Young’s status doesn’t shake spread

NFL betting lines are normally affected whenever there’s a question about an injury to a key player. But that has not been true for today’s game between the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans.

Although the status of Titans quarterback Vince Young has been uncertain throughout the week, Tennessee (3-2) has remained a 1 1/2 -point favorite over host Houston (3-3) since the line opened Monday.

There’s no denying Young’s importance to the Titans. Before he suffered a strained right quadriceps in Tennessee’s 13-10 loss against Tampa Bay last week, Young had helped lead the Titans to wins in nine of their previous 11 games.

But even with Young, who was limited in practice last week, backed up by Kerry Collins, who struggled against the Buccaneers last week, the spread has remained steady.

The result has turned out to create nearly even betting on the game. According to Sportsbook.com’s betting trend, there has been nearly even in support for both teams this week and Wagerline.com has the Titans with a slight edge at 50.2%

Two interesting side notes notice for the game: The Titans are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games as favorite, and the Texans are 4-0 against the spread in their last four games as an underdog.

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When it comes to betting action, the Oakland Raiders (2-3) are always a player and today’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs (3-3) is a perfect example.

The Raiders are three-point home favorites with a 37 1/2 -point over-under. Certainly, not the type of marquee game like Pittsburgh at Denver or Indianapolis at Jacksonville.

But that has not stopped the game from attracting a ton of action. According to Wagerline.com, the Raiders versus Chiefs has ranked among the top games in betting volume.

Kansas City has been the pick for bettors, getting 80% of the action on bets against the spread and 92% of the money wagers, according to Sportsbook.com’s betting trend.

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According to Sportsbetting.com’s money trend this week, the over for the Pittsburgh-Denver game has received 85% of the action with the over-under at 39. The over-under for Seattle-St. Louis is 40 with the under picking up 80% of the bets.

Hockey

The NHL season is less than a month old but a few teams have emerged as strong players against the spread, led by Ottawa, Minnesota, St. Louis and Philadelphia.

Before the start of play this weekend, the Senators were 7-1 against the spread, followed by the Wild and Flyers at 5-1 and Blues at 4-1.

The best bet for over-under? Colorado. The over is 4-0 in four games when the Avalanche has played at home.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com