DraftKings Bettor Loses $1.4 Million As Jaguars Come Back on Chargers

One DraftKings bettor registered one of the worst sports bets ever Saturday night, losing $1.4 million during the Los Angeles Chargers' epic collapse. 

The anonymous gambler placed a live bet with -12500 odds, meaning that they would have profited just $11,000 from their enormous bet. Much to the bettor’s assured horror, the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead and lost 31-30 eliminating them from playoff contention.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP 🤯

One @DKSportsbook bettor live bet $1.4 MILLION on the Chargers moneyline at -12500

The bet would have only won $11,000... 😬 pic.twitter.com/gWNubKrnd1

— Pickswise (@Pickswise) January 15, 2023

The Chargers entered the game as 2.5-point favorites; they exited with the record for the third-largest blown lead in NFL playoff history.

The Chargers faced the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second of two Saturday games in the NFL’s Super Wild Card. The Jags entered the playoffs on a five-game win streak and had already won the reverse fixture 38-10, but it was the Chargers who roared out to a dominant 27-7 halftime lead.

Somewhere in that timeline, DraftKings sportsbook received an enormous $1.4 million live bet. Many top-level gamblers have a rule not to bet odds shorter than -200, so that -12500 represented a considerably negative risk-reward ratio. That being said, only two teams in league history had foregone leads as large as what the Chargers had accrued. 

The Jaguars’ word of the day was “belief.” After the comeback victory was cemented by a 36-yard field goal in the dying moment, both Jags head coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Trevor Lawrence repeatedly cited their belief as the reason for the comeback.

Maybe the DraftKings user didn’t believe in the Chargers enough.

Lawrence was largely responsible for the Jags falling so far behind in the first two quarters. At one point, he was just 4-16 with four interceptions and had become the first player in NFL postseason history to throw three interceptions in the first quarter. 

As poor of a start as it was, he was masterful from the final minutes of the second quarter until the end of the game. The second-year pro finished with 288 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions and led scoring drives in his team’s final five possessions of the game.

Next up for the Jags is a trip to Kansas City, where they meet the top-seeded Chiefs in a battle for the rights to advance to the conference championship.

As devastating of a loss as the $1.4 million wager was, a Caesars bettor suffered a similarly unproductive, albeit less damaging loss.

After the Chargers had already gone up big, Caesars received a $54,000 wager on the Chargers’ moneyline at -5000 odds. That bet would have cleared $1,080 in profit if it cashed, but of course, it did not.

With Chargers up big, a bettor at @CaesarsSports bet $54,000 on Los Angeles to win.

If they hold on, bettor will net $1,080.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 15, 2023

The Jags-Chargers result was just the start of a crazy NFL playoff window. The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers played a relatively predictable game Saturday afternoon, but Sunday's game was much less predictable.

The first Sunday game featured the Buffalo Bills, who were 13.5-point favorites, against the Miami Dolphins and rookie third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson. The betting public was heavily behind the Bills, yet the Dolphins were ahead at halftime and narrowly missed out on the upset, falling 34-31.

The New York Giants then took their show on the road and beat the 13-4 Minnesota Vikings in their home stadium. The Vikings had beaten the Giants in the same venue a few weeks prior and were also favored by three points.

The late game also produced a similarly intriguing matchup. Just like Thompson and the Dolphins, the Baltimore Ravens and backup quarterback Tyler Huntley took a 10-9 lead into halftime against the highly-favored Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals pulled out a 24-17 win in the end but failed to cover the 8.5-point spread in another victory for the underdogs.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys will complete the playoff picture once they meet on Monday night. The winner will advance to play the San Francisco 49ers.