Jeff Haney on some important games for those who bet on football, and today’s ‘Money Talks’ matchups

By Jeff Haney

Friday, Sept. 21, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

Against the spread: Refers to how a team performed vis-a-vis the point spread, regardless of the final score.

Favorite: Team that, according to the odds, is the stronger in a matchup, or is regarded as such by the betting public, or is expected to win.

Handicapper: Someone who studies and projects outcomes of sporting events.

Point spread: Spread, for short. The number of points added to or subtracted from a team's actual score for betting purposes.

Push: A tie.

Total: Another word for over/under . Usually refers to a bet on the combined number of points scored in a game.

Underdog: Team that, according to the odds, is the weaker in a matchup, or is regarded as such by the betting public, or is expected to lose.

The first two weeks of any NFL season typically carry surprises for sports bettors, and this one was no exception.

We saw playoff teams from last season such as the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles stumble to 0-2 starts.

Lightly regarded teams such as the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans, who each opened at 100-1 at the Las Vegas Hilton sports book to win the Super Bowl , won their first two games and went a combined 3-0-1 against the point spread.

This past weekend, when only three favorites covered the spread, the Cleveland Browns' formerly suspect offense overcame a quarterback controversy to rack up 554 yards and 51 points against Cincinnati.

As the season approaches its midstretch, however, Las Vegas sports handicapper Joe D'Amico expects the NFL to play truer to form.

"From week three to week six is when you see what these teams are really made of," D'Amico said. "That part of the season, which starts Sunday, is going to act as a gauge for what will happen over the next two to three months."

D'Amico figures the Dallas Cowboys will continue to assert themselves as the class of the NFC East, and perhaps the conference, starting with Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears.

The Cowboys are a road underdog of 3 to 3 1/2 points in Las Vegas sports books. D'Amico recommends a play on Dallas plus the points but thinks an outright victory is well within the Cowboys' grasp.

D'Amico is not sold on Cedric Benson, the Bears' featured running back, or the rest of the Chicago offense, which has scored 23 points in two games.

After week one, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips created a minor storm by publicly questioning Benson's mental and physical toughness.

"The Bears' running game and Benson are just not getting it done," said D'Amico (online at allamericansports.info). "The Dallas defense has been creating turnovers and the offense has been scoring points."

The storyline of the game pits the Bears' vaunted defense against an offense led by Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, and D'Amico sees Romo prevailing.

"Romo seems to be maturing more and more each game," he said. "He really has this team playing in sync."

D'Amico also likes the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans as underdogs in week three, and sees the Pittsburgh Steelers covering as a big favorite.

The Packers are getting 5 to 5 1/2 points in Las Vegas against the San Diego Chargers, who have not shown they belong with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts among the AFC elite, D'Amico said.

"You have to drop them down a little, and not just because of their loss to the Patriots," D'Amico said. "They don't work together as a team as well as Indy or New England."

The Titans are 5-point underdogs, having been bet down from an opening number of 6, against the 0-2 Saints in New Orleans' first home game of the season Monday night.

Early money at the betting windows also has backed the Steelers, driving the line from 7 1/2 to 9 points against visiting San Francisco.

Contest update

The "Money Talks" football handicapping contest, sponsored by Leroy's sports books, continues today with two more first-round matchups.

From 2 to 3 p.m. at Fitzgeralds downtown, Wayne Peters, a front man for a group of financial consultants who also invest in football wagers, will face a mysterious handicapper who goes only by "Jay." (There was no immediate word on whether "the Americans" also will appear.) This segment airs on KENO 1460-AM.

From 7 to 9 p.m. at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, handicapper and Kansas City Chiefs fan Mike Corrigan will meet Connie Weber, the lone female entrant in the 32-person field.

Each contestant puts up $5,000 - the highest entry fee for a sports handicapping contest in Nevada - to compete in the winner-take-all, bracket-style tournament. Handicappers make seven selections against the point spread from the weekend's slate of football games. The finals are scheduled for Dec. 28.

Last week, Nick Bogdanovich (3-4) advanced past Stephen Nover (2-4-1) and defending champ Erin Rynning (4-3) ousted Ray Boldway (1-6) as the handicappers collectively got off to a bad start (10-17-1) in the contest's opening week.

Accountability corner

(In which accurate predictions made in past columns are righteously praised, and the ugly details of inaccurate predictions are rehashed.)

In a discussion of last week's USC-Nebraska game, recommendations by Las Vegas' s Patrick Bartucci ended in a push. Bartucci correctly predicted the Trojans would cover a 10-point spread, and saw the game's total staying under 51 points. USC won 49-31.

Early NFL returns are making winners of several local handicappers, including Mark Franco, Andy Iskoe and Jim Kruger, who ripped the New York Giants in a Sept. 3 column. The Giants (0-2) failed to cover the spread in their first two games and rank second-to-last in the league in points-scored differential (minus 32).