In the final seconds of a 30-20 Week 2 divisional battle between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, head coach Sean McVay elected to kick a meaningless field goal as time expired, resulting in a 30-23 49ers victory. While it didn’t change the outcome of the game, it had major implications for bettors everywhere.
The 49ers were favored to win this game by seven points at select sports books and could be found as high as seven-and-a-half point favorites elsewhere. As a result, kicker Brett Maher’s 38-yard field goal in the final seconds of the game prevented 49ers bettors from winning their bets while simultaneously helping Rams bettors narrowly escape defeat.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What may have been viewed as an insignificant or irrelevant field goal attempt to most people could’ve been viewed as a financially life-altering play for others.
Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito stated that the 49ers-Rams game was “the game that kind of saved the day for us with the miracle cover by the Rams.”
Conversely, South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews mentioned that the Rams’ decision to kick a field goal was a costly one for them. “The Rams field goal at the end killed us,” said Andrews. “I don’t know what they were thinking, but that hurt us,” he added.
Mcvay hasn’t been asked to address why he opted to kick a last-second field goal in a 10-point game, but bettors everywhere would be curious to hear his perspective.
