C
OMEBACK WEEK IN THE NFL
Spreads and totals were on the line late in contests all across the board this weekend in the NFL as game after game came down to the wire or the scores changed dramatically late in the game. Losers turned to winners and winners to losers in the closing minutes of games all day long and bettors either cried or cheered accordingly.
Take for instance the Minnesota Vikings, who sat around on their hands not scoring at all in the first half and falling behind the Denver Broncos 20-0 at half time. Game over, right? Wrong!
What was looking like a huge upset in the making, the Vikings were 10 point favorites to win the game, was brought to a screeching halt with 6:10 remaining in the 4th quarter when Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins passed short left to Kyle Rudolf for 32 yards and a touchdown putting Minnesota ahead of the Broncos for the first and final time in the game at 27-23.
The Vikings did not cover the -10 point spread, but they did win the game with one of the most incredible comebacks in recent memory. What did hit the ten point mark was the predicted total of 40 which went over by 10 points even though the Vikings defense managed to shut out the Broncos in the 4th quarter.
Out West it was another fantastic finish for the San Francisco 49ers as they put up 19 points in the 4th quarter against the Arizona Cardinals to take a come from behind victory by a final score of 36-26 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. by holding off a late surge when Cardinal quarterback Kyler Murray scored on a 22 yard keeper to put the Broncos ahead 26-23 with six and a half minutes left to play.
But stopping Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco offense in the 4th quarter was more than the Broncos defense could manage and the 49ers quarterback tossed a 25 yard touchdown pass to Jeff Wilson Jr. with only 31 seconds left in the game and San Francisco had come back from 16 points down to take a stunning 36-26 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Ironically the spread was San Francisco -10, and they won by 10, so the game was a push unless some savvy bookie managed to slip in a hook for the contest. Once again the game went way over the predicted 44 points ending with a total of 62 points put up by both teams.
The New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles did not score a point in the 4th quarter of their game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia giving fans a lackluster finish to a lackluster football game. Tom Brady only completed 26 of 47 passes for 216 yards and not a single TD.
Carson Wentz did at least throw one touchdown pass but only completed 20 of 40 passes for 214 yards in the contest in which the Patriots covered the -4.5 spread and the totals went to the under this time as only 27 of the predicted 45 points were put on the board.
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott gave credence to speculation that the Cowboys have the best offense in the NFL by putting up 444 yards in the air with an additional 18 yards rushing and scoring 3 touchdowns without throwing a single interception against the Detroit Lions.
Detroit quarterback Jeff Driskel, filling in for the injured Matt Stafford, threw for 209 yards and 2 TD’s in an exciting contest which went down to the wire with both teams scoring in the fourth quarter. As in most games this week, the over bets won the day as the final score of 35-27 was 15.5 points over the predicted 46.5. Over bettors did well with the NFL in week 11.
The Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, Sam Darnold of the Eagles and Jimmy Garoppolo of the 49ers each threw 4 touchdown passes in Week 11 while Drew Brees of the Saints, the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott of the Cowboys and Jeff Allen of the Buffalo Bills each threw 3 TD’s guiding their teams to another NFL victory.
