There are backdoor covers you can sort of see coming, and then there are comical implosions that take combine multiple factors into a truly bad beat. The latter is what we just saw in Ravens vs. Cardinals, as the Ravens failed to cover -9.5 at the last minute.
If you had the Ravens to cover the lofty 9.5-point spread against the lowly Cardinals, you were probably feeling pretty good about your wager after the Ravens went into the fourth quarter with a 21-7 lead. And even after the Cardinals scored their second touchdown in the fourth to cut into the lead, the Ravens got a stop on the two-point conversion to keep the score 31-21 with just over a minute left in the game.
So when Cardinals kicker Matt Prater lined up for an onside kick, bettors likely expected the typical outcome we see in that situation: Ravens recover, take the victory formation and cover the spread by the hook.
Alas, the Cardinals and fate had other plans. Philadelphia's favorite wide receiver, Nelson Agholor failed to secure the onside kick, which was recovered by the Cardinals at midfield.
It got even more absurd from there. After four plays got the Cards to the Ravens 24-yard line, they attempted a field goal on 2nd-and-10 that missed but was nullified by a false start. So on 2nd-and-15, the Cardinals kicked it again, this time just sneaking the ball inside the left upright to cut the score to 31-24 with 26 seconds left in the game. Meaningless to everyone by the bettors who expected to ravens to dominate the Cardinals by double digits.
Just how many people were on the Ravens to cover? According to Action Network's betting data, 76% of bets and 82% of the money bet on the spread landed on the Ravens, which were both the highest marks for any team on Sunday's slate.
