A Nevada bettor who wagered $50,000 on the Seattle Seahawks to win the NFC at 28-1 odds before the season cashed in for $1.4 million when Seattle beat the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in Sunday’s NFC championship game. The unidentified gambler placed the bet at BetMGM and also has $50,000 riding on Seattle to win the Super Bowl at 60-1 odds at the same sportsbook, with similar action at Circa, which offered 75-1 preseason odds on the Seahawks to win it all.
The Seahawks covered as 2½-point favorites in a game that went over the total of 46 in the third quarter. The Rams had a chance late, driving to the Seattle 6-yard line with 4:59 remaining down four, but Matthew Stafford’s fourth-down pass was broken up in the end zone by Devon Witherspoon. Los Angeles got the ball back with 25 seconds left, but Puka Nacua was tackled inbounds near midfield as time expired.
“In back-to-back weeks now, we were huge Seahawks fans against the 49ers and we were huge Seahawks fans against the Rams,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “They backed the other team in those games, although the Seahawks were the well-rested team, the No. 1 seed and they’ve got the top defense. The entire day was predicated on the Seahawks winning by more than a field goal.”
The Rams were the biggest Super Bowl liability at the Westgate, according to vice president of race and sports John Murray. “We got the results we wanted. We got the Rams out of there,” Murray said.
Patriots advance in ugly win
New England beat Denver 10-7 in a snowy, low-scoring affair to reach the Super Bowl for the 12th time. The Patriots didn’t cover as 3½-point favorites, and the game stayed under the total of 43. Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, making his first start in over two years, fired a 52-yard pass to Marvin Mims Jr. to set up Courtland Sutton’s 6-yard touchdown catch for a 7-0 lead. New England tied it after recovering Stidham’s backward pass at the Denver 12, setting up Drake Maye’s 6-yard touchdown run. Andy Borregales kicked a go-ahead 23-yard field goal late in the third quarter for the only points of the second half. Maye converted a fourth-and-1 at the Denver 8 on the drive, a play upheld after a Broncos challenge.
“New England could’ve scored zero points in that game,” Murray said. “If you look at the turnover that set up their touchdown, and I thought they got stopped on the fourth down where they kicked a field goal. That was a very close game.”
Sportsbooks take hit on teasers
South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said his book lost a little Sunday, mostly because all four teams covered teasers. “We took a lot of teaser action. That’s what hurt us today,” he said. Murray echoed that the Westgate also got beat up on teasers but was otherwise happy with the day and the Super Bowl outcome. The Westgate will release Super Bowl props at 7 p.m. Wednesday, a day earlier than usual.
