The New Orleans Saints’ missed field goal at the end of their loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday would have been as dramatic as Kawhi Leonard’s bouncing game-winner against the Philadelphia 76ers had the stakes been as high.
The 61-yarder struck the left upright of the goal posts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, ricocheted to the crossbar, then bounced back out of the uprights for a heart-breaking missed field goal. Instead of a tied game headed for overtime, the Vikings won 28-25, and Saints bettors were left in disbelief.
However, the missed field goal wasn’t the worse bad beat from the game. That distinction belongs to a missed extra point about four minutes earlier.
Justin Jefferson walks in the touchdown, GRIDDYS … and then Greg Joseph misses the extra point to keep the #Saints within field goal 🤡 #Vikings pic.twitter.com/cOxHNuggQx
— Cover 2 Podcast (@Cover2Podcast) October 2, 2022
Vikings -3.5 bettors… pic.twitter.com/X2gtkIVveg
— br_betting (@br_betting) October 2, 2022
New Orleans’ miss was no doubt a tough blow for Saints moneyline bettors, the majority of the betting public was on Minnesota. The Vikings received 78% of bets against the spread and 84% of bets on the moneyline.
Those spread bettors got the rawest deal, because the line closed at -4 and bounced around between -3 and -3.5 in the days leading up to the game. That missed extra point could have very well been the difference between a four-point win and cover — or a push at the very least — and a loss.
Down just three after the missed XP, the Saints were willing to settle for a 60-yard field goal the following possession, rather than attempting to convert a fourth-and-9 with under two minutes left. Had they been forced by a four-point deficit to go for it, and failed, the game likely would have been over. Instead, kicker Will Lutz hit the field goal to tie the game at 25, and Vikings kicker Greg Joseph responded a minute later with a 47-yarder to redeem himself for the missed XP.
That set the stage for Lutz’s dramatic miss to end the game. But while the Vikings won, their bettors weren’t likely happy at all. The three-point win didn’t do much for many of them.
