Worst bad beat in Super Bowl involves Italian soccer
The spread and total didn’t have much drama in Sunday’s Super Bowl LV, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reigned supreme with a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
But that doesn’t mean there was nothing for bettors to complain about, including a head-shaking result for a cross-sport prop.
Here are the worst bad beats from the Super Bowl:
3. Under 27 1H
Penalties didn’t cost the Chiefs the game, but they cost under bettors in the first half.
With the Buccaneers leading 7-3 in the second quarter, Tom Brady threw an interception that was nullified by a defensive holding penalty. Later in the same drive, Tampa Bay kicked a 40-yard field goal, but a Chiefs defender lined up offside to give the Buccaneers a fresh set of downs.
Rob Gronkowski caught a 17-yard touchdown pass on the next play to make the score 14-3.
After a Kansas City field goal, the Buccaneers got the ball back at their 29 with 1:01 left before halftime. It appeared they would only have time for a field goal at best, but two questionable pass interference penalties set Tampa Bay up at the 1.
Antonio Brown caught a touchdown pass with six seconds left to make the halftime lead 21-6 and give under bettors only a push.
2. Ronald Jones TD (+235)
Earlier in the first half, bettors backing Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones to score a touchdown couldn’t have asked for more than two cracks from the 1-yard line.
He had a full head of steam on each carry but was stopped inches short both times. Tampa Bay teammate Leonard Fournette ended up getting the lone rushing TD in the third quarter.
1. Chiefs TDs vs. Cagliari/Lazio goals
The many cross-sport props for the Super Bowl ask bettors to handicap two events. If you can find an edge on one, that should give you an edge on the prop.
Some bettors who dug deep into the Westgate prop packet had to be loving life shortly before kickoff Sunday. One prop matched the goals scored in the Cagliari-Lazio Italian Serie A soccer match (-125) against the touchdowns scored by the Chiefs.
The total on the match was 3, but Lazio claimed only a 1-0 victory, meaning Chiefs bettors would win as long as Patrick Mahomes and the offense — which averaged 29.6 points per game this season — found the end zone twice.
Well, you watched the game. Chiefs bettors went from confident to concerned to horrified as the Buccaneers kept Kansas City under wraps.
And bettors on the soccer prop couldn’t even get a push, as Mahomes’ final pass deflected into the arms of Tampa Bay linebacker Devin White at the goal line with 1:33 remaining.
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.