Bettors sweat Super Bowl prop bets to end amid blowout

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sucked the drama out of Super Bowl LV with a dominant performance in the first three quarters Sunday, but prop bettors had wagers to sweat all the way to the end.

Here’s how it all unfolded during the Buccaneers’ 31-9 victory Sunday over the Kansas City Chiefs in Tampa, Florida (lines from the Westgate):

3:35 p.m.: The coin toss delivers the first winners of the day: heads, the Chiefs win the toss, and the player who calls the toss calls it correctly.

3:38 p.m.: We are underway. Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady opens the game with a 1-yard pass to Chris Godwin. Brady’s first pass will be complete cashes at -200, and Godwin’s first reception goes under 9½ yards. Godwin only caught one pass for eight yards the rest of the way, easily cashing his unders of 5½ receptions and 70½ yards.

3:41 p.m.: The Buccaneers punt, and the Chiefs go to work. Patrick Mahomes hits Byron Pringle for 3 yards on the first play. Mahomes’ first pass will be complete cashes at -200, and Pringle’s first catch stays under 5½ yards.

3:43 p.m.: Mahomes scrambles for 11 yards and a first down. On a day when nearly everything went wrong, Mahomes did cash his rushing yards prop of 22½ yards with 33 on five carries. Of course, bettors couldn’t celebrate early after last year, when Mahomes lost 15 yards on kneeldowns at the end of the Super Bowl to turn his rushing yards prop from an over to an under. Not this year.

3:52 p.m.: The teams continue to trade punts, and there will be no score in the first 6½ minutes cashes at +130.

4:01 p.m.: We finally have points. Harrison Butker hits a 49-yard field goal, and the Chiefs lead the Buccaneers 3-0 with 5:10 left in the first quarter. The first score won’t be a touchdown cashes at +160. The longest field goal will be over 46½ yards cashes.

4:10 p.m.: Tampa Bay finds the end zone first. Rob Gronkowski catches an 8-yard TD pass, and the Buccaneers take a 7-3 lead with 37 seconds left in the first quarter. Gronkowski was 16-1 to score the first TD and +190 to score at any point.

4:16 p.m.: The Buccaneers lead 7-3 at the end of the first quarter, cashing winners for Bucs +½ (-140) and +110 on the money line. The total pushes on 10. Tampa Bay ended up covering in every quarter.

4:20 p.m.: The Chiefs punt, and the Buccaneers have the ball back at their 30 with 14:50 left in the second quarter. The Bucs are favored for the first time in in-game betting at -115.

4:31 p.m.: Tampa Bay running back Ronald Jones is stuffed on fourth-and-goal at the 1, and the Chiefs take over with 10:50 left in the second quarter, trailing the Buccaneers 7-3. This was just about the last positive moment for Kansas City.

4:32 p.m.: Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill catches his first pass of the day, for 14 yards. He caught 13 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 Kansas City victory over Tampa Bay in the regular season, and the Buccaneers made sure to keep him under wraps in the Super Bowl. Hill finished with 73 yards, mostly in garbage time, well under his prop of 95½.

4:47 p.m.: Gronk strikes again with a 17-yard TD catch, putting the Buccaneers in front 14-3 with 6:05 left in the second quarter. Gronkowski clinched his props for catches (2½) and yards (32½), ending up with six for 67.

5:01 p.m.: Butker makes a 34-yard field goal, and the Chiefs cut the Buccaneers’ lead to 14-6 with 1:01 left in the second quarter. Butker cashes over 1½ field goals (-120).

5:10 p.m.: Penalties kill the Chiefs on the Buccaneers’ final drive before halftime, including setting Tampa Bay up at the 1 on a pass interference penalty. Kansas City easily ended up with the most penalty yards (-140 odds) with 120 to Tampa Bay’s 39.

5:12 p.m.: The Buccaneers make the Chiefs pay. Antonio Brown catches a 1-yard TD pass with six seconds left before halftime to give Tampa Bay a 21-6 lead. Brown was +210 to score a TD. Brady cashes over 2 TD passes (-130) and over 2½ TD passes (+130). Also, the shortest TD will be under 1½ yards (-180), and the largest lead by either team will be over 14½ points (-120).

5:15 p.m.: Buccaneers 21, Chiefs 6 at halftime. Tampa Bay cashes +2 and +125 ML in the first half. The total pushes on 27.

5:17 p.m.: The second-half line comes out as Chiefs -7 (-120) with a total of 28. Kansas City pulled off three double-digit comebacks in the playoffs last season with Mahomes, and the Chiefs will have to do it again. They are +250 on the live line.

5:58 p.m.: After the Chiefs kick a field goal, the Buccaneers answer with authority. Leonard Fournette scores on a 27-yard run, and the Bucs extend their lead to 28-9 with 7:45 left in the third quarter. Fournette was +125 to score a TD and clinches his yardage prop of over 48½ with 64 so far (eventually 89). Improbably, this ends up being the last touchdown of the game, making Fournette the winner at 12-1.

6:04 p.m.: The Chiefs are circling the drain. Antoine Winfield intercepts Mahomes off a deflection, and the Buccaneers have the ball back at the Kansas City 45. Mahomes was +115 to throw an interception and +330 to throw an interception before a TD. Winfield was 8-1 to get an interception.

6:13 p.m.: Ryan Succop hits a 52-yard field goal, and the Buccaneers extend their lead to 31-9 with 2:46 left in the third quarter. Over 3½ field goals cashes at +140. Both teams will make 33-yard or longer field goals cashes at +100.

7:09 p.m.: Mahomes is intercepted in the end zone, preventing any touchdown props from cashing in the final minutes. He ends up 26 of 49 for 270 yards, going over on his attempts prop (42½) but under for completions (28½) and yards (333½). He does not throw a touchdown, going under 1½ at +330.

7:11 p.m.: FINAL: Buccaneers 31, Chiefs 9. Tampa Bay dominates as a 3-point home underdog (+140 ML). The game stays under 55½. The Bucs also cover all the alternate lines at big prices: -3½ (+230), -7½ (+375), -10½ (+475), -14½ (+650) and -17½ (+800).

7:12 p.m.: Amazingly, the Chiefs cash a prop at 50-1 to not score a TD in the game. They were 100-1 to score exactly nine points.

7:28 p.m.: Not surprisingly, Brady wins his fifth Super Bowl MVP award at +220. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 209 yards, going well under his props on all three (25½, 40½, 301½), but securing his seventh championship at age 43.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.