The Saints and Vikings played in an absolute thriller in Minnesota on Sunday, with a miraculous touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs as time expired handing the Vikings an unbelievable 29-24 win and a date with Philadelphia in the NFC title game.
Keenum’s desperation heave with Diggs somehow bringing it in, staying in bounds, and breaking a tackle en route to the end zone was incredible, as was the scene in U.S. Bank Stadium and in Las Vegas as everything got sorted out after the touchdown was confirmed.
The NFL requires teams to attempt an extra point after every touchdown in regulation, no matter if time expires. Whether they’ll admit it or not, it’s 100 percent due to the massive amount of money riding on these games in Las Vegas (and offshore). The Vikings entered Sunday as a five-point favorite but got bet up to 5.5 points at most books, meaning the extra point was very valuable in Vegas and was going to cause a massive swing for bettors that got it after the move.
So, while the Saints went to the locker room and the celebration was on for the Vikings, one more snap had to happen, forcing the Saints to trot 11 players out onto the field for one last play. Included among them was punter Thomas Moorstead, who broke ribs early in the first quarter and was now out there on defense.
However, rather than kick the extra point for the cover, the Vikings elected to take a knee as, I guess, a gentlemanly move. This led to pandemonium in Las Vegas.
At Bally’s (where I was), Saints fans, understandably extremely mad and upset about the loss, took the opportunity to hurl expletives at the Vikings backers that mocked them after the touchdown. One guy, who came running into the book waving his ticket, screaming about how he fished it out of the trash, didn’t realize they were kneeling and once it happened solemnly stepped out of line and dejectedly walked out, no money in hand.
Elsewhere, the reactions were about the same, with a wide array of emotions from jubilation to despair depending on where you found yourself on the line.
When they kneel for the deciding point lol pic.twitter.com/UXD9sMevmJ
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) January 15, 2018
Funny enough, the money for the books wasn’t particularly affected by the decision, as at William Hill 51 percent of the money on the line was on Minnesota, meaning it was a minor win, but not major. The bigger impact was the Vikings simply winning, as 79 percent of the money on the money line was on the Saints — the Steelers loss on the field was an even bigger win for the books as Pittsburgh had 68 percent of money on the side and 87 percent of money line cash.
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