On a night in which one U.S. sports book lost more than $1 million when Shohei Ohtani was named the unanimous American League MVP, bettors that took a chance on the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl at long odds were dreaming of a chance to cash in.

Ohtani opened at 60-to-1 to win AL MVP back in February.

In March, one bettor wagered $30,000 on Ohtani to win AL MVP at 30-to-1 odds.

Fast-forward to the end of the season, and Ohtani closed as the overwhelming favourite to win AL MVP at -10000.

While the numbers paid out on the Ohtani to win MVP prop are unprecedented, that story has only fueled the conversation surrounding whether we will see a long shot win the Super Bowl this season. 

The Patriots have been a popular bet over the past five weeks, and their futures were on the move once again following an impressive blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Friday Nov. 19, 2021.

 

Patriots Shut Down Falcons

The Patriots shut out the Falcons 25-0 as a seven-point favourite on Thursday Night Football.

The total stayed well under 47.5.

Mac Jones went 22-of-26 for 207 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

He has a total of eight incompletions over his last two games combined.

Meanwhile, the New England defence recorded a shutout for the third season in a row, holding Matt Ryan to 19-of-28 for 153 yards and two interceptions.

The Patriots also intercepted Josh Rosen and Feleipe Franks, as Atlanta became the first team since the Los Angeles Chargers in 2000 to have three different quarterbacks intercepted in the same game.

Did I mention that the Falcons passed on the quarterback that beat them in this year’s draft?

New England has now won five straight games by a combined 175-50 margin.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, that +125 point differential is the second-best over a five-game span for a team with a rookie quarterback since 1950.  

As highlighted in Thursday’s column, the Patriots’ futures continue to move.

New England could be found as high as 100-to-1 to win the Super Bowl following its 2-4 start.

Entering Thursday Night Football, they were +2700 to win it all.

After clinching their fifth straight victory to improve to 7-4, the Patriots are now +1700 to win the Super Bowl.

That’s a remarkable shift for a five-week stretch.

Here’s some other futures movement to consider.

New England went from +4000 to win the AFC Championship entering Week 7 to +850 this morning.

The Patriots also went from +1100 to win the AFC East to +270.

New England still has both games against the Buffalo Bills on its schedule, as well as games against the Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Miami Dolphins.

Regardless of what you think about their chances to win it all at this point, there’s no doubt now that the Patriots are better than a 100-to-1 long shot.

 

Ohtani Named Unanimous AL MVP

After an unprecedented season, Ohtani became just the fifth player since 2000 to win the MVP unanimously.

Ohtani is also just the ninth player in MLB history to win MVP on a sub-.500 team.

Three of those nine MVP awards handed out to players on sub-.500 teams have gone to the Los Angeles Angels over the past six years, with Trout winning the other two.

Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finished second after hitting 48 home runs, which are the most by a player 22-years-old or younger in a single season in MLB history.

Guerrero finished the season at +1500 to win MVP, which is a testament to Ohtani being the overwhelming favourite.

Fellow Blue Jay Marcus Semien finished third.

Bryce Harper was named the National League MVP award winner.

 

NHL Favourites Sweep The Board

NHL favourites went a combined 11-0 on Thursday night.

Three of them needed a shootout to get the job done.

Six of the 11 favourites covered the puck line.

Jacob Markstrom stopped all 27 shots he faced for his league-leading fifth shutout of the season as the Calgary Flames (-200) blanked the Buffalo Sabres 5-0 as the biggest favourite on the board.

Morgan Rielly scored twice as the Toronto Maple Leafs (-192) beat the New York Rangers 2-1.

Toronto has won 10 of its last 11 overall.

Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the season as the Pittsburgh Penguins (-164) beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-0.

Montreal has lost four straight and seven of its last eight.

Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers snapped their slide against the Winnipeg Jets with a 2-1 win in a shootout.

The Oilers (-150) had dropped five in a row versus Winnipeg dating back to last year’s first-round playoff sweep before prevailing in the shootout last night.

Oh, and Connor McDavid did it again.

 

Curry Sparks Warriors Comeback

Stephen Curry scored 20 of his game-high 40 points in the 4th quarter as the Golden State Warriors rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-89.

The Warriors trailed Cleveland by 13 points entering the final frame.

They outscored the Cavaliers 36-8 in the 4th quarter to win and cover as a 9.5-point favourite.

Curry was +1200 to score 40+ points.

It was another check mark on Curry’s early season MVP resume.

Curry, who opened as the fifth choice to win the MVP at +800, is now the favourite to win that award at +200.