Herein lies the tale of a bad beat from an NFL Sunday. It was a horrible day to be a fantasy owner with Todd Gurley on your team. But it was an even worse day to have a bet on the LA Rams -7.5 over the Green Bay Packers. That was the closing line before the game kicked off at 4:25 PM today.
For what it’s worth, this game had “Packers cover” written all over it from the beginning. First, the public and sharp money came on the Packers all week long dropping the line from an opening 9.5 all the way down to 7.5 by game time.
Then the Packers opened up the game and marched down the field and took a 7-0 lead. Then it was 10-0. The Rams just could not get their offense going in the first half. And Todd Gurley was not getting his yards. Long story short. Finally the Rams caught up and made it a great game.
Fast forward to the 4th quarter. The Rams took a 2 point lead with 2 minutes remaining. Plenty of time for Aaron Rodgers to bring the pack down the field and win by a field goal. This is what the entire building and viewing audience thought was going to unfold. Until Ty Montgomery made an ill advised decision to take the kick out of the endzone. He fumbled. Rams ball.
Rams bettors, who thought the entire game they were not going to cover, suddenly had hope. The Packers had no time outs, and started to panic. A few plays later, Todd Gurley was trotting toward the end zone with about a minute to play. He was about to walk in the endzone and take a 9 point lead. The ultimate front door cover after not leading the entire game, much less covering.
Then it happened. Instead of going into the end zone, Gurley took a dive on the 2 yard line. He unselfishly did not score. This ensured Aaron Rodgers would not touch the ball again. The game was essentially over. And every Rams bettor from New Jersey to Vegas gasped with disbelief as the win was taken right out of their hands. On the flip side, Packer bettors must have also gone on their own fantasy and gambling roller coaster of emotions. The Rams won by 2.
After the game, Gurley was interviewed at his locker and spoke directly to fantasy players and sports bettors alike… “Man… forget fantasy and forget Vegas today. We got the win and that’s all that matters”. Amen. He acknowledged what every single fan was thinking at the moment he took the dive. He did the right thing according to the book. He did the unselfish thing, And he arguably gave up money in his contract that triggers extra money based on touchdowns. It was fascinating that he was also fully aware of the impact of his decision on both sports betting and fantasy. Curious if the league will send him a letter about making comments like that.
There’s no better reason to play at Wannamakeabet.com than this story. Sports betting is nearly impossibly. And you needn’t risk your hard earned money when things like this can happen. And they do happen. All the time. Some say it’s just another bad beat. Some say it’s just the same old NFL and it happens all the time. Perhaps. But this is the NFL in 2018 when players are fully aware of both fantasy and sports betting on the last play of the game.
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