NFL bad beat: Rams backers survive, but under bettors shocked they lost
A lot had to go wrong for under bettors in the Los Angeles Rams-Tampa Bay Buccaneers divisional round game.
A lot went wrong in the final few minutes.
The Rams survived a crazy fourth quarter, cashing tickets at BetMGM for bettors who had them +3 and on the moneyline. Los Angeles won on a field goal as time expired, after Cooper Kupp caught two huge back-to-back passes to get them in range. Bettors who took under 48.5 points wondered what happened.
The two teams had combined for just 33 points by the final minute of the third quarter. With less than four minutes left, just 40 points had been scored and the Buccaneers were 55 yards away from the end zone. That's when it started to go bad.
Mike Evans beat all-world cornerback Jalen Ramsey for a quick score. Still, the Buccaneers trailed 27-20. The Rams weren't going to try to score again. They just wanted to run out the clock and move to the NFC championship game. At worst, they'd punt and the Buccaneers would need to go a long way with no timeouts left, needing a touchdown.
That punt never happened. Inexplicably, Rams running back Cam Akers lost his second fumble of the game as he tried to run out the clock. That gave the Buccaneers the ball at the L.A. 30-yard line. That didn't kill under bettors — the Buccaneers still had to get into the end zone — but at that point it seemed clear how it would go. Leonard Fournette broke a tackle in the backfield on a fourth-and-1 run and scored a touchdown. The Rams won after that, but the under was already ruined.
Over bettors will not be apologetic. They lost some points when Akers fumbled at the 1-yard line to end the first half. That was brutal for all those who had the over of 23.5 points for the first half. The first half ended with the Rams leading 20-3. Ouch. But Akers helped out over bettors in the end.
The final few minutes of Rams vs. Buccaneers was thrilling for fans. Except fans that had bets on the under. It wasn't so fun for them.
