Dallas Cowboys players were celebrating Saturday as “America’s Team” paid off for the money line players and punters in a 40-34 win 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 make money for moneyline bettors (-213 at FOX Bet).
Welcome to the world of absurd wins and bad beats in sports betting.
Each week, we’ll recap the betting plays where some people cashed in and others tore up their tickets in frustration. To paraphrase the famous broadcaster Al Michaels, “these works are important to some.”
Let’s dive into this week’s madness!
How about the Cowboys?
Dallas (11-4) remains in the hunt for the NFC East title thanks to a come-from-behind win over the Eagles (13-2).
Things looked bleak for ‘Boys’ supporters 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 punters who took the four points led 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 TY Hilton at the Eagles 19: third and 30!
CeeDee Lamb’s 7-yard touchdown catch tied the game.
The final three possessions for the Eagles ended with an interception, a fumble and a fumble.
The fumble – to running back Miles Sanders on the first play from scrimmage after Dallas took a 37-34 lead – gave the Cowboys the ball at the Philadelphia 21 with just over two minutes left.
Brett Maher kicked a 26-yard insurance field goal with 1:41 left to make it 40-34. “Insurance” often means bad news for bettors—in this case, Eagles moneyline bettors (+160, bet $10 to win $26 total) and those who won the four points, as the Cowboys won by six.
Don’t bet against the Vikings in a close game
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins likes to say, “You like that!”
You know who likes Cousins and the Vikings? NFL moneyline bettors.
The Vikings have their share of skeptics (and some stats back up that skepticism), but Cousins and his teammates improved to 12-3 straight (SU) with a last-second 27-24 victory over the New York Giants on Saturday, despite giving up the game-tying touchdown with two minutes left.
Minnesota improved to 11-0 in one-goal games this season, an NFL record. It’s no coincidence, as Minnesota tied an NFL record by playing in 14 one-score games last season.
A group of punters not so enamored of Minnesota are the ones playing the points. The Vikings are 6-8-1 against the spread (ATS) this season.
Is this skill or luck? Let the debate continue…
Bettors on the Vikings money line think Cousins has a lot to do with their unexpected bets.
The Giants scored a touchdown and the two-point conversion to tie the game at 24 with two minutes left.
The cousins took him from there, even though he looked dangerous 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 timeout with 19 seconds left.
Cousins completed a 17-yard pass to Justin Jefferson to the New York 42, then fumbled the ball with four seconds left.
Greg Joseph’s career 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), even though Minnesota has only outscored opponents by a combined five points this season. All other division leaders with a winning record outscore opponents by at least a combined 85 points.
do you like that
Every point counts
Talk to any sports bettor and they can tell you if you’ve lost a bet because of the hook (the half point attached to most points).
New England Patriots bettors who took 3.5 points against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday know the feeling.
Those punters suffered during the first half as Cincinnati led 22-0 at halftime. But New England rallied, scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to 22-18 as the Patriots lined up for the extra point that, as they say, was meaningful to some.
Patriots kicker Nick Folk missed the extra point, as punters took the 3.5-point loss by the narrowest of margins.
No betting story would be complete if it ended here, but more agony awaited Patriots backers.
After a Bengals fumble, the Patriots took over at the Cincinnati 43 with just over three minutes remaining. New England moved the ball and had first-and-goal from the 5-yard line with a minute left. But New England running back Rhamondre Stevenson lost a fumble, which was recovered by Cincinnati defensive tackle BJ Hill.
The Steelers punter makes a big payday
One punter was in agony for 59 minutes of the Las Vegas Raiders-Pittsburgh Steelers game on Saturday night.
Las Vegas never trailed for 59 minutes as this bettor was on the Steelers -2.5 points. The Raiders led 10-6 at the end of the fourth quarter, which meant the bet lost 12.5-6.
Pittsburgh took over at its own 24 with 2:55 left. 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 left.
Chris Boswell kicked the extra point in the cold weather (it was 14 degrees at the time), making it 13-10.
The punter covered (better late than never, right?). The bettor bet $550,000 to win $500,000.
Witch me!
There is a Twitter account that tracks the final score of NFL games and reports if it has happened before.
Since professional football has been around since 1920, most final results have been recorded.
But we had a Scorigami in the Bengals-Patriots game on Saturday (remember, a missed extra point affected things).
No word yet if anyone bet on this game ending 22-18.
A punter cashed out
But there was one bettor who was willing to put a fair amount of dough on the final score of the Giants-Vikings game. The bettor bet $200.64 on the Vikings to beat the Giants 27-24.
Who was happier than Cousins with the win? This bettor, who cashed in a whopping $10,032.
You like that!
Moneyline, Scattered Bettors Disappointed
While under bettors (58 combined points) had their feet up, moneyline and spread bettors were sweating the end of the Independence Bowl between the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and the Houston Cougars on Friday until the Louisiana’s defense forgot to play, uh, defense.
The game was tied at 16 in the fourth quarter, giving Ragin’ Cajuns (+7 and +205) bettors some hope.
That hope shone brighter when Louisiana drove down the field and had first-and-goal at the Houston 9. But the Ragin’ Cajuns lost a fumble at the 5-yard line with 8:32 left.
The teams traded punts and Houston took over at their own 8-yard line with 2:50 left. Then a couple of defensive lapses ruined the day for the Ragin’ Cajun punters.
First, Louisiana allowed Houston QB Clayton Tune to rush for 33 yards. After an incompletion, the Cougars were called for holding on back-to-back plays, giving Houston first-and-30 from its own 21-yard line.
The Louisiana secondary then inexplicably allowed wide receiver KeSean Carter to get behind the defense for a 41-yard catch and run to the Louisiana 38.
To add to the agony of Louisiana moneyline bettors, Houston ran two plays later … but the Cougars rallied.
Louisiana never contained Tune again as he ran for 15 yards. Tune then completed a 12-yard TD pass to Nathaniel Dell for the TD.
Ragin’ Cajun punters who took the points still had hope, but that was dashed when Houston kicked the extra point. So the punters on both sides who played the points got the dreaded nudge: nobody wins, so nobody’s happy.
To add to the misery of Ragin’ Cajun punters, Louisiana took over with great field position at their 41, but was sacked and recovered the fumble, then threw an interception to end the game at 23-16 .
Stay tuned for more madness!
And if you want to join in the fun (or madness), head over to FOX Bet for all your betting.
Download the FOX Super 6 app for a chance to win thousands of dollars on the biggest sporting events every week! Just choose your picks and you could win the grand prize. Download and play today!
Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites for information on games, news and more