BAD BEATS: NFL WEEK 7

BY ADAM GREENE

Well, it happened. We had a week without a Bad Beat.

If you’re a regular reader of this column, then you know the drill. I discuss the possible Bad Beats of the weekend, there’s usually a couple of contenders, but then hone in on the worst of the bunch.

With the Bad Beat selected, I then craft a tale about the poor bettor who had counted on a windfall from said game, only to have it snatched away from him in the final minute. I’ll concoct a narrative based on his plan to spend his hard won new cash, usually picking something particularly frivolous. Honestly, finding something dumb for my straw man stooge to blow his pretend wad of money on is both the most difficult, and most fun part of putting this article together every week.

Because there’s always a Bad Beat. Except when there’s not.

Out of 13 games, we had four in total that weren’t won by double digits. Of those four games, only one was anywhere near the over-under and it was Los Angeles Rams 28, Detroit Lions 19 (the over-under was 50.5). But that wasn’t a Bad Beat. With all the fakes and crazy stuff Detroit pulled to keep the Rams from getting the ball while scoring very little themselves, it was no real danger of getting hit.

We had some huge upsets, but nothing that was close. The Cincinnati Bengals made a huge statement, beating the Baltimore Ravens 41-17. The Tennessee Titans probably all but knocked the Kansas City Chiefs out of the playoffs with a punishing 27-3 victory in Nashville. Again, not close.

Our one shot came Monday night when the New Orleans Saints defeated the Seattle Seahawks 13-10. The Saints were -5 favorites and if you took them, you were just kind of sick to your stomach all night knowing full well you’d made a huge mistake.

Your saving grace in the Jameis Winston vs Geno Smith quarterback duel was that one of those guys was dying to throw a pick six at some point. And, in his final throw of the game, Smith was off just enough to not do just that. If New Orleans’ defensive back Demario Davis had stepped in front of a better thrown pass, he would have easily hauled it in with nothing but green turf and end zone paint in front of him.

For Seattle bettors, it would have been a Bad Beat of the ages. Instead, Smith scrambled around and tossed a duck on fourth and a million that was too underthrown for Davis to do anything but get his fingertips on it. If he had caught it, all he could had done was fall to the turf and been down by contact.

Yeah. That whole play sums up Week 7 in a nutshell.

We couldn’t even look to a surprise coach firing because the New York Giants dominated the Carolina Panthers 25-3, winning so bad that the Panthers reportedly decided they might want to add Deshaun Watson to their team, cutting in front of the Miami Dolphins’ negotiations with the Houston Texans.

It was a weird all around, with many of the league’s best, most exciting teams watching at home on their barcaloungers on byes. Week 8 is no better as the NFL is wasting its best game, the Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals, on a Thursday Night.

The only other contest between two winning teams is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-1) at New Orleans Saints (4-2).

But, hey, on the bright side Jameis Winston has another chance to deliver the Bad Beat goods in that one. Hope springs eternal.

The NFL season is rolling along and the Week 8 Schedule is up and taking bets at BetOnline.AG.

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