Newton\u2019s positive test forced the NFL to postpone Sunday\u2019s game at the Kansas City Chiefs. When no other members of the Patriots tested positive, that game was played on Monday night. The Chiefs won 26-10.<\/p>\n
Gilmore, who won last year\u2019s NFL Defensive Player of the Year, played every snap against the Chiefs.<\/p>\n
Uncertainty because of COVID and other reasons has thrown the start of the betting week into a bit of disarray.<\/p>\n
The main issue is accepting large bets early in the week<\/strong>,\u201d Jason Scott, BetMGM\u2019s vice president of trading, told Casino.org<\/em>. \u201cI had a guy that wanted to bet $1 million on Seattle at -6.5 last Wednesday. Like you, I\u2019m cynical, and my first thought is, \u2018Who from Miami has COVID?\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe Patriots are scheduled to host the Denver Broncos on Sunday. However, with Gilmore\u2019s positive test, the Patriots\u2019 facility closed on Wednesday. Wednesday is the first day teams work on the game plan on the practice field. With the league closely monitoring the rest of the week\u2019s COVID test results, that game is off the board at most sportsbooks.<\/p>\n
Betting on the Las Vegas Raiders\u2019 game at Kansas City was suspended at PointsBet and a few other sportsbooks because of concerns with both teams. The Raiders had one player test positive, defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Chiefs played the Patriots on Monday night, so there will be added scrutiny of their COVID tests this week. After the game, Gilmore had an up-close conversation with the Chiefs\u2019 star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, raising concerns over the health of the NFL\u2019s 2018 MVP.<\/strong><\/p>\nAlso off the board is the Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans game. Tennessee\u2019s game last week against Pittsburgh was not played after 18 positive tests among Titans players and personnel. There were two more positive tests in Tennessee on Wednesday, meaning its facility will remain closed and the fate of that game is in question.<\/p>\n
Compounding matters is the Titans already used their bye to accommodate a rescheduling of the game against Pittsburgh. If Bills-Titans can\u2019t be played this week, it raises the possibility that both teams could play only 15 games this year, a Titans forfeit, or the NFL might need to create the 18th week on the schedule.<\/p>\n
BetOnline.ag has the odds of a Week 18 at +250 for yes and -425 for no.<\/strong><\/p>\nMore Than COVID<\/h2>\n
That the NFL is wrestling with COVID isn\u2019t a surprise. That was the expectation from everyone, whether it was Commissioner Roger Goodell or people like BetMGM\u2019s Scott. However, the impact on the number of tickets at sportsbooks has been negligible.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m much more negative early in the week,\u201d <\/strong>Scott said to Casino.org<\/em>. \u201cCome gameday, we are not seeing any change. In fact, Week 4 was our largest handle of the season and the week in which we wrote the most bets.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nOn Monday night, the Los Angeles Chargers are scheduled to play at the New Orleans Saints. However, with Hurricane Delta being the latest major storm to take aim at the city<\/a> \u2013 it has a projected landfall of Friday night or Saturday morning \u2013 there\u2019s a possibility the game could be played in Indianapolis, according to reports.<\/p>\nThe Saints are considering flying from New Orleans to Indianapolis following Thursday\u2019s practice. In college football, LSU\u2019s scheduled home game against Missouri instead will be played at Missouri.<\/p>\n
The Saints are 7.5-point favorites at just about all sportsbooks.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Miami Dolphins at San Francisco 49ers game is off the board at most sportsbooks, as well, though it has nothing to do with a pandemic or weather. Starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo could return after missing the last two games with a high-ankle sprain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are 15 games on the NFL\u2019s Week 5 schedule. As of Wednesday morning, only 10 of those were on the board at PointsBet because of an increasing number of positive COVID-19 tests and other uncertainties. The big news to start the day was New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore testing positive. What\u2019s especially concerning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":151370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[81007,80969,81776,81504,81004,81061,81836],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
COVID-19 Among Reasons for NFL Uncertainty at Sportsbooks - Casino.org New England Patriots-Denver Broncos Off Board After Stephon Gilmore Tests Positive for COVID-19<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n