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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Prince J. Grimes

Brett Maher’s missed extra points cost NFL over/under bettors dearly

I can’t imagine Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher got a ton of sleep Monday night. The 33-year-old missed four extra points in the team’s playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, repeatedly blowing what’s supposed to be one of the easiest, low-pressure kicks he can make.

Luckily, the Cowboys were so dominant, it didn’t matter. The only things possibly harmed by his performance were his own ego and reputation. Oh, and maybe a few bank accounts.

The 31-14 final score came a point short of going over the betting total, which was 45.5 at kickoff. According to Yahoo Sports, 63% of bets as of Monday morning, and 67% of the money was on the over. All Maher had to do was make one of those missed extra points for those tickets to cash. There was also a large majority of wagers at BetMGM on him to make over 2.5 extra points. He finished under that number at 1-for-5 on the night.

So, yeah, he cost a good chunk of people some money. There won’t likely be an understanding public for him to lean on for sympathy.

Not everyone will be upset, though. BetMGM took a $480,000 bet Monday afternoon for the game to fall under an alternate total of 46.5 points at -120 odds, according to Yahoo Sports.

Under bettors alike will be happy to know Maher isn’t going anywhere. Jerry Jones said Dallas won’t look into replacing the kicker this week.

maher

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