When the New England Patriots started to dominate and look like they were making a run at an undefeated season, people weren’t overly surprised—they had a high-powered offense led by Randy Moss and Tom Brady and Coach Belichick pulling the strings.

Despite the annoying quotes and appearances, the ’72 Dolphins were terrified as they watched the Pats roll over opponents week after week. But it’s kind of hard to see them getting worked up about the Tennessee Titans, after all, there is a world of difference between Brady and the Titans’ Kerry Collins.

Still, they are far enough along in the year to start making that old Dolphin team look twice at the champagne bottles on ice (they have a ritual of popping champagne every year when the last undefeated team loses their first game).

For the Titans, chalk up another straight up and against the spread victory, as they went into Chicago and covered as 3-point road favorites (winning 21-14). Tennessee is now 9-0 SU and 8-0-1 ATS.

Next up for the Titans is a road trip to face the struggling Jaguars (and yes, we know they scored a lopsided win over Detroit last week, but that doesn’t allow a team to shake off the “struggling” tag).

This game was one of many big “wins” for sports bettors on Sunday. Players bet on Tennessee early and they bet them often, looking for the undefeated streak to stay alive and for them to cover another spread. The 7-point win cashed in big for bettors.

Another big win for bettors was New England’s 20-10 victory over Buffalo. The Patriots were favored by 3.5-points and were one of the heavier bet on teams of the week. Players watched that ticket cash as the Bills were simply unable to get anything going offensively, while their defense allowed long, long drives by the Matt Cassell led-offense.

Bettors also scored nice wins on Jacksonville (who beat Detroit), Carolina (who won in Oakland) and the Jets (who beat the Rams).

Speaking of Carolina - while many are talking about the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants as the top teams in the NFL, everyone seems to be forgetting the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina quietly upped its record to 7-2 SU on the strength of that 17-6 win over the Oakland Raiders, where the Panthers were listed as 10-point road favorites.

- One small victory for the books came down in Miami. People like to refer to Miami Dolphins president of football operations Bill Parcells as the “Big Tuna” but with the way Miami is playing right now, King Midas might be more appropriate.

With an overall record of 1-15 last year, you would’ve batted 0.938 if you wagered on the Dolphins to lose every game SU in 2007.

Parcells came in and did the “Extreme Makeover” thing and while people expected an improvement, few expected Miami to quintuple its win total from last year by Week 10.

While the Dolphins failed to cover the 7.5-points set by oddsmakers in a 21-19 win over the Seattle Seahawks, they won their third in a row SU and have gone 5-2 SU and ATS in their last seven games. They are in the thick of the race for top spot in the AFC East and people in South Florida are even mentioning the “P” word; playoffs.

- The New York Giants are continuing to dominate after a championship last February, dispelling the myth of the Super Bowl Hangover. This past weekend, the G-Men covered on the road as 3-point dogs with a 36-31 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Even after a title, the defending champs continue to be a bettor’s dream sitting at 8-1 SU and 7-2 ATS.

In college ball on Saturday, it took overtime but the Alabama Crimson Tide remain the consensus No. 1 team in college football. ‘Bama head coach Nick Saban returned to his old stomping grounds in the Bayou and led his current team to a 27-21 win over the LSU Tigers, solidifying the No. 1 spot; the Tide were listed at -3.5.

Hot in pursuit of the Tide are the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the nation’s consensus No. 2 team.

The Red Raiders not only scored a quality 56-20 win against the No.9-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys they racked up an ATS win as a 3.5-point fave and won their 12th win SU in a row; Texas Tech hasn’t lost since November 10 of last year.
 

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