Anyone who has wagered on sports for more than a few days knows the awful feeling associated with losing a game which appeared to be a winner. It's important to remember that these 'bad beats' are inevitable and happen to everyone. Sometimes it may take more than a season, but eventually things should be balanced out by winning an equal number of games that appeared to be losers. Its human nature to remember the tough breaks more than the 'lucky' winners. Since I haven't done so for awhile, I thought I'd share a few of my recent bad beats from the gridiron. Monday, November 14 - Dallas at Philadelphia Unless I feel that there is some kind of correlation between the two, I rarely play both the side and total of the same game. However, a couple of Monday's ago, I did just that. My handicapping process had led me to believe that both the Eagles (a three-point favorite) and the 'Under' (40.5) offered excellent value. For roughly 57 minutes, the game played out pretty much as I had anticipated. The Eagles took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter and had extended that lead to 20-3 with less than four minutes remaining. Considering that the Cowboys offense hadn't done much of anything all game, I felt fairly secure. I should have known better! Philadelphia started playing the dreaded 'prevent' defense and allowed Dallas to march down the field (72 yards in 40 seconds) for a touchdown. Less than 30 seconds later, Roy Williams would score a game-winning 46-yard touchdown off a Donovan McNabb interception. Final score: 21-20 in favor of Dallas. Ouch! Sunday, November 27 - San Diego at Washington I really liked the Redskins in this game. In addition to having made a substantial wager on them, I used the 'Skins (plus 3 1/2) as my pick in an against-the-spread 'survival pool' that I had been participating in. The $25,000 pool had started with more than 600 entries and had less than 20 remaining. Once again, the game went much as I had expected for roughly the first 55 minutes. Indeed, Washington had a 17-7 lead with less than four minutes remaining. The resilient Chargers refused to give up though and scored 10 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to send the game into overtime. As you know, the majority of overtime games are decided by a field goal. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here. Less than 35 seconds after winning the coin toss, Tomlinson ran 41 yards for a San Diego touchdown. That was painful! St. Louis at Houston No sooner had I finished throwing up from the Washington loss, than I had to endure an even more painful ending. The Texans (plus 3 1/2) played arguably the best game of their season and led the Rams by 10 points with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation. Surely, this one would be a winner? No such luck! After scoring a touchdown with 26 seconds left in the game, the Rams recovered the subsequent onside kick and kicked a game-tying field goal. Since you're reading about this game in my 'Bad Beats' column, you can already guess the rest. Yep. That's right. Like San Diego had done moments before, the Rams would win the game with a touchdown in overtime. Losing one underdog of greater than three points in overtime is bad enough. However, losing two in 10 minutes in downright cruel! Note: After hitting four of five over the weekend, Totals Guru Ben Burns is 8-2 his L10 football over/under releases! Ben ABSOLUTELY LOVES one of Sunday's NFL Totals. In fact, if a couple other factors check out, it may be his Top-Rated Total of the Year! |
