NFL Week 8: Worst Betting Bad Beats

By Henry Palattella , Tyler Maher
Editor , Editor
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NFL Week 8: Worst Betting Bad Beats

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For bettors, few phrases can send a cold chill down their spines faster than “bad beat.” Ask any gambler, and you’ll likely be inundated with stories of all the money they lost from bad beats.

For the uninitiated, bad beat originated as a poker term to describe something unlucky that costs you a win. The same applies to sports betting, but instead of getting hurt by the river card, you lose your college basketball bet because a seventh-year walk-on makes a meaningless 3-pointer with seven seconds left in a blowout.

While every sport has its own version of bad beat (every garbage-time bucket or touchdown means something to someone), the NFL has plenty of situations that can result in bad beats.

For the rest of the NFL season, we’ll rehash the pain and misery by breaking down the worst beats each week. After all, one person’s bad beat is another person’s payday.

Here are the worst beats from Week 8 of the 2024 season.

TNF Late-Game Missed Call Swings Total

Another week, another Thursday Night Football game that featured a bad beat. However, this one was arguably the most egregious.

The Minnesota Vikings entered as one of the NFL’s top teams but ended up in a shootout with the rejuvenated Los Angeles Rams, who got top receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp back from injury.

With 90 seconds left and the Vikings down 28-20, they had the ball on their own five-yard line. Sam Darnold dropped back to pass and, after momentarily evading the Rams’ pass rush, was tackled in the end zone via his facemask by Byron Young right in front of a referee – an obvious penalty.

But the refs apparently missed it, as the flag never came. Instead, Los Angeles got two points on the safety and secured a controversial 30-20 victory.

The safety was bad news for some bettors along with Minnesota fans. The Over hit on the total (most books closed at 48.5) and the Under hit on Darnold’s passing yards prop (244.5), as he finished with 240 yards.

Commanders Stun Bears on Shocking Hail Mary

Sunday featured a battle between Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels – the last two Heisman Trophy winners and top two picks of the 2024 NFL Draft – and it didn’t disappoint.

While Daniels’ Washington Commanders led for most of the game, Williams and the Chicago Bears rallied to take a 15-12 lead with 21 seconds left.

That gave Daniels just enough time to pull off the biggest miracle of the season. He completed two passes to get the Commanders to their 48-yard line, setting up a Hail Mary that will live on forever in Washington sports lore.

On the final play of the game, Daniels avoided the rush and let loose a missile that was tipped directly into the hands of Noah Brown for a game-winning touchdown as time expired.

Fittingly enough, the pass was tipped by Bears defensive back Tyrique Stevenson, who was taunting Commanders fans moments before Daniels threw the pass.

While Chicago closed as a slight underdog on the moneyline, Washington was the longest of longshots on the live betting moneyline during its final drive, making this one of the more memorable bad beats we’ve seen in a long time.

Dropped Interception Crushes Ravens Bettors

Coming off five straight wins and an impressive victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football earlier in the week, the Baltimore Ravens were heavily favored against the 1-6 Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Not only were the Browns reeling from five straight losses, but they were also starting third-string quarterback Jameis Winston following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury.

However, the Ravens shot themselves in the foot multiple times, starting on their opening drive when they got stuffed on fourth-and-one rather than kicking an easy field goal. Justin Tucker also missed a 50-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, leaving even more points on the board.

Still, Baltimore took a 24-23 lead with two and a half minutes left and only needed one more stop from its defense to ice the game. Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton had a golden opportunity when Winston threw the ball directly to him, but he inexplicably dropped it, giving Cleveland another chance.

Winston immediately made Baltimore pay, hitting Cedric Tillman for the go-ahead touchdown on the very next play. The Ravens still had a minute to score a touchdown, but failed to do so and suffered a brutal 29-24 defeat.

Garbage-Time Touchdown Impacts Total

The only question the Carolina Panthers have yet to answer is whether they’ll finish the season as one of the worst teams in NFL history. However, that doesn’t mean that their games can’t be interesting for bettors.

While their game on Sunday against the Denver Broncos was decided early, the Panthers found some life at the end of the game when backup quarterback Bryce Young led them on a 98-yard scoring drive to make the score 28-14 with 18 seconds left.

Even though the game was already out of reach, the meaningless touchdown impacted bettors across the country, causing the Over to hit after the total closed at 40.5 at most books.

Missed Field Goal Looms Large in Upset Win

The New England Patriots entered Sunday’s game against the New York Jets on a five-game losing streak, and things turned from bad to worse in the second quarter when budding star quarterback Drake Maye left with a concussion.

The Jets failed to pull away, however, and led 16-14 heading into the fourth quarter. They had a chance to extend their lead early in the fourth, but Greg Zuerlein (who had already missed an extra point) shanked a 44-yard field goal – his NFL-leading sixth missed FG of the year.

That gave Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots new life. They marched down the field for a go-ahead field goal before scoring the game-winning touchdown with 25 seconds left, emerging with an improbable 25-22 victory in Foxborough.

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Henry Palattella
Henry Palattella Editor

Henry Palattella is a writer and editor based in Cleveland, Ohio, where he can usually be found ranting to his cat about how injuries robbed Grady Sizemore of a Hall of Fame career. He also works as a writer for MLB.com along with freelancing for numerous publications in Northeast Ohio. A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, he is a graduate of Kent State University, where he graduated the same year that Julian Edelman completed his degree.

Tyler Maher
Tyler Maher Editor

Tyler is the Deputy Editor of Forbes Betting, helping expand the vertical since its launch in 2022. Before joining Forbes, he worked for MLB.com, The Game Day and Minute Media. Originally from the Boston area, he graduated from Tufts University in 2015 and currently lives in Providence, RI.