The gambling conspiracy theories were once again flying with the way Sunday’s game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans ended.
The Texans scored a late touchdown to beat the Jaguars 24-20 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Running back Dare Ogunbowale caught a 1-yard pass from C.J. Stroud to give the Texans a lead with just 18 seconds remaining. Jacksonville then got the ball back with time for only a couple of desperation plays.
Trevor Lawrence completed a short pass to Christian Kirk, and the quarterback ended up with the ball a second time after a pair of laterals. Lawrence then threw a backwards pass that was brought in by Travis Etienne at around the 1-yard line. Etienne was hit by a defender and driven back into the end zone, where he was dragged down to end the game.
The Texans closed at -5.5 vs the Jaguars
This was the last play of the game…
Should it have been a safety to make it a 26-20 final score? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/9Q38nB4B4E
— SportsBettingDime (@SBD) September 29, 2024
The official closest to the play ruled that Etienne’s forward progress was stopped at the 1-yard line, so there was no safety. That might not matter to either team, but it certainly had an impact on the gambling community.
Houston was a 5.5-point favorite over the Jaguars, meaning the Texans had to win by at least 6 points to cover the spread. Had the final play been ruled a safety, those who bet on Houston would have won their bets. With Etienne being called down at the 1, Jacksonville covered the 5.5-point spread, and Jaguars bettors cashed their bets.
Not surprisingly, there were plenty of people who believe the ending was rigged for the underdog to cover the spread.
We may have just witnessed one of the most blatant spread rigging moments in NFL history in the Texans Jaguars game lmao. Clear safety called down at the one to cover the 5.5 spread
— Icy Maxey (@IcyMaxey) September 29, 2024
Refs just shafted (or saved) bettors everywhere not calling that final play in Jags-Texans a safety
— Tom Downey (@WhatGoingDowney) September 29, 2024
That Jaguars safety not called was a Vegas move. Nasty work.
— Joe W Dillard Jr. (@JoeDillard) September 29, 2024
These types of bad beats — and the reaction to them — are extremely common in the NFL, mostly because there are so many close games. We saw similar outrage over one play in Thursday night’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
