Ravens win, but don’t cover vs. 49ers in upset-filled NFL Sunday
Justin Tucker is a classically trained opera singer who can sing in seven languages.
He’s also the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history and was carried off the field Sunday by his Ravens teammates after booting a 49-yarder as time expired to lift Baltimore to a 20-17 win over the 49ers.
Tucker and the Ravens hit all the right notes, running their win streak to eight games and claiming the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed Sunday night when the Patriots lost to the Texans.
But Baltimore bettors were singing the blues because the Ravens didn’t cover as 6-point favorites on a day that saw underdogs go 7-5 ATS with six outright wins.
Bettors who wagered on the Niners-Ravens over 45 were dealt a bit of a bad beat. The game was pacing well over the total at halftime, when Baltimore led 17-14. But the teams combined for only six points in the second half as the game stayed under.
Upset Sunday
There were three double-digit underdogs, and two of them won outright as the Dolphins upset the Eagles 37-31 as 10-point ‘dogs and the Redskins beat the Panthers 29-21 as 10½-point ‘dogs.
A $100 money-line parlay on Miami (+425) and Washington (+425) would have paid $2,656.
The Bengals (1-11) earned their first win of the season, beating the Jets 22-6 as 2½-point underdogs, and the Broncos beat the Chargers 23-20 as 4½-point underdogs.
A $100 money-line parlay of the Dolphins, Redskins, Broncos (+180) and Bengals (+120) would have paid $16,878.
The outright upsets ensured a winning day for Las Vegas sportsbooks.
“Some of the ugliest teams won today, which any bookmaker will take,” Westgate sportsbook vice president Jay Kornegay said. “Nobody bets the Redskins and very few bet the Dolphins. When you’ve got them winning on the same day, it’s most likely going to be a pretty solid day.
“Almost every week, we need at least one of them to win outright.”
The Dolphins (3-9) and Redskins (3-9) each overcame 14-point deficits, with Miami QB Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing for 365 yards and three touchdowns.
“I’m surprised how bad the Eagles looked,” Sunset Station sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “They made FitzMagic look like Dan Marino.”
Houston (8-4) dealt New England (10-2) its second loss in a 28-22 win as 3-point underdogs.
The Texans have a one-game lead in the AFC South over the Titans (7-5), who won and covered for the fifth time in six games in a 31-17 victory over the Colts.
“Ryan Tannehill is arguably one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league at 5-1, and the Titans run the ball and play good defense,” Esposito said. “It will be fun to watch them and the Texans play twice in the last three weeks of the season.”
Bad beat
Bettors who had the Patriots-Texans under 47 lost when New England took over at its own 6 with 2:36 left and went 94 yards in six plays, pushing the game over when Tom Brady hit Julian Edelman for a 20-yard TD pass with 50 seconds left.
Chiefs, Packers roll
The playoff hopes of the Raiders (6-6) took a big hit in a 40-9 blowout loss at the Chiefs (8-4), who cruised to a cover as 11-point favorites in one of the day’s best games for bettors.
The betting public won big on the Packers, who rolled to a 31-13 win and cover over the Giants as 6½-point favorites.
“Packers game was terrible,” Caesars Entertainment director of trading Jeff Davis said.
Davis tweeted Sunday morning that there were twice as many bets on Green Bay as as on any other team and that there was more money bet on the Portland State college basketball total Sunday than there was on the Giants money line.
Big bets
So-called sharp bettors were on the Giants, and so was a William Hill gambler who lost $440,000 on a straight bet on New York plus 6½ placed on a mobile app in New Jersey.
An MGM Resorts bettor in Las Vegas lost $200,000 on a straight bet on the Browns, who lost 20-13 to the Steelers as 1½-point favorites.
Another MGM bettor won $46,000 on a $100,000 money-line parlay of Ohio State (-340) and the Chiefs (-750).
A CG Technology bettor won $50,000 on a straight bet on the Texans (+3), and Westgate bettors cashed a pair of mid-five-figure bets on Houston.
If the Ravens win out, they’ll have home-field advantage in the playoffs, and Esposito and Kornegay said they wouldn’t be surprised to see a Baltimore-San Francisco rematch in the Super Bowl.
In the Ravens’ toughest remaining test, they’re 5½-point road favorites Sunday at Buffalo.
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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
