The Worst Beat of NFL Week 8: Ravens Unfairly Affected by Onside Kick
NFL Week 8 Upsets: Cardinals Stick It To the Spread
You Had One Job, Nelson Agholor!
Nelson Agholor has 357 catches in his nine-year NFL career. But late on Sunday afternoon, he could not come up with the one catch that Baltimore Ravens backers needed most. Agholor failed to catch the Arizona Cardinals’ onside kick, which resulted in the underdogs scoring a field goal and killing bettors who had Baltimore on the spread. It was an unlikely scenario but one that produced an incredible NFL Week 8 upset (on the spread) and the worst beat.
Ravens Were Flying High After Slaying Lions
After blowing out Detroit 38-6, it was unsurprising to see Baltimore open as eight-point favorites against Arizona. The Cardinals had gone 0-3-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last four NFL games. They were one of the worst NFL teams and were visiting Baltimore. So by game time, Baltimore’s spread was anywhere from -9.5 or -10. A lofty handicap.
While Arizona scored first, the Ravens scored 24 unanswered points to go up 24-7 at the 9:27 mark of the fourth quarter. This game felt well in hand and all Baltimore had to do to cash their NFL odds this week was to milk the clock while keeping Arizona from outscoring them.
Arizona and Baltimore exchanged touchdowns to leave the score at 31-15 with 2:51 left on the clock. Now, the Ravens just needed to try and play some more defense until they got the ball back to drain the clock. This was the NFL’s best defense after all, right?
The Cardinals are Back to Killing Chalk
Before the Cardinals’ winless streak, they were one of the best on the Vegas odds for the NFL. Arizona was 3-0 ATS and even pulled off a big upset against Dallas for Week 3. Now, the Cardinals have pulled off one of the more memorable Week 8 upsets on the spreads. And they’ve done it unforgettably.
With the team down 31-15, quarterback Joshua Dobbs led the team to another touchdown. He hit former Raven Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to put Arizona within 10. That’s already a bad beat for those who had Baltimore -10 on their ticket. Still, that would be a push and they get their money back at least.
Fortunately, Baltimore prevented the two-point conversion to keep the score at 31-21. But with 1:14 left on the clock, it would be 74 seconds of hell for Ravens backers.
Arizona hit the onside kick and as it sailed high up in the air, Agholor appeared ready to catch it. Except he didn’t. The ball bounced off of him and into the hands of Cardinals special teamer Owen Pappoe. Aptly nicknamed “The Freak”, this was indeed a freakish incident for Ravens backers.
But that’s still okay if Baltimore can get Arizona to go 3-and-out. Expect it did not. Dobbs once again moved the chains and even connected with Trey McBridge to push Arizona to Baltimore’s 24-yard line. From there, Matt Prater kicked in a 47-yard field goal to cause the most improbable NFL Week 8 upset on the spread.
Fortunately, and we say this mockingly, Agholor caught the next onside kick attempt from Arizona to ice the game.
Bucs-Bills Also Got a Bit of a Bad Beat
Before the Cardinals caused this terrible beat, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sort of did the same for Thursday Night. Up 24-10 at the 10:40 mark of the third quarter, the Bills could just keep the game scoreless up until they cover their 10-point spread. And sure enough, Buffalo did do this too well: the teams exchanged punts up until 10:05 mark of the fourth.
The Bills’ Jordan Phillips sacked Baker Mayfield in the fourth down to clinch the game. However, he got flagged for a Face Mask, and that restarted Tampa Bay’s drive. Mayfield made no mistake this time as he led a touchdown and a two-point conversion. And just like that, Buffalo failed to cover and fell further down the NFL power rankings.
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