite, and a lot of it was my gut telling me that both teams need to come back to reality.