Chiefs bettors suffer bad beat on safety in final seconds vs. Texans

It was a bad beat for the ages.

Bettors who backed the Chiefs as 9½-point favorites over the Texans suffered a shocking, excruciating loss when Kansas City, leading by 11, took an intentional safety with 11 seconds left in a 23-14 win Saturday in their divisional playoff game.

Chiefs bettors who backed them as 8-point favorites during the week and 8½-point favorites Friday still covered. But those who bet them Saturday, when the line opened -9 at most sportsbooks and closed -9½, either settled for a push or lost their money.

Some sportsbooks, including the South Point, took a hit on the safety, with early bettors winning on Kansas City and late bettors winning on Houston.

“We opened 8, went to 8.5, then 9 and finally 9.5. Got late action on Houston,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said in a text message. “The safety was not good.”

Caesars Sportsbook vice president of trading Craig Mucklow agreed, saying the book also took a hit on the middle in a “sensational turn of events.”

“We have become accustomed to this year’s customer-friendly results, and we know the game is not final until the clock hits zero,” he said.

The line at the Golden Nugget closed at 9.

“But we took money at 9.5 early in the week on the Texans. Guy bought a half-point from 9 to 9.5. If he was smart, he laid the 8.5 and middled it,” Golden Nugget sportsbook director Tony Miller said in a text. “We still won, but could have been a lot more.”

The emotions of Kansas City bettors plunged from ecstasy to agony in the final two minutes.

The vast majority of Chiefs backers appeared headed for a loss on a dreaded backdoor cover when Houston settled for a 35-yard field goal attempt with 1:52 left that would’ve made it 23-15. But Kansas City bailed them out by blocking Kai’mi Fairbairn’s kick to all but seal the win and cover.

After the Texans used their final timeout, Patrick Mahomes kneeled down twice to run the clock down to 15 seconds. But rather than punt on fourth down from their own 18, punter Matt Araiza took the snap and ran out of bounds in the end zone for a safety and brutal beat for bettors.

The Westgate SuperBook lost a little on the safety after raising the line to 9½ on Saturday.

“We definitely saw some more money on +9½, so the safety cost us a couple dollars,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “But we wound up picking it up in a different market. We didn’t need the Chiefs to win from 11 to 15, so what we gained in that little market we lost on the game, so it kind of balanced for us. It really wasn’t a big deal for us.”

The safety also was insignificant for Station Sports, where the line closed at 8½.

“It didn’t really affect us that much,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “We were below 9 98 percent of the time that game was open.”

Salmons agreed with the call by Chiefs coach Andy Reid to take the safety.

“You just take any chance of a blocked punt out of the game and run around back there and kill some time. It’s still a two-score game after the safety,” he said. “Theoretically, if you punt it there and they block it, anything crazy can happen. You give up a safety, you’re still two scores ahead and you get a free kick out of there.

“Strategically, I think it was the right call for the Chiefs.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.