NFL odds Week 16: Wacky wins and bad beats

Dallas Cowboys bettors were celebrating Saturday as “America’s Team” paid off for moneyline gamblers and those laying the points in a 40-34 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.

The Cowboys rallied from a 20-17 halftime deficit to cover the four points (closing line), as well as cash in for moneyline bettors (-213 at FOX Bet).

Welcome to the world of wacky wins and bad beats in sports betting.

Each week, we’ll recap the betting plays that had some people cashing in and others tearing up their tickets in frustration. To paraphrase famed broadcaster Al Michaels, “those plays are significant to some.”

Let’s dive into this week’s craziness!

How ’bout them Cowboys?

Dallas (11-4) remains in the hunt for the NFC East Division title, thanks to a come-from-behind win over the Eagles (13-2).

Things looked bleak for ‘Boys backers, as Philadelphia, playing without injured starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, led at halftime.

The Eagles took a 34-27 lead five minutes into the fourth quarter (Philadelphia bettors who took the four points were ahead by 11) before the Cowboys roared back.

Dallas tied the game thanks to a costly breakdown by Philadelphia’s defense. On third-and-30 from the Dallas 29-yard line, Dak Prescott completed a 52-yard pass to T.Y. Hilton to the Eagles 19 — third-and-30!

CeeDee Lamb’s 7-yard touchdown catch then tied the game.

The final three possessions for the Eagles ended in an interception, fumble and turnover on downs.

The fumble — by running back Miles Sanders on the first play from scrimmage after Dallas took a 37-34 lead — gave the Cowboys the ball at Philadelphia’s 21 with just over two minutes to go.

Brett Maher kicked an insurance 26-yard field with 1:41 to go to make it 40-34. “Insurance” often means bad news to bettors — in this case, Eagles moneyline bettors (+160, bet $10 to win $26 total) and those who took the four points, as the Cowboys won by six. 

Don’t bet against Vikings in a close game

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is fond of saying, “You like that!”

You know who likes Cousins and the Vikings? NFL moneyline bettors.

The Vikings have their share of skeptics (and some statistics back up that skepticism), but Cousins and his teammates improved to 12-3 straight up (SU) with a last-second 27-24 win over the New York Giants on Saturday, despite giving up the tying touchdown with two minutes to go.

Minnesota improved to 11-0 in one-score games this season, an NFL record. It’s not a fluke, as Minnesota tied an NFL record by playing in 14 one-score games last season. 

A group of bettors not as enamored with Minnesota are those who play the points. The Vikings are 6-8-1 against the spread (ATS) this season.

Is that skill or luck? Let the debate continue …

Vikings moneyline bettors think Cousins has a lot to do with their betting windfall.

The Giants scored a touchdown and the two-point conversion to tie the game at 24 with two minutes to go.

Cousins took it from there, though it looked dicey at one point.

On second-and-4 from the Minnesota 48, Cousins was sacked for a 7-yard loss and had to take his final time out with 19 seconds left.

Cousins completed a 17-yard pass to Justin Jefferson to New York’s 42, then spiked the ball with four seconds left.

Greg Joseph’s career-long field goal was 56 yards.

Now, it’s 61 yards, tied for 15th-longest in NFL history. Joseph drilled the kick with room to spare to set a Vikings record.

It gave Vikings moneyline bettors another winning ticket (-227, bet $10 to win $14.41 total), despite Minnesota only outscoring opponents by a combined five points this season. Every other division leader with a winning record is outscoring opponents by at least 85 combined points.

You like that?  

Every point counts

Talk to any sports bettor, and they can tell you about losing a bet because of the hook (the half-point attached to most point spreads).

New England Patriots bettors who took the 3.5 points against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday know the feeling.

Those bettors suffered through the first half, as Cincinnati led 22-0 at halftime. But New England rallied, scoring touchdowns on consecutive possessions to cut the score to 22-18, as the Patriots lined up for the extra point that was, as they like to say, significant to some.

Patriots kicker Nick Folk missed the extra point, as bettors who took the 3.5 points lost by the slimmest of margins.

No betting story would be complete if it ended there, but more agony awaited Patriots backers.

After a Bengals fumble, the Patriots took over at the Cincinnati 43 with just over three minutes left. New England moved the ball and had first-and-goal from the 5-yard line with a minute to go. But New England running back Rhamondre Stevenson lost a fumble, which was recovered by Cincinnati defensive tackle B.J. Hill.

Steelers bettor sweats big payday

One bettor was in agony for 59 minutes of the Las Vegas Raiders-Pittsburgh Steelers game Saturday night.

Las Vegas never trailed for 59 minutes as this bettor was on the Steelers -2.5 points. The Raiders led 10-6 late in the fourth quarter, which meant the bettor was down 12.5-6.

Pittsburgh took over at its own 24 with 2:55 to go. The Steelers marched down the field, converting a fourth and 1 from the Las Vegas 15 with 55 seconds left.

Quarterback Kenny Pickett then took advantage of Las Vegas leaving the middle of the field open, completing a 14-yard TD pass to George Pickens with 46 seconds to go.

Chris Boswell kicked the extra point in the frigid weather (it was 14 degrees at the time), making the score 13-10.

The bettor covered (better late than never, right?). The bettor wagered $550,000 to profit a cool $500K.

Scorigami!

There’s a Twitter account that tracks the final score of NFL games and reports if it’s happened before.

Since pro football has been around since 1920, most final scores have been recorded.

But we had a Scorigami on Saturday in the Bengals-Patriots game (remember, a missed extra point affected things).

No word yet if someone bet on that game finishing 22-18.

One bettor did cash in

But there was one bettor who was willing to put down a decent amount of dough on the final score of the Giants-Vikings game. The bettor wagered $200.64 on the Vikings to beat the Giants 27-24.

Who was happier than Cousins with the victory? This bettor, who collected a cool $10,032.

You like that!

Moneyline, spread bettors disappointed

While Under (58 combined points) bettors had their feet up, moneyline and spread bettors were sweating out the finish of the Independence Bowl between the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and Houston Cougars on Friday until Louisiana’s defense forgot to play, uh, defense.

The game was tied at 16 in the fourth quarter, giving Ragin’ Cajuns bettors (+7 and +205 moneyline) some hope.

That hope shined brighter as Louisiana drove down the field and had first-and-goal from the Houston 9. But the Ragin’ Cajuns lost a fumble at the 5-yard line with 8:32 to go.

The teams traded punts, and Houston took over at its 8-yard line with 2:50 to go. Then a couple of defensive lapses ruined the day for Ragin’ Cajun moneyline bettors.

First, Louisiana allowed Houston QB Clayton Tune to run for 33 yards. After an incompletion, the Cougars got called for holding on consecutive non-plays, giving Houston first-and-30 from its 21-yard line.

Then the Louisiana secondary inexplicably allowed receiver KeSean Carter to get behind the defense for a 41-yard catch and run to the Louisiana 38.

To add to the agony for Louisiana moneyline bettors, Houston fumbled two plays later … but the Cougars recovered.

Louisiana failed to contain Tune again, as he ran for 15 yards. Tune then completed a 12-yard TD pass to Nathaniel Dell for the go-ahead TD.

Ragin’ Cajun bettors who took the points still had hope, but that was dashed when Houston kicked the extra point. So bettors on both sides who played the points got the dreaded push — nobody wins, so nobody is happy.

To add to the misery for Ragin’ Cajun bettors, Louisiana took over with great field position at its 41 but got sacked and recovered the fumble, then threw an interception to end the game at 23-16.

Stay tuned for more of the wackiness!

And if you want to join in on the fun (or madness), head over to FOX Bet for all your wagers.

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