NFL odds Week 6: Wacky wins and bad beats
A "smart" football play may have caused heartache for NFL bettors on Sunday.
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 wackiness in the NFL and college football!
Over bettors not happy with smart play
The New York Giants, powered by an interception and lost fumble committed by Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson in the final three minutes, rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Ravens 24-20 on Sunday.
But the win was of little satisfaction to Over bettors as the total was set to 46.5 (combined points scored by both teams).
After intercepting Jackson, the Ravens took a four-point lead on Saquon Barkley's 1-yard touchdown run with 1:43 to go (on the previous play, Baltimore cornerback Marcus Peters was called for pass interference in the end zone, nullifying his apparent interception).
After an incompletion following the kickoff, Jackson was sacked and fumbled, and the Giants recovered at the Baltimore 13-yard line.
On the ensuing play, Barkley broke outside but slid down at the Baltimore 2-yard line instead of scoring a touchdown. The Giants then went on to take a knee on the final two plays.
Final combined points scored: 44. OUCH!
Lots of passes, no TDs
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert did something that hasn't been done in the NFL in 31 years, and it was bad news for some bettors.
Herbert became the second QB since 1950 with at least 55 pass attempts and no touchdown passes in a win (Warren Moon of the Oilers in 1991 was the other).
Herbert was 37-for-57 passing (64.9%) for 238 yards, one interception and a 66.3 passer rating in the 19-16 overtime win over the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. Herbert joins Arizona's Kyler Murray to throw at least 57 passes with no touchdown passes this season – the previous time that happened was 2005 (Brett Favre).
Prior to the game, a betting site boosted their odds from -800 (bet $10 to win $11.25 total) to +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total) on Herbert throwing a TD pass against the Broncos.
Seemed like a sure thing as Herbert had thrown a TD pass in 36 of his 37 career starts.
Herbert didn't throw a TD pass for the first time in 30 games.
This shows the books know a sure thing – there's no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to sports betting.
Chase crushes Saints backers
Fans in Louisiana who used to cheer for Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase when they played for the LSU Tigers were not happy with their performance for the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The New Orleans Saints (+3) led the Bengals by five points with 11 minutes to go and two points with just over two minutes left.
Cincinnati's Evan McPherson kicked a 52-yard field goal with 3:42 to go to cut the Bengals deficit to 26-24.
The Saints went three-and-out, then punter Blake Gillikin shanked a punt 29 yards out of bounds, giving the Bengals the ball at their own 40 with about two minutes to go.
Burrow connected with Chase for a 60-yard catch-and-run for the go-ahead touchdown. Cincinnati failed on the two-point conversion, but that was of little consolation to Saints backers, who took the three points.
Final: Bengals 30, Saints 26
Colts cash in late
The Jacksonville Jaguars (+2) led the Indianapolis Colts after Christian Kirk's touchdown catch with 2:44 to go. The Jaguars missed the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, which would've pushed their lead to three points (five if you had the points).
The Colts then put together an 11-play drive, culminating in Alec Pierce's 32-yard touchdown catch with 17 seconds remaining to make it 32-27. Indianapolis converted the two-point conversion for a 34-27 final score.
Big kick
NFL fans applauded Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who kicked a 62-yard field goal at the end of the first half against the Buffalo Bills.
It was the longest successful field goal in the NFL this season, a Chiefs team record and the 13th successful kick from 62 yards or longer in NFL history.
It also paid off for bettor who had the Chiefs +1.5 in the first half. Butker's kick tied the game 10-10 at halftime.
What made Butker's kick more impressive was it was his first game back after missing four games with an ankle injury.
Adding more agony to Bills first-half bettors was how little time it took the Chiefs to get in position to try the long field goal.
The Chiefs had the ball at their own 28-yard line with 12 seconds left in the second quarter. Taking a knee to go into halftime down 10-7 was a possibility.
Instead, the Chiefs completed two passes for a total of 28 yards to get to the Buffalo 44, setting up Butker's kick with one second remaining in the half.
Thursday night Bad Beat
The week got off to a bad start for Chicago Bears moneyline bettors against the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football.
Trailing 12-7, Bears quarterback Justin Fields scrambled 39 yards to the Commanders' 5-yard line with 39 seconds to go.
A 1-yard run and two incompletions gave the Bears fourth-and-goal from the 4.
Fields completed a pass to Darnell Mooney, who was tackled just shy of the goal line by Benjamin St.-Juste. The bobble by Mooney denied Bears moneyline bettors (+100, bet $10 to win $20).
Fumble proves costly
A college football bettor came THIS CLOSE to cashing a $25 five-team parlay (+1005) playing all betting favorites.
The bettor missed on the Iowa State-Texas Over on the Over/Under (45.5, -164) as the teams combined for 45 points (the Longhorns won, 24-21).
The Cyclones were driving for a potential game-tying field goal or winning touchdown, but Iowa State lost a fumble at the Texas 28-yard line with two minutes to go.
The bettor would've profited $251.25.
Every yard counts
On Saturday, a bettor made a six-leg in-game parlay for the LSU-Florida SEC game.
The bettor hit five legs of the parlay.
The sixth leg was Florida's Montrell Johnson Jr. rushing for more than 57.5 yards.
Johnson finished with 57 yards on a team-high 13 carries in the 45-35 loss to the Tigers.
Johnson's final carry of the game? A 5-yard loss with 1:17 to go, knocking his rushing total from 62 yards to 57.
The bettor wagered $10 at +5661, which would've made the wagerer a $566.10 profit.
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.
Download the FOX Super 6 app for your chance to win thousands of dollars on the biggest sporting events each and every week! Just make your picks and you could win the grand prize. Download and play today!