Odds-defying comebacks by the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets highlighted a wild NFL Sunday, including at sportsbooks around the nation.
At Caesars Sportsbook, the Cardinals and Dolphins were each as long as 25-1 in the fourth quarters of their games. Arizona fell behind 20-0 to the Las Vegas Raiders but rallied to tie the score on a Kyler Murray touchdown run and two-point conversion on the final play of regulation. In overtime, Cardinals cornerback Byron Murphy returned a fumble recovery 59 yards for a touchdown to finish off the comeback.
In Baltimore, the Dolphins trailed the Ravens by 21 points entering the fourth quarter. Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw four of his six touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including a winning 7-yard completion to Jaylen Waddle that gave the Dolphins their first lead with 14 seconds to play. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, teams leading by 21 or more in the fourth quarter had won 711 consecutive games.
The Cardinals and Dolphins each faced 20-point deficits at halftime. It’s the first time in NFL history that multiple teams have overcome a 20-point halftime deficit on the same day, per Elias Sports Bureau research.
But what the Jets did in Cleveland topped them all.
Trailing the Browns 30-17 with two minutes to play, the Jets were 60-1 at Caesars Sportsbook to come from behind and win the game and even longer at other sportsbooks. PointsBet offered the Jets at 175-1 with 1:33 to play and got no takers.
Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco led the Jets to two scores in 60 seconds, including the winning touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson with 22 seconds left. According to ESPN Stats and Information research, teams that were up 13 points with less than two minutes left had won 2,229 consecutive games.
Caesars Sportsbook vice president of trading Craig Mucklow said the comebacks produced mixed results for his shop.
“We didn’t want the Dolphins,” Mucklow told ESPN on Sunday night. “But the Cardinals was the big one for us, because of the [Las Vegas] hometown money and being in the afternoon.”
John Murray, executive director of the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas, also pointed out the Cardinals’ comeback, calling it “huge” for his sportsbook.
“We won a lot of games we looked dead to rights on,” Murray said. “[I’ve] never seen so many crazy endings in one day.”
Bettors had more luck at other sportsbooks.
“Both the Dolphins and Jets were bad outcomes for us,” WynnBET trader Andy Morrissey told ESPN. “We were rooting against the improbable comebacks in the room.”
Morrissey added that, overall, the book had a winning day. The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, wasn’t as lucky. According to sportsbook director Tom Gable, a losing day for the book was sealed by the middle of the afternoon after wins by the New York Giants and the Jets.
“It was the first ‘J-E-T-S’ chant I’ve heard in the book in a long time,” Gable said.