Raiders crush bettors on otherwise bad NFL Sunday for sportsbooks

There was no silver lining for Raiders bettors. Only a Silver and Black cloud that overshadowed one of the otherwise best NFL Sundays of the season for gamblers.

Bettors loaded up on the Raiders (-1½) over the Saints and the game to go over 48½. But they never stood a chance on either count.

The Raiders didn’t cross midfield until the final minutes of an embarrassing 24-0 beatdown that was the franchise’s first shutout loss in eight years. It also was the biggest loss of the day for bettors.

“When you look at the top five games, we went 1-4. But by far the biggest game of the day was the Raiders. Having the Saints win outright was huge,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “As big as some of the games themselves, we needed the game to go under.”

The Raiders (2-6) had won two of three and covered three straight before their no-show at New Orleans, which had surrendered 42 points to Arizona in its previous game.

“It’s a little bit of a head-scratcher against a team that hadn’t been playing very good,” Esposito said. “I thought the Raiders still could make a serious run for a wild-card spot. But I have my doubts now.”

Taking candy from a bookie

Bettors dealt BetMGM its worst week of the NFL season, and Caesars Sportsbook and the South Point also reported bad days.

“None of my neighbor’s kids will get any candy this week. We can’t afford it after this week,” quipped Caesars vice president of trading Craig Mucklow. “The public was due.”

A BetMGM bettor in Las Vegas won $650,000 on two plays: a total of $467,500 to win $425,000 on the Panthers +4 (lost 37-34 to Falcons in overtime) and $247,500 to win $225,000 on the Titans -2½ (beat Texans 17-10).

“The public got the best of us,” MGM Resorts director of trading Lamarr Mitchell said. “The house was a loser on the morning games. The one big win for us was the Raiders. And the big loss we had in the afternoon was the Texans.”

Bad beats

Bettors on both sides of Carolina-Atlanta were dealt bad beats down the stretch. After the Panthers turned it over on downs at their own 18, the Falcons kicked a field goal with 36 seconds left to go ahead 34-28 and give their backers an apparent cover.

But it wasn’t over. Carolina tied it at 34 on P.J. Walker’s 62-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore with 12 seconds left. But before Panthers money-line bettors could count their cash from a miraculous win, Moore ripped off his helmet during a celebration in the end zone, resulting in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That pushed back the extra point to a 48-yard attempt, and Eddy Pineiro missed it.

Carolina had another chance to win in OT, but Pineiro missed again from 32 yards out, which is shorter than an extra point.

Atlanta QB Marcus Mariota broke free for a 30-yard run to set up Younghoe Koo’s winning 41-yard field goal. Mariota threw three TD passes for the Falcons (4-4). Why can’t the Raiders get guys like that?

The Panthers still covered in what was surprisingly one of the biggest losses for bettors at the Westgate SuperBook.

“It’s hard to imagine the Panthers and Falcons would be one of our biggest decisions of the day. But it was,” SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay said. “Normally, nobody cares about that game.”

Colts bettors — I feel your pain — also suffered a bad beat in their 17-16 loss to the Commanders. Despite Indianapolis settling for three field goals and losing two fumbles, it still was in position to cover with a 16-10 lead in the final seconds.

But Taylor Heinicke led Washington on an 89-yard TD drive, scoring on a 1-yard rush with 22 seconds left to give the Commanders the win and leave Colts bettors feeling like Teddy KGB in “Rounders.” So unsatisfied.

Bettors dealt Caesars seven-figure losses on the Titans, Patriots (-3, beat Jets 22-17) and Dolphins (-3½, beat Lions 31-27).

The Cowboys (-9½, beat Bears 49-29) and Eagles (-11½, beat Steelers 35-13) cruised to covers as two of the biggest favorites on the board. But bettors lost on the Bills, who won but didn’t cover as 10½-point favorites over the Packers in a 27-17 victory on “Sunday Night Football.”

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