Top 10 most memorable betting moments of a wild NFL regular season

A fast-talking gambling man, Pete Carroll was on a roll. Everything was going his way, and he was playing with house money.

The Seattle Seahawks were up 10 points in the fourth quarter and closing in on a second straight Super Bowl win. Their coach was loose and smiling on the sideline. Carroll was feeling it. You could see it.

“I don’t think you could have asked for a more exciting finish,” Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito said.

The life of a gambler is not always easy. Luck can turn in the blink of an eye. In the words of Kenny Rogers, you never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.

And know when to run.

Carroll’s play-calling gamble backfired. With three plays and a timeout in his pocket in the final minute Sunday, Carroll decided not to run Marshawn Lynch from the 1-yard line. Russell Wilson’s pass over the middle into traffic was intercepted, and the Seahawks’ luck ran out.

Tom Brady’s legacy changed in an instant. Brady passed for four touchdowns — two in the final eight minutes — in the New England Patriots’ 28-24 comeback victory. It was Brady’s fourth title. Carroll will be second-guessed for years.

The first pick’em game in Super Bowl history was a classic, closing the book on another wild NFL season.

Looking ahead to the next one — the 50th Super Bowl — New England and Seattle are 5-1 co-favorites at the Westgate Las Vegas book, followed by conference championship game losers Green Bay (7-1) and Indianapolis (10-1). At Station Casinos, the Seahawks are 5-1 favorites, followed by the Patriots and Packers at 6-1.

“I’m going to say it a million times — it’s really tough to repeat in that league,” Esposito said. “It’s going to be tough for the Patriots to repeat, and I like the Packers. I still think Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the league right now.”

Dallas and Denver are tied for the fifth choice, each at 14-1 odds. The Broncos were a bust, but they could make one more run if Peyton Manning is healthy enough to return, as expected.

In honor of David Letterman, who is retiring, here’s a top-10 list of the regular season’s most memorable betting moments:

10. In his first start, rookie Johnny Manziel was belittled by the Cincinnati Bengals. Cleveland closed as a 2-point home favorite in Week 15, but the Browns were embarrassed 30-0 as Manziel passed for 80 yards and was intercepted twice.

9. It seemed impossible, but the New York Giants pulled it off in Week 13. The Giants coughed up a 21-0 lead against Jacksonville. Eli Manning beat Brady in two Super Bowl comebacks, but the Giants, 3-point favorites, fell apart in a 25-24 loss to the Jaguars.

8. The Browns opened as 1½-point underdogs and closed as 1-point favorites at Tennessee in Week 5. The Titans led 28-3 before Brian Hoyer led Cleveland to the biggest comeback in NFL history by a road team. Hoyer’s 6-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 to play capped the Browns’ 29-28 win.

7. For the second year in a row, the NFC North title was on the line in Week 17. For the second year in a row, Rodgers delivered a win and cover for the Packers. An 8-point favorite, Green Bay led 14-0 when Rodgers limped off with a calf injury in the second quarter. Rodgers made a dramatic return, emerging from a Lambeau Field tunnel back onto the frozen tundra in the third quarter with the score tied at 14, and the Packers defeated Detroit 30-20.

6. New Orleans’ 11-game home win streak was stopped in Week 10. The Saints, 5½-point favorites, appeared to win 30-24 when Drew Brees hit Jimmy Graham for a 47-yard touchdown as time expired. But Graham pushed off 49ers cornerback Perrish Cox, who flopped, before hauling in the Hail Mary, drawing a debatable offensive pass-interference penalty. Brees lost a fumble in overtime, and the 49ers won 27-24.

5. The books and the New York Jets suffered a brutal beat in Week 6. Denver, a 10-point favorite, led 24-17 when Geno Smith was sacked for an apparent safety with 50 seconds left. NFL officials work in mysterious ways, and the ball was spotted at the 1-yard line. On the next play, Smith threw a pick-six to Aqib Talib, and the Broncos won 31-17. To top it off, the score went over the total of 47½.

4. Also in Week 6, Dallas dominated the defending Super Bowl champions in Seattle. The Seahawks, bet from 8- to 10-point favorites, led 10-0 before Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray carried the Cowboys to an eye-opening 30-23 upset.

3. Off a 41-14 loss in Kansas City, the Patriots looked hopeless, and the media all but retired Brady. On a Sunday night in Week 5, public and sharp bettors lined up behind the Bengals as 2½-point favorites at New England. Of course, Brady buried the critics in a 43-17 win.

2. Rodgers and Brady each passed for two touchdowns, and the Packers covered as 3-point favorites in a 26-21 victory over the Patriots. It was the end of November, and it looked like a Super Bowl preview.

1. Orchestrating a wild, odds-defying comeback was no problem for Manning in a Super Bowl rematch in Week 3. But he lost the coin toss, a costly mistake for the Broncos. Seattle, a 5-point home favorite, drove 80 yards in overtime to beat Denver 26-20.

Wilson scrambled for two third-down conversions on the winning drive, and ironically, Lynch finished it off with a 6-yard touchdown run.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.