Newton’s meltdown part of memorable NFL season for books

While the winning quarterback went to Disneyland, the loser was tossed in a dumpster. Cam Newton will find out how difficult it is to bounce back from a Super Bowl defeat, especially after he was trashed by critics for immature antics.

All set to become the so-called face of the NFL, Newton dropped the ball during and after the biggest game of his career Sunday. He chose not to chase a critical fumble for fear of injury, and then damaged his image by walking out of a lame postgame interview.

Newton is too talented and young, and the Carolina Panthers are too good, not to recover. But it's not something FedEx can handle. It just does not happen overnight.

Soon after Super Bowl 50, bettors and oddsmakers started looking to the futures.

"The action has been brisk on next year's Super Bowl," said Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill sports book director. "It's so wide open, though."

The door is not slammed shut on Newton and the Panthers. Still, consider this: The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the last team to lose a Super Bowl and return to win it the next year. There are good reasons for a four-decade trend.

Also consider this: No team has lost the Super Bowl and even made it back to the title game the next year since the Buffalo Bills in the early 1990s. That's a trend spanning more than two decades.

The hangover for the Super Bowl loser is no myth, so think twice before betting on Carolina to be finer next season. The Panthers and New England Patriots are 8-1 co-favorites on the William Hill futures board. Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Seattle are each getting 10-1 odds, with Arizona and Denver each at 12-1.

The underdog Broncos' 24-10 victory over the Panthers was not a pretty sight. It got uglier when Peyton Manning, the winning quarterback, grabbed the Papa John's guy for a kiss on the cheek. Manning vowed to drink a lot of Budweiser before heading off to party with kids at Disneyland and then, hopefully, retire.

After a sloppy Super Bowl — which resembled a preseason game yet generated a record wagering handle of $132.5 million in Nevada — Bogdanovich said, "It was an incredible action game, as far as the dollars, not what happened on the field."

The banged-up and short-handed Steelers, who were a fourth-quarter fumble away from beating the Broncos in the playoffs, will be a hot team with the betting public next season. But let's take a look back.

In honor of the retired David Letterman, here's a Top 10 list. Of the 256 regular-season games, these were the most memorable betting moments:

10. Eli Manning was the goat of the opening Sunday night game. A clock-management gaffe by the New York Giants quarterback allowed Tony Romo extra time to drive the Cowboys to an unlikely comeback win. Romo's 11-yard pass to Jason Witten with seven seconds remaining tied the game, and Dan Bailey's 33-yard extra-point kick won it 27-26. The closing total was 52½ to 53. Dallas, which lost Romo to an injury the next week, finished 1-7 at home.

9. The Giants were involved in a crazy play in Week 9, scoring on Trevin Wade's 5-yard fumble return as time expired. Wade scooped up a loose ball as Tampa Bay attempted a desperation lateral that went wrong. New York won 32-18, with its last touchdown putting the score over the total of 49 and handing a brutal beat to "under" bettors.

8. William Hill reported 80 percent of the money was bet on the Packers as 3-point favorites at Denver. It was not a good day to have Aaron Rodgers as your fantasy quarterback. In a classic battle between sharps and squares, the sharp money prevailed as the Broncos rolled 29-10 in Week 8. Manning passed for 340 yards, while Rodgers threw for 77 yards and got roughed up by the Denver defense.

7. Tom Brady and the Patriots rode into Indianapolis with a supposed plan to take no prisoners in Week 6. In the Westgate SuperContest, a record number of contestants (849 of 1,727) were on New England at minus-7½. With a 34-21 lead, Brady lost his killer instinct. Andrew Luck burned bettors by passing for a touchdown with 1:19 to go. The Patriots blocked the extra-point kick and won 34-27.

6. Down two touchdowns — and laying one — at halftime against the league's No. 1 defense? That was no problem for Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers, who staged a remarkable comeback in a 34-27 victory over the Broncos. That result was part of the reason bettors put a Black Sunday-type beating on Las Vegas books, which took estimated losses of $5 million in Week 15.

5. The first game of the season on Sept. 10 was far better than the last. Brady, a survivor of Deflate-gate, gripped fully inflated footballs and passed for four touchdowns. The Steelers, who closed as 7-point underdogs, trailed by 14 as time ticked away. Roethlisberger took a snap from the 11-yard line and fired a touchdown dart to Antonio Brown in the back of the end zone with two seconds left. Sharp bettors laying the early numbers — 2½ to 6½ points — with the Patriots cashed tickets in their 28-21 win. The line briefly hit 7½ at some Las Vegas books before kickoff.

4. The Steelers, popular 3-point underdogs, found a stunning way to fail to cover in a 39-30 loss at Seattle in Week 12. Russell Wilson hit Doug Baldwin for an 80-yard touchdown pass on third-and-10 with two minutes remaining to steal the money. Roethlisberger passed for 456 yards, but Pittsburgh was a right-side, wrong-result bet.

3. Week 12 featured a bad-beat doubleheader. The Patriots, who had won 47 consecutive games when leading by 14 points or more in the fourth quarter, collapsed late. C.J. Anderson sprinted 48 yards through the snow in overtime as the Broncos spoiled the Patriots' run of perfection. New England closed as a 2½-point road favorite, but Brock Osweiler rallied Denver in its 30-24 win.

2. Bill Belichick is normally the sharpest gambler walking NFL sidelines, but after the Patriots won the coin flip, Belichick opted to kick to open overtime instead of putting the game in Brady's hands. The Jets, 2½-point underdogs, drove 80 yards for a 26-20 win in Week 16 that led to New England losing the AFC's No. 1 seed to the Broncos.

1. The Lions and their betting backers were incredibly unlucky on a Thursday night in Week 13. Rodgers received a reprieve from a phantom penalty before heaving a 61-yard Hail Mary for a touchdown on the game's final play. The Packers, 3-point favorites, escaped Detroit with a 27-23 win in the most bizarre finish of the season.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts "The Las Vegas Sportsline" weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247