The Giants make unfortunate history, red zone fumbles rule the day, and the best NFL Week 2 bad beats
Everything about the New York Giants' loss to the Washington Commanders was a bad beat, including the decision to bet on that mid-fest in the first place.
But if you were among the degens like myself who decided to have a stake in the outcome of a game between two of the NFL's version of JV teams, I pray you weren't on the side of the Giants. Because this one burns. Trust me. I touched the fire.
A small underdog, New York actually outplayed the Commanders in a lot of ways. They scored three touchdowns to Washington's zero. The only points Washington scored came from field goals (albeit seven of them). And with two minutes left in a tied game, the Giants had the ball just outside of Washington's red zone. Everything about the scenario suggested the Giants should have won.
And yet, they lost.
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According to CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr, the Giants are the first team in NFL history to lose in regulation after scoring at least three touchdowns and not allowing a touchdown to their opponent.
Yikes.
The Giants lost because they didn't have a kicker. Graham Gano was ruled out before the game. So, after their punter failed to make his PAT following their first touchdown, he wasn't trusted to kick again. New York then failed on two-point conversions after the next two touchdowns, and the final drive into Washington territory ended on downs after a Malik Nabers drop. Again, because they couldn't kick it.
Even worse, 58% of bets on the total and 72% of the handle at BetMGM had the game going over 43.5 points. The Giants' kicker conundrum likely stopped those bets from cashing too, as the game ended at 39 points.
Let this be a lesson for all of us in avoiding bets on predictable dumpster fire games. Now for more of the best NFL Week 2 bad beats.
Will Levis' push fumble for a push
By now you've surely seen the latest blunder by Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis. And you're probably aware his bone-headed shovel-pass fumble in the red zone came on a drive that would have put Tennessee ahead by two scores in the second quarter.
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But this isn't even about Tennessee potentially winning if it had come away with points on the drive -- which was certainly possible -- it's about the 41-point line for the game. And how 55% of the money at BetMGM was on the over. And how Levis' mistake was potentially the difference between those bets cashing and the game ending with a 24-17 final -- a push.
He Cam not go all the way
Speaking of pushes, if you got the Houston Texans' line against the Chicago Bears at -6 or more, look away now. Because not only could they have covered instead of winning by exactly six, they should have covered.
Holding a 19-10 lead in the fourth, Houston came within four yards of punching in another touchdown. But an injury to Joe Mixon the previous drive left Cam Akers as the primary ball carrier, and on a first and goal, Akers fumbled the ball back to Chicago. The Bears kicked a field the next possession to take away a Houston cover.
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Errant Jones
Minnesota's win over the San Francisco 49ers was almost like a bad beat on its own considering the Vikings were 4-point home dogs and 76% of the spread money at BetMGM had the Niners covering. But bettors were also riding the over pretty hard in this game, and it may have hit if not for an Aaron Jones fumble inside the 5-yard line.
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Thankfully for Minnesota, the fumble didn't cost them the game. It did, however, contribute to a total that came up a touchdown short of going over 46.5 points.
Lions couldn't roar back
Now, for maybe the saddest beat of the week, we have the Detroit Lions, whose final three possessions of their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers all ended inside of Tampa's 30 and resulted in zero combined points. That's quite unfortunate considering they trailed 20-16 the entire fourth quarter.
If they were able to get just two field goals out of those drives, they'd have won. Instead, Jared Goff threw a bad interception on the first of those possessions, which necessitated touchdowns on the next two. And Detroit was unable to push the ball into the end zone.
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Seahawks win... but at what cost?
If Detroit's offensive futility was sad, Seattle's was frustrating because of how much better most of us think they are than the New England Patriots. But after scoring 17 points in the first half, the Seahawks went scoreless the entire second half until a game-tying field goal on their final drive to force overtime.
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Instead of building on a 17-13 halftime lead and making the 65% of bettors who picked them to win by more than three happy, Seattle ended up winning by exactly a field goal in OT. Even worse, they teased the 82% of bettors who picked the game to fall under 39 points. Those last two field goals took the total from 37 points to 43.
The illegal Jaguars offense
The Jacksonville Jaguars probably aren't that good, but they should at least be better than 0-2. After roaring back from a 16-3 deficit, the Jags appeared to be on their way to taking a 17-16 lead in the fourth quarter -- which may have stood considering the Browns' only score the rest of the way was a safety on Trevor Lawrence that wouldn't have happened if not for this moment.
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Christian Kirk's two-yard touchdown catch was waived off due to an illegal shift penalty. Instead of taking the lead, Jacksonville settled for a field goal and was never able to make up the remaining deficit after that. The Browns won. The majority of bettors lost.
Hawking down the Ravens
Remember a couple years ago when the Baltimore Ravens couldn't stop blowing leads? Yeah, well, that might be a problem again. And though it's only one game, it was one game at home against the Las Vegas Raiders, who the Ravens absolutely should not be blowing leads to.
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The Ravens held two separate 10-point leads, which not only had them on a path to winning but also had them on track to cover the big 8.5-point spread. But for whatever reason, John Harbaugh's team struggles to put games away, and they gave up scores on four straight possessions to blow the cover and lose outright.
Right place, right time
The Arizona Cardinals absolutely wrecked the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, but their last of five touchdowns had to be especially agonizing for bettors because it pushed the total over the 47.5-point line -- and 82% of money on the total at BetMGM had it falling under. Oh, and the touchdown very nearly didn't happen.
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Back to our theme of red zone fumbles, James Conner did what so many other players did this week and fumbled the ball inside the 5-yard line. Which had to give under bettors a brief moment of hope... until Trey McBride jumped on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Hope gone.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Giants make unfortunate history, red zone fumbles rule the day, and the best NFL Week 2 bad beats
