Bills, Ravens put bettors through a wild ride and end in a push

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If you were both a Bills fan and a Bills bettor, you thought you had a chance to get it all late Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.

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And then both coaches intervened on the permutations of the point spread, ultimately resulting in a 23-20 Bills win, better known as a push for the three-point road favourites.

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First to Bills coach Sean McDermott, who despite being in the shadow of the goal line setting up what could have been an easy touchdown in the closing seconds, instead opted for a couple of knees and a chip-shot field goal for the guaranteed win.

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More than one Bills fan would have been yelling at his TV screen over that one, wanting the touchdown for the riches it would bring.

But McDermott wasn’t alone. Rewind to a few minutes of play time earlier when John Harbaugh opted to pass on an easy field goal to give his team a three-point lead and instead saw his Ravens offence stopped on fourth down.

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Had the Ravens taken the three points via field goal, then the Bills would have tried to score the touchdown on the subsequent drive and if successful would have won by four (and covered).

Of course, at one point the Bills were down 20-3 and it looked like both the win and the cover were impossibilities.

Who said the point spread isn’t a wonderful thing?

More Week 4 thoughts:

• This week’s example of the importance of shopping till you drop — and betting when the market is at its best — comes from the Vikings-Saints game in London. For much of the week, Minnesota was the 2.5-point pick. Bettors liked that idea and steamed the closing line up to 4. The final score of Vikes 28, Saints 25 emphasized the lesson.
• Beware buying into all line moves, however. The Jags certainly took what smelled like smart money during the week, opening as 7.5-poin underdogs against the Eagles, but moving through the key 7 and settling at 6.5. They opened up a 14-0 lead as well, which certainly made Jacksonville look like the sharp side before the Eagles cruised back for a 29-21 win and cover.
• Who likes the 49ers in the Monday nighter? Bettors did early in the week, anyway. After opening as one-point favourites, the line got all the way up to three points before the Rams money checked in. By Sunday night, at Bodog sportsbook, San Fran had settled in as the 1.5-point pick. For the record, both teams are 1-2 against the spread so far.
• The biggest underdog of the day nearly pulled off the upset at the Patriots (plus 9.5) took the Packers to overtime only to fall 27-24 at Lambeau.