With apologies to Winston Churchill, betting on the NFL is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. At least it was in the NFL Week 5 betting recap, when underdogs went 8-5 against the spread with eight outright wins entering “Monday Night Football” and five teams overcame double-digit deficits in comeback victories, continuing the trend from last week.
Thoughts and prayers go out to all bettors who put their money on the Cardinals in any form, whether it was on the money line, in a teaser, parlay, or straight up as 7.5-point favorites over the Titans. They delivered an all-time bad beat after blowing a 21-6 fourth-quarter lead in a stunning 22-21 loss to previously winless Tennessee.
For the second straight week, an NFL player dropped the ball on purpose a split second before crossing the goal line and cost his team a win in the process.
The incomprehensible blunder by Arizona running back Emari Demercado also cost countless bettors cash and caused carnage in high-stakes Survivor contests at Las Vegas sportsbooks.
The Cards, who jumped to a 21-3 lead in the first half, were still ahead 21-6 early in the fourth quarter when Demercado broke loose for an apparent 72-yard touchdown run that would seal the win. But a week after Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell dropped the ball an instant before running into the end zone in a loss to the Rams, Demercado gave an encore performance.
The play was ruled a fumble out of the end zone, resulting in a touchback, and Tennessee took advantage, scoring a touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-12.
“It’s unfathomable how plays like that can happen,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “You go from being up 28-6 and comfortably ahead to only 21-6, and you give the other team the ball back and change all the momentum in the game.”
‘Stupid Bonehead Plays’
The Cardinals still had a chance to cover with less than five minutes left when Dadrion Taylor-Demerson picked off a pass by Titans quarterback Cam Ward. Nevertheless, he fumbled the ball without being touched, and it was recovered in the end zone by Titans wide receiver Tyler Lockett for a touchdown, closing the gap to 21-19.
Arizona still could’ve clinched the victory in the final minutes, but ran the ball up the middle on third-and-8 and punted the ball back to Tennessee at the two-minute warning. The Titans then drove down the field for Joey Slye’s game-winning 29-yard field goal.
“I don’t know how they lost that game. It was almost like they were trying to lose,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of race and sports John Murray told the Review-Journal. “Why those players continue to drop the ball at the goal line, I’ll never understand it.
“As much as it hurt Survivor, the Cardinals got exactly what they deserved. Stupid bonehead plays and terrible coaching decisions. They deserved to lose.”
Sole Survivors
Circa sportsbook in downtown Las Vegas drew 18,718 entries who paid $1,000 each in its Circa Survivor contest, which pays $18.7 million to the winner. Contestants select one NFL straight-up winner per week, but can only use each team once.
The Cardinals eliminated 3,152 entries, and the field was cut to 4,669 after Sunday’s games. The Rams knocked out 3,524 contestants when they lost as 8-point favorites over the injury-riddled 49ers in a 26-23 overtime loss on “Thursday Night Football.”
Los Angeles trailed 23-20 with 1:07 remaining in regulation when running back Kyren Williams fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line. He was then stopped on fourth-and-1 at the 11 in overtime to end it.
The bad beats by the Rams and Cards also eliminated 35 entries in the Circa Grandissimo contest, an ultra-high roller version of Survivor in which entries cost $100,000 each. Only 16 contestants remain in the hunt for a $6.9 million prize from a starting field of 69.
Comeback Kids
Other teams that erased double-digit deficits were the Panthers (+1, beat Dolphins 27-24 after trailing 17-0); Broncos (+4, beat Eagles 21-17 after trailing 17-3); Commanders (+3, beat Chargers 27-10 after trailing 10-0); and Saints (-2, beat Giants 26-14 after trailing 14-3).
The Buccaneers (+3.5) rallied from a 35-28 deficit in the final minutes of their 38-35 upset of the Seahawks.
Bettor Days
The best games for bettors included the Vikings (-3.5), who scored a touchdown with 25 seconds left in London to beat the Browns 21-17 and pull out a cover along the way.
The betting public also won on the Cowboys (+1.5), who crushed the Jets 37-22 as sharp money on New York turned out to be as sharp as a spoon.
The masses also cashed in on the Colts (-7), who crushed the Raiders 40-6, and Lions (-9.5), who beat the Bengals 37-24.
Overs went 8-5 in our NFL Week 5 betting recap.