Chargers coach’s 4th-down gamble nearly costs bettors
Chargers coach Brandon Staley squatted along the sideline at the end of Sunday’s game and covered his mouth with his playsheet as he mumbled to himself.
After his late fourth-down gamble backfired, Staley might have been saying a prayer.
If he did, it was answered when the Browns missed a long field-goal attempt in the final seconds and the Chargers escaped with a 30-28 victory at Cleveland.
Los Angeles closed as a 1½-point favorite, and the unusual finish had a major impact for many Las Vegas sportsbooks.
“The two games that came down to the last second — the Commanders-Titans and the Chargers-Browns — if (the Commanders) punch it into the end zone and the Browns can kick the field goal, we’re probably looking at a losing day,” said Craig Mucklow, Caesars Sportsbook vice president of trading. “Those were two huge swings for us.”
Staley has quickly developed a reputation as one of the NFL’s most aggressive coaches, especially on fourth down. Leading by two and facing a fourth-and-2 from the Chargers’ 46-yard line with 1:13 left in the game, Staley went for it rather than punt.
In this instance, the Browns were out of timeouts, and if Los Angeles converted, the game would have been over.
“I just didn’t think it was the right call,” Westgate SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay said.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert fired a pass in the direction of wide receiver Mike Williams. But defensive back Martin Emerson Jr., who was picked on most of the game, broke up the play to give the ball back to Cleveland.
The Browns moved 10 yards in five plays and set up kicker Cade York for a 54-yard attempt with 16 seconds remaining. The rookie pushed his attempt wide right, allowing Staley to get away with his risky move.
Cleveland also missed an opportunity to take the lead when quarterback Jacoby Brissett was intercepted in the end zone with 2:44 remaining.
“I think we were all in agreement that we felt they should have punted at that point,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “I know you want the win. … I just thought it was a questionable call because all the other team needed was a field goal to win it.”
The Chargers opened as high as -3, and the spread move resulted in some books getting middled by bettors who were able to buy the Browns +3 and the Chargers -1½. That was the case at the SuperBook and Station Casinos.
“It really wasn’t a great game for us because of that,” Kornegay said. “The volume was terrific. That was our feature game of the morning, and it had a tremendous amount of action on both sides. A majority of the people had a better number and ended up on the winning side.”
Good day for books
Most sportsbooks reported coming out as winners Sunday, with favorites going 6-8. The Giants (+8), Texans (+7), Jets (+3) and Cowboys (+5) pulled outright upsets.
The totals went 8-6 to the under.
“Overall, a solid week coming off of last week’s losing week,” Adam Pullen, Caesars assistant director of trading, said.
The Giants’ 27-22 win over the Packers in London gave the sportsbooks an early cushion to start the day. New York’s win as 8-point underdogs was the biggest outright upset of season.
The Falcons also remained the only unbeaten team against the spread with a backdoor cover. The Buccaneers were laying 8½ points and leading 21-0 entering the fourth quarter before Atlanta scored twice to the benefit of the books.
A questionable roughing the passer penalty on Tom Brady took away a late opportunity for the Falcons to get the ball back.
Favorites of seven or more points are now 4-10 against the spread.
“Two of the bigger games of the day — the Steelers-Bills game and the Panthers-49ers game — both went the bettors’ way,” Esposito said. “Outside of that, a lot of the games went our way.”
Odds and ends
— Pittsburgh closed as a 14-point underdog against the Bills. The Steelers had been the only team since the 1970 merger that was never a two-touchdown underdog, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
— The Jaguars were the most-used team this week in the $1,000 buy-in Circa Survivor contest, which has a winner-take-all prize of more than $6 million. Jacksonville’s 13-6 loss to Houston knocked out 36.7 percent of the remaining entries (449). The field of 6,133 has been whittled to 718, with 26 entries still needing the Chiefs to beat the Raiders on Monday to stay alive.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.