Phil Agius
NFL
Show Bio
The Super Bowl is the pinnacle of the football season and creates high drama just with the game itself. But for bettors, with lines set for every aspect of performance both on and off the field, there’s often an extra level of exhilaration.
Over the years we’ve seen dreams of big payouts dashed in the final seconds, bet slips that might have been torn up at halftime come through to win and arguments about whether a pre-game prop bet cashed rumbling on long after the Lombardi Trophy was lifted!
Let’s take a look at 10 of the most memorable Super Bowl betting moments and controversies.
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10. Patrick Mahomes goes under with victory kneel-downs (2019)
Kansas City had smiles all over their faces at the end of Super Bowl 54 as they led the 49ers 31-20. But the joy on the faces of those who took the “over” on QB Patrick Mahomes’ rushing yards prop turned to despair in the final plays of the game. The line had been set at 30.5 yards, and Mahomes was comfortably over at 44 when he began to take knees to wind down the clock. Three straight kneels saw him lose 15 yards and take his total down to 29, cashing the under!
9. Backup QB Nick Foles wins via the Philly Special (2018)
We have another bad outcome for the Patriots here as the favorites lost out to Nick Foles and Philadelphia in Super Bowl 52. The Patriots were 4.5-point favorites and facing an Eagles team led by backup QB Nick Foles after starter Carson Wentz got injured in December. Coach Doug Pederson went with Foles’ suggestion to use a trick play near the goal line on 4th down, with Foles himself catching a pass from tight end Trey Burton to give his team a 10-point half-time lead.
CREDIT – AP Images
8. Gatorade shower controversy (2012)
The original result of the Gatorade shower color prop was changed in 2012 after the Giants defeated the Patriots. When Giants coach Tom Coughlin was soaked in the traditional liquid celebration, purple was initially declared the winner. But after appeals from sharp-eyed viewers, the result was changed to clear/water winning. The TV pictures had made the liquid look purple due to Coughlin’s blue sweater being behind it, but an area away from the coach showed the falling drops to be clear, which cashed at 7/1 odds.
7. Malcolm Butler intercepts Russell Wilson at the goal line (2014)
New England have featured in some positive and some negative late dramas in Super Bowls, and they were again on the right side of an “Oh wow!” moment when they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the Seahawks in Super Bowl 49. The Seahawks trailed 28-24 but were at the Patriots’ 1-yard line with victory seemingly in their grasp. With the whole world expecting them to give the ball to Marshawn ‘Beast Mode’ Lynch for a rushing score, Seattle instead called a pass play, which was intercepted by Malcolm Butler to secure the Patriots win.
6. Devin Hester returns opening kick0ff for a touchdown (2007)
Chicago’s Devin Hester was a phenomenal kick returner and the then rookie receiver broke Super Bowl 41 wide open by giving the Bears a 6-point lead on opening kick0ff of their game against the Colts. There had been talk of the Colts looking to avoid kicking to Hester, but he went 92 yards to open the scoring in what proved to be a 29-17 loss. The opening kickoff being returned for a TD is generally around a 70/1 chance, with any kick0ff return TD around 10/1.
5. Controversies over National Anthem wagers
The line on the time it would take Christina Aguilera to sing the Star Spangled Banner was set at 1 minute 54 seconds, and it proved so close to that mark that there were long arguments over how the prop should be graded. As well as getting her words wrong earlier in the anthem, she added an extra ‘Oh’ after the final word ‘brave’. Many sportsbooks ended up cashing both over and under bets due to the raging arguments about the length of the performance.
In 2018, a similar controversy arose when Gladys Knight sang ‘brave’ twice. Many sportsbooks settled on just the “Under” this time, having clarified the rules to stop counting after the first ‘brave’ is sung.
4. Steelers strike late (twice) in crazy game against Cardinals
The Pittsburgh Steelers made every second count in both halves of their Super Bowl 43 win over the Arizona Cardinals, covering both the 1st-half spread and then taking the trophy when both had looked lost. Steelers -3 1st-half spread backers were resigned to defeat when the Cardinals were at the Pittsburgh 1-yard line, trailing 10-7 with 18 seconds left in the half. But a 101-yard interception return from James Harrison made it 14-10 to Pittsburgh at the half and also cashed the “over” for the first-half ” total.
Arizona then looked set to win the game when they led 23-20 with less than 3 minutes left, only for a sensational catch by Santonio Holmes to give the Steelers a 27-23 victory with 35 seconds left. The catch was named the most clutch Super Bowl catch of all time by NFL Network.
3. The 150/1 Rams win Super Bowl 34
The St. Louis Rams were unconsidered outsiders for the 1999 NFL season, with odds of 150/1 freely available in the preceding summer after their 4-12 campaign in 1998. It was their 9th straight losing season, but bettors who noted the potential they had with running back Marshall Faulk and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt were well rewarded. The missing piece was quarterback Kurt Warner, who became the starter when Trent Green was injured in a preseason game. After spells in the Arena Football League and NFL Europe, the unheralded passer became the leader of an offense known as the Greatest Show on Turf.
The Rams went 13-3, scoring 526 points and Dick Vermeil’s team were favorites by the time they played the Titans in the Super Bowl. They got over the line for their triple-digit futures backers but only just as Tennessee’s Kevin Dyson was stopped at the 1-yard line on the final play of the game and the Rams won 23-16.
2. Giants ruin New England’s bid for a perfect season (2008)
Tom Brady won 7 Super Bowls in his unrivaled NFL career, but he of course lost 2 of them to the New York Giants too. The Patriots finished the 2007 NFL regular season with a perfect 16-0 record, and after making their way to the big game, they were red-hot favorites to be the first team to go 19-0 and improve on Miami’s perfect year in 1972 (when the regular season was only 14 games). The Patriots went into the big game as huge 12.5-point favorites, with the Giants available at 4/1 on the money line.
Thing were going to plan in the game itself, too, as the Patriots led a low-scoring game 7-3 after 3 quarters. But the Giants rallied in style, with David Tyree’s famous ‘helmet catch’ providing a crucial 32-yard first down as the underdogs made their final drive, trailing 14-10. Wide receiver Plaxico Burress caught a 13-yard TD from Eli Manning with just 35 seconds left to give the Giants a Super Bowl win and ruin New England’s perfect season.
1. Patriots come back from trailing 28-3 to beat Falcons (2016)
If you’re looking for the worst “bad beat” in Super Bowl history, you need go back only 6 years, to the Falcons’ famous meltdown against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 51. Bettors who had taken Atlanta on the money line and even at +3 against the spread must have been ecstatic as Dan Quinn’s team roared into a 21-3 halftime lead and added the first touchdown of the 2nd half to go up 25 points.
The Patriots’ live odds hit +1600 (16/1) before Tom Brady led Bill Belichick’s team back into contention, scoring 25 unanswered points to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation. Even then, the Patriots winning with a field goal would have been enough for Falcons +3 bettors to at least get the push, but James White went in for a winning touchdown in overtime, giving the Patriots the trophy and cashing New England -3 tickets too.
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