The Week After Monday Night Madness

    Doesn’t everybody love Monday Night football? Sure, it’s a big week for bettors, as it’s the only game on the docket. It’s big business for bookmakers, fans, and even restaurants an extra boost on Monday evenings during the football season. Everyone loves Monday Night Football, except maybe the participants on the field.

   Bettors need to keep in mind that the travel and preparation time can be grueling with respects to the next game. Coaches and players have one less day to break down game film of next week’s opponent, to put in new plays, or for athletes to rest nagging injuries. The extra day of preparation can be the difference between winning and losing.

    It can also be a great spot to bet against a team coming off of a Monday night game. How about that Dallas Cowboy win over Buffalo, a 25-24 miracle comeback on Monday night? It was probably the wildest finisher ever for a Monday night event. Dallas was dead, it seemed, but scored 9 points in the final 20 seconds to shock the Bills.

  Dallas came home the following Sunday and hosted the Patriots. The defense then had its worst performance of the season, giving up 48 points in a blowout loss. They failed to get the cover, as well. This is a classic case of teams with too little time to prepare, combined with coming off of a big win on national TV, and all the normal difficulties sports teams have to put up with going on the road.

     Road travel is tough. Players have to sleep and practice in unfamiliar locations, and sometimes even change time zones. This can affect an athlete’s sleeping, eating and practice habits, and since athletes make their living by having their bodies in tip-top shape, any change like this can affect that athlete’s performance.

    On top of that, the team is coming off of a Monday night battle. There is so much more exposure on a Monday night game that it can be very different than playing on Sunday. There are extra pre-game interviews, the game is broadcast on national TV and all football fans are watching, as it’s the only game that day. The likelihood of a team having a letdown is greater after a Monday night game than other games during the season.

  The Ravens got beat in September on Monday night football at Cincinnati in two ways. They got beat on the scoreboard and lost a lot of players to injuries. The next week they came home, on short rest, and failed to cover in a close win over a bad NY Jets team.

 The most difficult situation is playing on Monday night and then playing on the ROAD the next week. Speaking of the Bengals, that’s just what happened to them after beating Baltimore. They went on the road, on short rest, to Cleveland the next week. As a road favorite they gave up 51 points in a loss!  Don’t be afraid to back underdogs when they’re playing a team coming off of a Monday night game. If the circumstances fall into place, those dogs can pack quite a bite against a weary opponent off a Monday night game.