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Much of Monday night’s clash between the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles was unassuming and rather bland. The Seahawks were clearly the better team, leading wire-to-wire, but Seattle wasn’t thoroughly dominant on the offensive side of the ball. The Eagles struggled mightily, headlined by Carson Wentz continuing his prolonged slump, and with the Seahawks leading 23-9 late in the fourth quarter, the win-loss result was all but academic. However, the point spread was still in doubt, at least to some degree, and shenanigans took place in the final seconds.
Seattle closed as a consensus 6.5-point favorite on this night, even while acknowledging that the Seahawks were -5.5 or -6 earlier in the week. Still, with a 14-point lead, things looked safe… until they weren’t. Wentz connected on a 33-yard Hail Mary pass, with a crazy one-handed catch by Richard Rodgers to bring the Eagles within eight points.
Eagles convert the Hail Mary with 12 seconds left. #FlyEaglesFly
: #SEAvsPHI on ESPN: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/zmAJGTFGBG pic.twitter.com/RbZdxGAsgx
— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2020
Under “normal” circumstances, the team trailing by eight points might simply kick the extra point to climb within seven. With that said, the Eagles have been at the forefront of the analytical movement to go for two when trailing by 14 and, in predictable fashion, they did so here, with Miles Sanders scampering into the end zone without much resistance from Seattle.
When Sanders crossed the goal line, people without vested interests in the point spread may have simply shrugged, but many took great notice. None more so than a well-publicized bettor that placed a half-million dollars on the Seahawks… at -6.5.
$500K BET ON THE SEAHAWKS
Someone just dropped half a milly on Seattle -6.5 for MNF tonight
(via @BetMGM) pic.twitter.com/z91wT1XoO7
— br_betting (@br_betting) November 30, 2020
ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt led his postgame coverage with a wink and a nod toward what transpired and, without any doubt, this was a sickening backdoor from a team that didn’t deserve to cover. Everyone that dabbles in the handicapping space has a story (or two) about a bad beat like this, but the Eagles pulled off a miracle that swung quite a bit of money in the desert on Monday night.
The Seahawks beat the Eagles 23-17, with Philadelphia getting a Hail Mary TD in the final seconds.
Seattle was favored by 6.5 points.
Scott Van Pelt: “Well. That was significant to some.” pic.twitter.com/mHtsRcRWXH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 1, 2020
