‘America’s Tease’: Cowboys crush bettors in shocking loss to Packers

“America’s Team” has turned into “America’s Tease” in the 21st century, as the Cowboys have made 13 straight playoff appearances without advancing to the NFC championship game.

Dallas was part of “America’s Teaser” on Sunday as countless bettors backed it in teasers, lowering the line from the Cowboys -7 to -1 or pick’em in their wild-card game against the Packers.

All Dallas had to do was win at home, as it had done 16 games in a row. But it never had a chance, falling behind 27-0 and 48-16 en route to an embarrassing 48-32 loss to Green Bay, the first No. 7 seed to win a playoff game.

“Is there a Mount Rushmore for the worst losses in NFL history?” Westgate SuperBook director John Murray posted on X. “Well, there should be. And this one would go on it.”

Bettors lost big on the Cowboys in the most lopsided decision of the first four games of the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend.

“Green Bay winning was a super result for us,” Murray said. “There were a lot of money-line parlays and teasers on Dallas.

“It was one of the most shocking playoff results I can remember. I don’t think Dallas would beat San Francisco, but they had a very clear path to the conference title game. And they just got demolished. For that to happen is just unbelievable.”

The loss got Caesars Sportsbook off the hook of a multimillion-dollar liability on the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl. In September, a Caesars bettor wagered $100,000 to win $1.6 million on Dallas to win it all at 16-1 odds.

“It was a great game for us,” Caesars assistant director of trading Adam Pullen said. “We were in a bad position on Dallas on the futures.”

Added Caesars vice president of trading Craig Mucklow: “Someone did inquire about wanting $1 million on the Cowboys in the offseason but never got around to pulling the trigger.”

Should Dallas coach Mike McCarthy be fired, offshore sportsbook Sportsbetting.ag made former Patriots coach Bill Belichick the odds-on -200 favorite to replace him.

“The problem is (Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones is the (general manager),” Pullen said. “I don’t know if Bill Belichick is going to want to come and deal with him.”

Saturday split

Bettors also took a hit in Saturday’s playoff opener on the Browns, who were blown out 45-14 by the Texans as 2-point road favorites.

“The Texans was a good game with the small underdog winning outright. The Browns were the team the public was on,” Pullen said. “They went against C.J. Stroud, the first-time playoff starter. But he proved them wrong, just like (Packers quarterback) Jordan Love.

“The young guns are showing experience might not mean as much as you’d think.”

The betting public broke even Saturday after bouncing back with a winner on the Chiefs, who dominated the Dolphins in a 26-7 win and cover as 4½-point favorites.

“We clearly needed the Texans and Packers. We were Dolphins fans as well, but overall we’ve done really good so far in the NFL playoffs,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “On the flip side, totals have clearly gone the way of the bettors. They played over Texans, under Chiefs and over Cowboys.”

Not a total disaster

Cleveland-Houston flew over the total of 45, and Dallas-Green Bay soared over the total of 52, while Miami-Kansas City stayed under 43½.

The public appeared poised to go 4-0 on totals as the Lions led the Rams 21-17 at halftime of their Sunday night game that was on pace to go over 53. But the teams combined for only nine points in the second half, and the game stayed under.

Detroit held on for a 24-23 win but failed to cover as a 3-point home favorite.

A Caesars bettor placed a $110,000 wager to win $100,000 on Monday’s Bills-Steelers game to go over 37.

The consensus total is up to 38½ after dropping as low as 33 before the game was moved from Sunday to Monday due to a snowstorm in Buffalo.

“The weather is not going to be great, but not as bad as if they played (Sunday),” Pullen said. “We’re probably going to end up needing under anyway. There is so much public action out there, and the public likes to bet over, even though they know the weather is going to be bad.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.