Wow, what an insane Week 18 we just witnessed! The weekend was especially exciting for Steelers fans, as Pittsburgh clinched an unlikely playoff berth after Tennessee took down Jacksonville. The Tampa Bay Bucs also punched their playoff ticket by taking care of business against the Carolina Panthers.
Sadly, the NFL regular season is over! Before getting ready for the playoffs (said in Jim Mora voice), let's take a look at some crazy bets and bad beats from Week 18.
Crazy Bet: Texans Come Up Huge for Sports Bettor at Caesars
NFL fans didn't have to wait until Sunday to enjoy some football, as the league scheduled two games on Saturday. One large sports bettor at Caesars came out firing with a huge bet on the Houston Texans -2. It's not every day you see someone take a road favorite for a sizable amount of money.
Thankfully for this crazy bettor, things couldn't have turned out better. That being said, it was one heck of a sweat! CJ Stroud let everyone know that he was ready to roll, as he hooked up with Nico Collins for a 75-yard bomb to give Houston an early 7-3 lead.
Stroud also hit Andrew Beck in the end zone for his second TD pass of the game to extend the Texans' lead to 14-3. Indianapolis put together a decent drive that ended in a Matt Gay field goal to make the score 14-6 at the half.
That's when things got uneasy for Texans fans and our crazy bettor. Jonathan Taylor rumbled 49 yards to the house early in the third quarter to give the Colts' offense a much-needed boost. QB Gardner Minshew then hit Mo Allie-Cox for a 2-point conversion to knot things up at 14 all.
Stroud engineered a 5 play, 20-yard drive that helped the Texans retake the lead with a field goal by Ka'imi Fairbairn. The lead didn't last long however, as the Colts responded with a field goal of their own to tie the game back up at 17 apiece.
With a little over 6 minutes to go, Texans RB Devin Singletary plunged into the end zone from 3 yards out to put Houston back on top by 6. That's when things got hairy! The Colts drove the ball down the field with ease and looked to be poised to win the game. Our crazy bettor had to be losing his ever-loving mind!
What happened next was pure insanity! The Colts called a short pass play on 4th down and 1, even though they'd been running the ball effectively all night long. Rookie RB Tyler Goodson dropped the pass and the rest as they say is history. This made a certain someone at Caesars $63,000 richer!
Bad Beat: Dolphins Crush Big Bettor's Hopes with Late Turnover
Unfortunately, things didn't work out nearly as well for another big bettor at DraftKings. They placed a hefty $36,000 wager on the Miami Dolphins +3 over the Buffalo Bills. The Fish played brilliantly in the first half, and with a 14-7 lead at the half it looked like they'd take home the division crown.
However, Buffalo came storming back in the second half. After a scoreless third quarter, Deonte Hardy took a punt and scampered 96 yards for a touchdown to tie things up at 14 all. After a nice stop by the Bills defense, Josh Allen found Dawson Know for a 5-yard TD to give Buffalo their first lead of the game.
The Bills defense finished the job from there! They held Miami to a 3 and out on the next drive. Next, after their offense was stopped on downs, Taylor Rapp "wrapped" things up for Buffalo by picking off Tua Tagovailoa with a little over a minute left in the game. What a sickening loss for both Miami and this sports bettor at DraftKings! Hopefully, they'll both bounce back strong in the Wild Card Round.
