Sport: Fall Free-for-AII

For pro football oddsmakers—and many bettors—this has been a season of cruel and unusual punishment. The pain began in September, when such perennial powers as Miami, Dallas and Washington suffered multiple losses, while New England and St. Louis, those longtime door mats, tripped everyone in sight. Then, midway through the schedule, just as the experts were beginning to believe in the upstarts, the old guard reasserted itself, and a new set of misfits including Houston and Cleveland battered the betting line with upsets. By last week the N.F.L. was a bookie's nightmare; a...