Detroit Lions’ Hail Mary answers prayer for ‘over’ bettors
For under bettors and Las Vegas sports books, it was as bad as a beat gets. For over bettors, it was a veritable New Year’s miracle.
That was the story of a betting weekend that featured UFC 207 on Friday, college football playoff semifinals on Saturday, the season’s only day of all 32 NFL teams playing on Sunday and some of the season’s biggest bowl games Monday.
When Green Bay took over at its 20 with 1:30 left Sunday night after intercepting Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford in the end zone, the NFL’s regular-season finale was all but over. All Aaron Rodgers had to do was take a knee to run out the clock and close out the Packers’ 31-17 victory over the Lions.
But Green Bay ran the ball on first down for no gain and tackle Jason Spriggs was injured on the play, forcing the Packers to take an injury timeout. After two kneel-downs, Jacob Schum shanked an 18-yard punt and Detroit took over at the 35 with 22 seconds left.
On the next play, Anquan Boldin hauled in a 35-yard Hail Mary touchdown catch that made the score 31-24 and pushed the number over the total of 51 points.
“It was one of the worst beats of all time, because the guy could’ve took a knee and ran the clock out,” William Hill sports book director Nick Bogdanovich said. “If you had the under, you would want to proceed directly to the Empire State Building and jump. That’s one of the worst beats you’ll ever take in your life.”
The late score also made Detroit teasers live and turned what would have been a great NFL Sunday for William Hill’s 108 Nevada books into merely a good one.
“Green Bay and over took away quite a bit of the profits,” Bogdanovich said. “We needed under in the worst way. Everything was tied to that game. It was one of our biggest decisions of the year.”
When the Lions scored, the crowd at the Westgate sports book roared.
“But you only heard groans in the back room. That’s still painful to talk about,” Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said Tuesday. “It basically doubled our losses, and we became a small loser on Sunday.
“I can’t remember the last time the scenario, Packers and over, was good to us. Whenever someone says, ‘Packers and over,’ I just cringe. I’ve been doing that for 20 years.”
PUBLIC STRIKES BACK
While the books beat the bettors again this year in the NFL, it was the best season the public has had in years.
“The other sports carried us, but it was a way below average year for the NFL,” Bogdanovich said.
The public kept cashing parlays and teasers by betting on the likes of the New England Patriots — who finished 13-3 against the spread — the Dallas Cowboys (10-5-1 ATS) and Oakland Raiders (10-6 ATS), and against the woeful Cleveland Browns (4-12 ATS), San Francisco 49ers (4-11-1 ATS) and Los Angeles Rams (4-10-2 ATS).
“Parity was just nonexistent this year in the NFL,” Kornegay said. “We could just not get the upsets you normally see on a Sunday slate of games. There was a long period where we didn’t get any at all.”
’BAMA, CLEMSON CRUSH BOOKS
No. 1 Alabama opened as a 14-point favorite over No. 4 Washington in Saturday’s College Football Playoff semifinal, and the line went to 16½ before big sharp bets on the Huskies dropped it to 13 at kickoff. But the books still needed Washington to cover, as the public was all over the Crimson Tide, which scored 24 consecutive points in a 24-7 win to improve to 10-0 ATS this season.
The public also backed No. 3 Clemson, which closed as a 1½-point underdog before crushing No. 2 Ohio State 31-0 to set up a national championship rematch against Alabama.
“New Year’s Eve was painful,” Kornegay said. “Most of the money was on Alabama and Clemson, and they parlayed them together.”
ULTIMATE BETTING CHAMPIONSHIP
While Amanda Nunes knocked out Ronda Rousey in 48 seconds Friday at UFC 207 at T-Mobile Arena to reward bettors who backed her as an underdog ranging from plus-115 to plus-190, the books were glad she did.
“There were quite a bit of straight bets on the ’dog, rightfully so, but there was a zillion parlays going to Rousey, so we really needed (Nunes) to win,” Bogdanovich said.
Rousey opened as a minus-210 favorite at William Hill and closed at minus-170.
The handle wasn’t as big as Rousey’s previous fight against Holly Holm in 2015 but was still big, Bogdanovich said.
“The whole card was very good. The handle was excellent,” he said. “People have really caught on betting the UFC real good.”
While Rousey remains the second biggest UFC betting attraction behind brash lightweight champion Conor McGregor, Bogdanovich said he thinks she’ll retire after her second consecutive loss.
“She’s good for business, but I think that’s the end of the road,” he said.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
