Good morning and Happy Tuesday! Welcome to the NFL Playoffs version of Crazy Bets and Bad Beats! If you're new to this column, each week we list an exhilarating win and a devastating loss from the prior weekend in the NFL.
For today, we'll focus on Green Bay's shocking road win over Dallas. We'll also give you the scoop on why Stefon Diggs won't be on a certain bettor's Christmas card list this year. Let's get into it!
Crazy Bet: Packers Stun Cowboys; Cash Huge Ticket for Bettor at Caesars
Someone at Caesars Sportsbook cashed in nicely on the Dallas Cowboys' propensity for making early exits in the playoffs. A sports bettor in Nevada bet $154,000 on Green Bay +7.5. Even though Dallas has a poor recent playoff history, the wager still took some serious amounts of courage.
The Cowboys had won 16 straight home games, but you'd never know it by how they played on Sunday. Jordan Love and the Pack came out firing on all cylinders, as they scored 27 unanswered points to open the contest. Aaron Jones scored 2 rushing touchdowns to get the party started (He finished with 3 scores on the day). Love hooked up with Dontayvion Wicks from 20 yards out and Darnell Savage picked off a pass and took it back 64 yards to the house to further extend the GB lead.
Dallas finally got on the board just before halftime on a TD pass from Dak Prescott to Jake Ferguson. Brandon Aubrey hit a 34-yard field goal to open the second half, but it was too little too late for the Cowboys. Ferguson caught 2 more touchdowns in garbage time, but all in all, this way a no-sweat winner of $140,000 for a bettor at Caesars!
Bad Beat: Stefon Diggs Costs FanDuel Sports Bettor $10K
A sports bettor at FanDuel didn't fare nearly as well as their counterpart at Caesars. As far as bad beats go, this was certainly a tough one. This person placed a 5-leg parlay that comprised of some Anytime TD scorers and some First TD scorers on Wildcard Weekend.
Kareem Hunt of the Browns and Rashee Rice of the Chiefs both scored the first touchdowns in their respective games on Saturday. The hard part may have been over, but 3 more legs still needed to come up roses. Dalton Schultz and Tyreek Hill both scored to keep this ticket alive heading into Monday's Pittsburgh at Buffalo game.
Although the bet was only for $5, the first four legs of the bet cashed. That meant that if Stefon Diggs of the Bills scored a touchdown against the Steelers, the wager would pay out an astounding $10,000. Unfortunately, that just didn't happen.
Josh Allen did indeed throw 3 TD passes, but none of them were to Diggs. Allen hit Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid for scores early in the first quarter. He also hit Khalil Shakir for a 17-yard TD late in the 4th. Diggs got 9 targets in the contest, but he didn't find the end zone.
We're hoping that this bettor at FanDuel took the $2,800 payout that was being offered before the Steelers vs. Bills game kicked off. Remember what your grandparents told you. "A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush."
