Ending of Rams game flips gambling result.

[Dave Gray]

The Rams were down 10 points yesterday.  They elected to kick a FG with 4 seconds left.  It ended the game and they lost by 7.

The line was 8, so they covered the spread.



I've watched a lot of football in my life and I've never seen this.  It was always kind of an unwritten rule not to do this.  You always saw teams end the game by throwing one last pass into the endzone.  I think it was considered the respectful, honorable way to lose, but it also might play into total TDs, which is a tiebreaker stat.

Did anyone notice this?  Or have you ever seen a team do this?  I can't think of it ever happening.

[Fau Teixeira]

point differential is a tie-breaker .. teams are going to score as much as they can, because it could come back to them competitively later on

[Pappy13]

Hmmm...can't say that I've really seen this but did the time run out during the FG or did they actually get to kickoff and tried an onsides kick? I'm assuming the time ran out, but if it didn't it makes perfect sense to try it. You need 10 points regardless of how you get them. Maybe they should have tried earlier but weren't in FG range? I'd have to know more of the details.

Edit: Ok, I went back and watched the game and honestly I think the plan all along was kick the FG once they were in FG range and then try the onsides and go for a hail mary. The problem is they basically couldn't get in FG range in time. When they finally did get in range to kick the FG there was only 4 seconds left on the clock so they just went ahead and kicked the FG. I don't really think there's anything to talk about here. I don't think they did it beat the spread or even to really add just 3 points, it's just that the end of the game came before they wanted. If that had been 5 more seconds on the clock they would have kicked the FG and then did an onside kick and there would have been nothing unusual about the ending at all.

[Denver2]

Yeah.. that’s not a good look at all. You take one last shot at the End Zone.

Very iffy.

[Spider-Dan]

FG is the correct call in a situation like that, even though they ended up not having enough time.

It's pretty straightforward: if you score, your only hope for another possession is recovering the onside kick with an opponent penalty (leading to one untimed down for your offense).  Attempting a FG here would likely be from your side of the field (70+ yards).  This is one of the few instances where you are better off kicking the field goal and hoping for a hail mary on an untimed penalty down.

[AQNOR]

I'm sure there was heavy action in Vegas and someone got rich.

[Phishfan]

I doubt anyone got rich.

[Spider-Dan]

The "Vegas!" angles are always so lame.
So if the Rams miss that field goal, some different people get rich instead?  Or what, exactly?

[AQNOR]

The "Vegas!" angles are always so lame.
So if the Rams miss that field goal, some different people get rich instead?  Or what, exactly?

Exactly the point.   You know as well as I do that games can and do get fixed.  I'm sure phone calls were made right before they decided to kick that field goal.

[Spider-Dan]

The casinos don't care who wins.
They make their money off of the fees they charge when you place the bet.

So if it's not the house fixing it, I'm not sure who you think is.

[Phishfan]

Arnold Rothstein

[AQNOR]

The casinos don't care who wins.
They make their money off of the fees they charge when you place the bet.

So if it's not the house fixing it, I'm not sure who you think is.

Not sure where you thought the casinos were involved in any of this.   I don't recall a casino EVER getting involved with a sports fix.   People with big bucks that are close to players/coaches on the team are the ones doing the fixing.  The only reason I said Vegas was because I was thinking old school.  Not long ago, sports betting was legal only in Nevada and New Jersey.   Vegas did and still does set the betting lines.   And since sports fixing is illegal, I'm sure that whoever does the fixing has people lined up to place bets at the casinos with cash in order to avoid a trail.

[Downunder Dolphan]

The Rams were down 10 points yesterday.  They elected to kick a FG with 4 seconds left.  It ended the game and they lost by 7.

The line was 8, so they covered the spread.



I've watched a lot of football in my life and I've never seen this.  It was always kind of an unwritten rule not to do this.  You always saw teams end the game by throwing one last pass into the endzone.  I think it was considered the respectful, honorable way to lose, but it also might play into total TDs, which is a tiebreaker stat.

Did anyone notice this?  Or have you ever seen a team do this?  I can't think of it ever happening.

It's strange. There are questions already, and there should be more.

There isn't the importance of percentage/points spread in NFL versus AFL in Australia when it can be crucial to making finals (playoffs) or not.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

A fair amount of money betted is done by fans of the respective teams.  If I was a coach and at the end of the game could not affect the outcome of the game but could kick a FG that would result in my fans getting paid at the expenses of opposing fans, I would do it.

[masterfins]

A fair amount of money betted is done by fans of the respective teams.  If I was a coach and at the end of the game could not affect the outcome of the game but could kick a FG that would result in my fans getting paid at the expenses of opposing fans, I would do it.

Good Point.