NFL Butters Up Bettors, Snatches Away Chargers-Raiders Tie

The NFL got us again. They really did.

The Raiders and Chargers seemed destined for a tie to get both teams in the playoffs.

The tie would have cashed all kinds of longshot parlays and props for bettors:

The game to end in a tie was around 13-1 but varied by sportsbook. Parlays at 250-1, 500-1, 800-1 and beyond involving the Jags and this game tying.

Instead, Vegas kicked a field goal with two seconds left, and ripped our hearts out.

Our Stuckey outlined this wild NFL playoff scenario late last Sunday night:

• If the Jaguars beat the Colts…
• And the Steelers beat the Ravens…
• The Raiders and Chargers both get into the playoffs with a tie

Steps No. 1 and 2 went down earlier. The Jags scored the 10th-biggest NFL upset in the last 30 years over the Colts, and the Steelers beat the Ravens in overtime.

The Chargers completed a miraculous comeback with 15 points in the final minutes and both teams kicked field goals in overtime. But the Raiders sent the Chargers packing with the last-second field goal.

Earlier this week, Gambling Twitter was filled with all kinds of massive parlay tickets aligned with this scenario.

• 245-1: Jaguars ML & Chargers-Raiders tie
• 700-1: Jaguars ML & Chargers-Raiders tie at halftime and full game
• 464-1: Jaguars ML & Chargers-Raiders under 18.5 points

Not everyone ended up a loser, including this guy who turned $1k into $115k.

Here are some of the ridiculous parlays from earlier in the week:

Chargers coach Brandon Staley said earlier this week that he would not play for the tie no matter what.

It does remain unlikely these teams agree to tie, but there is some precedent from the 1982 World Cup.