The Minnesota Vikings’ comeback victory on Sunday was something that hadn’t happened since 2005. In 99 previous NFL games where a team had trailed by 20 points or more at halftime, none of them had come back to win.
That is until Minnesota faced the Denver Broncos. The Vikings were hosting the 2-7 Broncos, and spotted Denver a 20-0 halftime lead.
The Broncos were a 10-point underdog coming into the game — the first time they were a double-digit dog since the 2011 playoffs. Tim Tebow was the quarterback, and they got 13.5 points against New England. Denver lost 45-10.
Things looked good at the start, and it seemed like the Broncos were well on their way to winning on Sunday. They built the nearly three-touchdown lead with 30 minutes remaining and then, the Minnesota comeback started to evolve.
Minnesota Comeback Begins Slowly
The second half in-game wagering was tilted against a Minnesota comeback. At PointsBet Sportsbook, the line got as high as 15, and +540 on the moneyline. The Vikings were 0-8 under coach Mike Zimmer when trailing by 20 points at any point in a game.
The Vikings scored a touchdown on their first possession in the third quarter to narrow the score to 20-7. The Broncos added a field goal before the fourth quarter, and then watched helplessly as the wheels fell off. The Minnesota comeback included three touchdowns, with the game-winner coming with just six minutes left in regulation.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs told reporters Minnesota avoided disaster.
“It would have been pretty bad if we lost,” Diggs said. “Going into a bye week, and you just didn’t win. For us, coming out victorious gives us not necessarily a sigh of relief, but proof that we can do things to come back from behind and win the game. There are good things that we can take from this game moving forward.”
Overs, Favorites Collect
The betting trend had been toward the under this season. The under was 76-71-1 going into Week 11. The over bounced back on Sunday, though, going 7-6.
Favorites, aided by the Vikings comeback, went 8-4-1 against the spread. Home favorites were only 4-8-1.
There were two underdogs that won outright. Atlanta was a 3.5-point underdog against Carolina, and won 29-3. They were +180 on the moneyline.
The other underdog win was posted by the New York Jets. They were on the road, and were getting two points against Washington. The #LOLJets won 34-17, and were +120 on the moneyline.
Oakland Causes Big Parlay Heartache
One bettor was an Oakland Raiders cover away from a huge payday, but instead, suffered a big parlay letdown on Sunday. Twitter user Kenton King, who goes by the monikier, @Kentonk1ng, was looking at a $50,000 payday on a $20, 12-team parlay card.
It began with nine college games, all of which hit. His two early NFL games were the Falcons and Jets, both of whom were underdogs, and who both won outright. The last game was Oakland, who was a 10.5-point favorite at home against winless Cincinnati. King went to a Las Vegas casino to hedge his bet, and watch the game.
“I’m shaking,†King posted on Twitter. “This is really happening. I will be heading to Southpoint to hedge a few thousand on the Bengals +13 and pray pray pray for a middle. I can live with at least a few thousand on a $20 bet.â€
King had collected on a nine-team parlay card earlier, and used that money to bet on the Bengals.
It turned out to be a smart move, as the Raiders failed to cover, and he collected just $2,000 against his possible $50,000 score.
Stat of the Week
In two seasons, Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson has played seven games in which he’s been sacked six times. The only other quarterbacks who has been sacked nearly that often are Russell Wilson and Marcus Mariota, who have each been sacked six times in three different games over the past two years.
