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Lenny the Loser Pays Homage to the Greatest of Covers

Ode to a cover.

Never again will The Loser complain to the Gods of Wagering.

Not after what happened in Minnesota.

The Vikings were down 33-0 had at halftime – and covered.

The largest comeback in NFL history. The greatest cover in NFL history? The Vikings odds of winning, forget covering, was 1%.

The second time QB Matt Ryan went from winning going away to losing the hard way. The odds of being on the wrong end of a regular-season halftime lead and a 28-3 Super Bowl halftime bulge? Less than 1%.

Oh, there have been times this season when The Loser felt personally aggrieved by the Gods. There was the Cowboys blowing a 13-point cover when they allowed the Giants to score a touchdown with eight seconds left. Eight. That was Amateur Blown Cover Hour!

Or the Chiefs, giving 9.5 to the lowly Broncos, were up 27-7 before suffering altitude sickness or something and held on for a 34-28 victory. The Broncos hadn’t scored more than 16 points in their previous four games. The 28 points was the most they scored this season. Not even all the pot in 420-friendly Colorado could turn a frown into a smile.

Or the Cowboys (see a trend here Dallas fans?), giving four, led the Jaguars 27-10 at halftime. Dallas was looking to clinch a playoff spot and set up a monster game next week against the Eagles. The Jags were clinging to the slimmest of the playoff hopes. Jacksonville rallies for a 40-34 win in OT. Momma don’t let your babies grow up to be Cowboys fans.

Or, and you had to see it to believe it, the once fundamentally sound, never beat themselves New England Patriots, are the first team in NFL history to suffer a collective brain fart. New England led Las Vegas 24-17 with less than 30 seconds remaining and just needed to prevent the big play.

Vegas scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. O.K., thought The Loser, “They’ll win it in OT.” It was a Pick’Em game. So fittingly, former Patriot Chandler Jones intercepted a backward pass and ran it 48 yards for the winning touchdown as time expired.

The handshake between Bill Belichick and his former offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, now the coach of the Raiders, has colder than the Saturday night game in Buffalo. The loss probably doomed the Pats’ playoff chances.

That’s a lot to gripe about. But honestly, how can any of us in the wagering community who had the Vikings, ever complain again?

 Down 33-0 at halftime the Vikings needed to outscore the Colts by 36 points to cover the 2.5 points they were giving. And they did. Vikings 39, Colts 36 in OT. The Loser will never complain again.

OK, one exception. If at the 64th minute of the most thrilling World Cup ever, with Argentina celebrating a 2-0 lead and subbing out veteran Angel Di Maria, you went to the loo and took the South American power minus one goal it must have felt the world had broken off its axis.

France scored twice in less than 90 seconds to tie it on two Kylian Mbappe goals. Argentina went up 3-2 in the 108th minute only to have Mbappe tie at against at the 118th minute on an Mbappe penalty kick. That led to penalty kicks, the only fitting way to decide a game this magical.

Argentina prevailed 4-2 on kicks for a 4-3 win. So much for your loo bet.

Mbappe, with a hat trick, was brilliant. Lionel Messi checked the only box missing to secure the title of greatest soccer player of all time, was not to be denied. The result was a game for the ages. (Imagine how much better it would have been with beer!).

Now. imagine how filthy rich you’d be, if: At halftime of the Vikings-Colts game, you parlayed the Vikings to cover, Raiders moneyline and Argentina to lead 2-0 at halftime but need penalty kicks to win it all. Yes, we can dream.

But today, it’s an ode to the mother of all covers. Skol, Vikings! Skol! Or the Jaguars. Or the Raiders. Or Argentina. Yes, The Loser will never forget the weekend that football and soccer reminded us why sports wagering is so spectacularly unpredictable. 

 

 

 

 

author
Lenn Robbins
Sports Journalist
Hi, I'm Lenn Robbins, a long-time sportswriter who still holds the detention record at Bildersee Junior High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., where I was born and raised. I came out of the womb a Mets fan, was baptized a Knicks fans and through the power of TV, became a Cowboys fan, which explains why I'm in group therapy. The name of my fantasy football league team is Sexual Chocolate. Anyone who can explain the origin of said team name, please h
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