Bills, Eagles NFL’s remaining unbeaten teams after making bettors sweat

The Eagles and Bills are the NFL’s only remaining unbeatens after four teams suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday.

Philadelphia dealt the Buccaneers their first defeat in a 31-25 win and covered as a 3½-point road favorite after squandering most of a 24-3 first-half lead.

The Eagles picked up where they left off last week, when they returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown on the final play of the game to deal Rams bettors a bad beat for the ages.

This time, Philadelphia blocked a punt and returned it for a score to take a 7-0 lead in the day’s only matchup of 3-0 teams. The Eagles never trailed, though quarterback Baker Mayfield twice drove Tampa Bay into Philadelphia territory in the final minutes with a chance to cover. The Buccaneers turned it over each time.

Besides bettors cashing tickets on the Eagles, Caesars Sportsbook also took a late hit from gamblers backing Tampa Bay +6½ on the in-play line. Philadelphia led 31-23 with six seconds left when it had punter Braden Mann run the ball back 34 yards into his end zone for a safety.

“It just shows that your ticket has life until all the zeros hit the clock if you have an interest in Eagles games,” Caesars Sportsbook head of football Joey Feazel said in an email.

Week 4 favorites were 8-5 straight up and 7-6 against the spread entering the Packers-Cowboys “Sunday Night Football” game.

Other popular favorites that covered were the Lions (-10, beat Browns 34-10), Texans (-7½, beat Titans 26-0) and Falcons (-2½, beat Commanders 34-27).

Survivor sweat

Buffalo closed as a 14½-point favorite, the biggest of the NFL season so far, over the Saints. Not only did the Bills fail to cover, but they made 4,130 Circa Survivor contestants bidding for the $18.7 million prize sweat until midway through the fourth quarter.

New Orleans, one of four remaining winless teams entering Monday, stopped the Bills at midfield trailing 21-16 and appeared to go ahead when quarterback Spencer Rattler’s 17-yard pass to wide receiver Brandin Cooks was ruled a touchdown. But the play was reversed on replay and the Saints settled for a 35-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 21-19.

Buffalo answered with a touchdown to go ahead 28-19 and held on for a 31-19 win, but it didn’t cover.

The Giants notched their first win in rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s first start and dealt the Chargers their first defeat in a 21-18 victory as 6-point underdogs that eliminated 784 Survivor contestants.

The Steelers also pulled an outright upset in a 24-21 win over the Vikings as 2½-point underdogs in the 6:30 a.m. game in Dublin.

“The morning games were a push for the customers, with all but one result going in their favor,” Feazel said. “The Giants’ upset was the only poor result for the bettors.”

Afternoon delight

The afternoon games were a delight for bettors at the Westgate SuperBook who backed the Bears (+2, beat Raiders 25-24), Chiefs (+2½, beat Ravens 37-20) and Rams (-3½, beat Colts 27-20).

Los Angeles tied its game 20-20 on quarterback Matthew Stafford’s 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Puka Nacua on fourth-and-2 with 3:20 left. On the Rams’ first play after they forced a punt, Stafford hit wide receiver Tutu Atwell with an 88-yard touchdown pass with 1:33 remaining to give bettors an improbable cover and deal Indianapolis its first loss.

“We were doing pretty well until the afternoon,” Westgate vice president of race and sports John Murray said. “We took some big bets on Kansas City, so we actually needed Baltimore. The Rams covering the 3½ was very unfortunate for us. For them to throw a touchdown like that and win by seven, that was a big swing in the afternoon.”

A big Chicago crowd at the Westgate also cashed in on the Bears, who took the lead on running back D’Andre Swift’s 2-yard touchdown run with 1:34 left. Chicago then blocked kicker Daniel Carlson’s 54-yard field goal attempt in the final minute to preserve the win and cover. The Bears also spoiled a breakout performance by running back Ashton Jeanty, who rushed for 138 yards and became the first Raiders rookie with three touchdowns in a game since Bo Jackson in 1987 against the Seahawks.

“We had a lot of late money come in on the Bears and we actually needed the Raiders,” Murray said. “That was a disappointing loss, giving up the late touchdown and then getting the field goal blocked. That was not what we wanted to see.”

In the other afternoon game, the Jaguars dealt the 49ers their first defeat in a 26-21 upset as 3-point underdogs.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.