It was a game billed as the “Return of the King”, but in the end, it was the successor to the throne that had his hand raised in victory.
Andrew Luck threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one more, leading the Indianapolis Colts to a huge win against the previously undefeated Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. But while the storyline of the day will no doubt focus on Luck beating Manning, sportsbooks are just happy that the Colts won outright, saving themselves from having to pay out a huge sum of bets from the public who were riding the Broncos.
The Colts came in as 6-point home underdogs against the high-scoring Broncos, but in the end, it didn’t even need the spread to send a message to the NFL that Indianapolis is now Luck Country.
The books’ winning week also was largely aided by numerous games going its way. From the New York Jets scoring an outright win against the New England Patriots to the Houston Texans somehow covering the 6-point spread while starting Case Keenum against the league’s best defense, it was one result after another netting positive results for sports books.
If there was a game that went to the side of the public, it was the San Francisco 49ers scoring an impressive win against the Tennessee Titans on the road as 5.5-point favorites.
But that, and some small wins on other games, was what all the public could’ve done to chink the armor of sportsbooks.
Week 7 belonged to the books and of all of its wins, it has Andrew Luck to thank the most for it.
