There are a million ways to lose wagers and far fewer ways to win them. However, anyone who had the Cleveland Browns against the spread on Sunday while playing the Houston Texans might want to think about giving up gambling.
Why?
The betting line was Cleveland minus-3.5 points. The score was 10-7, Browns, when Nick Chubb took off on what looked like a certain 60-yard touchdown run.
However, the instructions were to make sure you didn’t score if there was less a minute or so left in the game. So, Chubb listened and stepped out of bounds at the 1-yard line with 53 seconds left, allowing Baker Mayfield to take a couple of knees and preserve the 10-7 victory.
Nick Chubb ripped off a 59-yard run and stopped at the 1-yard line 😲
(via @thecheckdown)pic.twitter.com/IK5Pbpyyi1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 15, 2020
The strange thing about the orders: A touchdown would have made it 16-7, 17-7 with a PAT. The likelihood of Houston getting two scores in 53 seconds was a long shot. However, Kevin Stefanski’s thought process was as safe as it gets and winning is what matters.
That has to be one of the most painful ways imaginable to see a winning wager turn into another losing proposition.