The Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings took part in arguably the NFL’s Game of the Year on Sunday afternoon, and bettors felt the heart-racing impact all week.
The ever-changing betting line presented uncertainty all week given the injury status of Bills superstar quarterback Josh Allen. Initially, Buffalo opened as a 7.5-point favorite, per consensus data on NESNBets.com, but were slashed to a 3.5-point home favorite as reports put Allen’s status in question with an elbow injury. When the Bills decided not to elevate third-string quarterback Matt Barkley on Saturday, it signaled Allen would be active and thus, again, caused the line to move back to Buffalo -6.5.
Allen was listed active 90 minutes prior to the 1 p.m. ET kickoff, though consensus data indicates the line closed at the same Buffalo -6.5.
Who would have thought that was only the beginning to the madness, right?
Bills bettors, no matter what the spread was when they bought the ticket, all were riding high when Buffalo extended its lead to 27-10 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. And those who took Buffalo -3.5 undoubtedly were thrilled when Vikings kicker Greg Joseph pushed an extra point with 4:34 remaining to keep the Bills’ advantage 27-23.
It looked like those same Buffalo -3.5 bettors were delivered a rollercoaster victory as Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins failed to score on fourth-and-goal from the Buffalo 1-yard line with 50 ticks left.
Nope!
Allen then fumbled the first snap from the Buffalo 1-yard line only for the Vikings to recover the fumble in the end zone. It allowed Minnesota to take a 30-27 lead with 48 seconds left while all hopes from Bills’ bettors seemed out the window.
Those same people, however, were given a second chance after Allen orchestrated a five-play possession and Tyler Bass connected on a 29-yard field goal to force overtime. Given the chance the Bills still could score a touchdown, overtime wasn’t the worst case for bettors who took -3.5. Those who took the -6.5, however, were cooked given that the Bills would not kick an extra point in overtime.
But then came the worst-case scenario for Bills’ backers. The Vikings scored a field goal on the first drive of overtime to take a 33-30 advantage. Even a touchdown at that point would not get the Bills to cover the -3.5, and there almost certainly was not enough time for the Bills to tie the game and then score a touchdown.
Fortunately or unfortunately for Bills bettors, however you want to look at it, it didn’t matter when the spread ticket was purchased on the Bills. It lost. The Vikings’ field goal in overtime proved to be the winning margin as Minnesota didn’t just cover the spread but won straight up.
There’s no denying the NFL’s current Game of the Year, though, was felt by all.
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