The Buffalo Bills had been, by far, the worst team in the NFL through two weeks of the season. Their opening day loss to the Ravens was an abject disaster, highlighted by an atrocious showing from Nathan Peterman at quarterback.
A week later, they lost 31-20 to the Chargers in a game where the final score wasn’t indicative of how badly they played, to the point that Vontae Davis legitimately retired at halftime. Week 3 looked like it was set up for the Bills to get an absolute beatdown at the hands of the 1-0-1 Vikings, considered one of the best teams in the league.
As such, the Bills were 16.5-point underdogs at the close of the day — the line was as large as 17 at some books during the week — which is about as high as you’ll ever see in the NFL. The Vikings were -2000 on the money line (that is, the odds of them simply winning outright), which meant every $100 bet would net you a strong $5. One bettor at the Westgate Superbook was so sure of the Vikings win he strolled to the window confidently and placed $9,000 on Minnesota to win outright in an effort to win $450.
A bettor at the Westgate SuperBook placed a $9,000 moneyline wager on the Minnesota Vikings to beat the Buffalo Bills straight-up at -2,000 odds. Bet would net $450. Bills lead 24-0 early second quarter.
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) September 23, 2018
The Bills quickly jumped out to a 27-0 lead, winning the game 27-6 in the most stunning performance of the early NFL season. Josh Allen was literally leaping over the Vikings defense en route to a victory, and the Vikings offense couldn’t muster much of anything against the Buffalo defense.
That bettor has to be sick right now, although if you have a spare $9,000 to bet to win $450 you probably aren’t hurting for cash. The lesson, as always, is you deserve to lose money if you bet on ridiculous favorites. Underdogs for ever.
