NFL odds: Wacky wins, bad beats; Late field goal helps Jags cover vs. Chiefs

Updated Jan. 23, 2023 2:36 p.m. ET

Have you heard of the Cover 2 defense?

Jacksonville's Doug Pederson should be known as the NFL's postseason cover coach.

Heading into Saturday's game between Pederson's Jaguars and the Kansas City Chiefs, Pederson was 6-0 against the spread (ATS) as an underdog head coach in the playoffs.

You can now make that 7-0, as the Jaguars (+9.5 at FOX Bet) covered in their 27-20 loss to the Chiefs in an AFC divisional round game in Kansas City.

But it took a field goal with 25 seconds to go that was, as famed broadcaster Al Michaels likes to say, "significant to some."

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. 

Let's dive into this week's craziness!

Divisional 'dogs bark again

Bettors who played the 9.5 points on either side sweated out some big swings in emotion on Saturday.

The Chiefs pushed their lead to 27-17 midway through the fourth quarter, and Jaguars backers who took the points were getting nervous, as Jacksonville's next two drives ended with a fumble and interception, both in Chiefs territory.

The fumble was especially costly to Jacksonville backers. Jamal Agnew caught a short pass but lost a fumble at the Chiefs' 3-yard line with just over minutes to go.

Things looked bleak for Jaguars backers when Kansas City's Jaylen Watson intercepted a pass at the Chiefs' 30 with just under four minutes to go. But Kansas City managed just one first down and punted with just over a minute to go.

Jacksonville started at its 33 but picked up first downs on its first two plays with gains of 11 and 21 yards.

The Jaguars faced fourth-and-5 from the Chiefs' 30 with about 30 seconds to go, and then it was decision time: Should Jacksonville go for it and try to score a touchdown?

Nope, Pederson elected to kick a field goal to make it a one-score game. Riley Patterson delivered, making a 48-yard field goal with 25 seconds to go. 

That field goal cut Kansas City's lead to 27-20. When the Chiefs recovered the onside kick, Jaguars +9.5 bettors had the backdoor cover. 

A bad beat for some (Chiefs bettors) and a wacky win for others (Jags bettors). Those are the breaks of the game.

The underdog Jaguars covering in the weekend's first game wasn't a surprise, as it continued a trend since 2003, tweeted BetMGM Data Analyst John Ewing.

One gambler who played an alternate line cashed in on a $500,000 bet.

Because of that wager and other action, the outcome was a rough start to the weekend for some of the sportsbooks.

Maher misses again

Dallas kicker Brett Maher became a household name (well, in betting households, at least) after he missed four extra points in the 31-14 win over Tampa Bay in the Super Wild Card Weekend game on Monday.

That led to sportsbooks offering wagers on Maher's extra-point attempts for Sunday's divisional-round game against San Francisco.

Books offered odds as high as +500 if the Cowboys kicker missed against the 49ers and -700 (bet $10 to win $1.43) if he made them all.

And then it happened. Samson Ebukam blocked Maher's first extra-point attempt against the 49ers. 

Maher has missed five extra points over the past two playoff games, the second-most in a postseason career in NFL history. Retired Steelers kicker Roy Gerela missed six in 43 attempts over 15 playoff games in the 1970s.

Of course, at least one bettor put down a sizable amount on a Maher miss.

Maher did redeem himself with a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Arguably America's most famous bettor, Jim McIngvale (aka "Mattress Mack"), lost a sizable sum on the Cowboys … and he was not happy about it.

A Cowboy paid off for one bettor

One of the huge payouts in the betting world was a bettor placed a $5, four-way parlay on the first touchdown scorer in each of the four games this weekend.

The bettor hit the first three – Kansas City's Travis Kelce, Philadelphia's Dallas Goedert and Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase.

With Dallas tight end Dalton Schultz as his final player, the bettor received a cash-out offer.

The bettor let it ride and Schultz – who had the longest odds (+1500) of the four players – scored the game's first TD midway through the second quarter.

The bettor collected a cool $72,795 profit. On a $5 wager.

Well done, sir!

Another bettor – at DraftKings – placed $10 on the same parlay and paid $185,640. 

Great (betting) minds think alike …

Bengals-Bills a split for books

Cincinnati cruising past Buffalo 27-10 in an AFC divisional game Sunday was good and bad for the books, per John Ewing of BetMGM.

The books also benefited from Buffalo's ouster, as the Bills were popular with bettors prior to the season to win Super Bowl LVII. They were the betting favorites at FOX Bet after the opening weekend (+450).

Great Scott!

Bettors who did their research just knew Philadelphia running back Boston Scott would score a touchdown against the New York Giants.

Scott scored on a 3-yard run midway through the second quarter, as he (+325 to score an anytime TD at FOX Bet) was the most bet on player to score a TD at several sportsbooks. 

Scott has scored a TD in all nine of his games against the Giants, and 57.9% of his career touchdowns have come against the G-Men.

Late TD pays off

One side benefit of a blowout game is bettors can cash in on unheralded player bets.

With the Eagles counting down the seconds in their win over the Giants, Kenneth Gainwell anytime TD bettors (+380) cashed in when he scored on a 35-yard run with 1:51 to go. Gainwell had 53 carries for 240 yards and four TDs during the regular season.

On the other hand, bettors who were on an anytime TD by New York's Richie James (+350) will see this play in their nightmares.

Gainwell pays well

At least one bettor was rejoicing when Gainwell scored his TD during the blowout. His TD cashed a $25 four-way parlay at +100000 — Jalen Hurts, Goedert, Scott and Gainwell each scoring a TD.

The bettor collected a cool $25,000 profit.

Odds and ends

The books cleaned up as the Eagles kept Giants QB Daniel Jones in check. Jones finished with 24 rushing yards, well below the Over/Under (O/U) of 42.5.

While Giants fans are licking their wounds after being eliminated, Giants Under bettors are counting their cash. New York is 34-16-2 hitting the Under since 2020, the best in the NFL.

Big payoff in hoops

Underdog moneyline bettors in men's college basketball had a nice weekend.

First, No. 14 TCU (+275) won at No. 2 Kansas 83-60 on Saturday.

Then, unranked Temple (+1600) won at No. 1 Houston 56-55 on Sunday, the first win over the top-ranked team in 23 years for the Owls.

It's the first time the top two teams in the Associated Press poll lost at home in a two-day span.

The Owls (+19) posted the largest win over the No. 1 team since Stephen F. Austin (+27.5) shocked Duke 85-83 as a 27.5-point underdog in 2019.

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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