The Buffalo Bills ended the longest playoff drought in American major pro sports Sunday in miraculous fashion.
Betting
Norman Freedman is 83 but vividly recalled details of a bad beat he suffered 40 years ago, when Earl “The Pearl” Monroe mysteriously turned his apparent $2,000 win into a $100 loss.
Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore came up with an interception of Matt Ryan late in the first half of New Orleans’ 23-13 win over Atlanta on Sunday when a deflected pass came to rest on his backside as he lay facedown on the field.
Most avid sports bettors and poker players can write a book on bad beats. It would be a tragicomedy about the most agonizing losses of their gambling lives that double as miracle wins for other bettors.
New England, which closed as a 3-point favorite at MGM Resorts sports books and a 2½-point favorite at most other books, escaped with the win and drove a stake through the hearts and wallets of most Pittsburgh backers, including one high roller in particular.
Philadelphia’s odds to win Super Bowl LII were moved from 4-1 to 10-1 in the wake of quarterback Carson Wentz’s knee injury.
The Crimson Tide is a 1½-point favorite over Clemson, which upset Alabama 35-31 in last season’s national championship to avenge a 45-40 loss to the Tide in the 2016 title game.
The Eagles, Patriots and Falcons all covered double-digit spreads and the Panthers delivered a last-minute cover as favorites went 9-3 against the spread Sunday and Las Vegas sports books were thrown for a loss.
The other lesson we learned was that it’s better to be called a square than a loser.
If not for a pair of great escapes by Atlanta (4-4) in wins at Chicago and Detroit, its season could be classified a disaster.
Perpetually dour-looking Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s trademark blank facial expression can double as his Halloween mask.
After a NFL Week 6 dominated by underdogs and Las Vegas sports books, the betting public bounced back a bit in Week 7, when Sunday favorites went 8-3-2 ATS.
Steelers quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger was picked off four times in the second half and two were returned for touchdowns as Jacksonville burned the betting public in the best decision of the day for Las Vegas sports books.
While we tore up our two-team teaser on Atlanta and New England over a plate of cold nachos, a CG Technology bettor cashed a $2,000 two-team money-line parlay on the Bills (plus-340) and Panthers (plus-400) that paid $42,000.
Atlanta escaped with a 30-26 win and cover when Matthew Stafford’s apparent winning touchdown pass to Golden Tate was overturned to end the game.