Public hammering the Packers as Thursday night kickoff approaches

Week 7 of the NFL season kicks off tonight at historic Lambeau Field. Covers talks about where the action is with Tony Miller, sportsbook director at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas, and with an oddsmaker for offshore sportsbook BetNow.com.

Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay have been sputtering of late, particularly last week in a 30-16 home loss to Dallas as a 5-point favorite. That left the Packers with a record of 3-2 SU and 2-2-1 ATS, lagging behind the undefeated Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North.

The Packers will look to get back on track against fellow division rival Chicago (1-5 SU and ATS). The Bears gave up a late long touchdown pass to Jacksonville in a 17-16 Week 6 loss as a 2.5-point home chalk.

The line dropped 1.5 points from Monday’s opener of -9. But today, hours before kickoff, Green Bay backers were flowing in.

“We’re at 7.5, but ready to go to 8 really soon if we keep getting money on the Pack,” Miller said early this afternoon. “I’m getting no money whatsoever on the Bears. Nothing on the total, nothing on the moneyline, just all Packers side bets right now. The ticket count is 5/1 on the Packers.”

And the pros were staying away from either side at 7.5.

“It’s all public. No sharp money right now. I tend to think if I go to 8, sharps might buy it back to 7.5.”

A short time later, Miller indeed moved the Golden Nugget’s line to 8, and it did draw some Bears action to bring it back to 7.5.

At BetNow, the line was also at -7.5 this afternoon, with a price of -105.

“On straight bets, the action is all over the Packers,” BetNow’s oddsmaker said. “On parlays and teasers, the action is on the Packers and the game to go over the total.”

Although the total has dropped from the opener of 47 to 46, BetNow is currently seeing more action on the over.

Green Bay has dominated this rivalry in recent years, going 8-2 SU and ATS in the last 10 clashes, all as the favorite. But the Bears pulled the outright upset at Lambeau last year, 17-13 as a 7.5-point underdog.