The San Diego Chargers held a 27-0 lead late in the first half of their Wild Card Round game with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Everyone thought the game was over. Of course we all know now what happened . . .

A series of errors, bad calls, fluke plays and dumb decisions led to an epic comeback by the Jaguars.

But at 27-0, nobody really thought that was possible. So one high roller placed a money line bet for the Chargers to win the game, laying down $1.4 million!!, just to win $11,200!!

In many ways this was easy money, and high rollers do this all the time. But sometimes you can get crushed.

Darren Rovell tweeted out the details of this epic bad beat:

And you thought you had a rough day?

Bu the end of the day we’ll know which NFL teams will be meeting up in the Super Bowl that will be played in Los Angeles in two weeks. The current betting lines have the Chiefs and Rams favored to meet for the NFL title, but we all know anything can happen in the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals +7 at Kansas City Chiefs

This line hung around 7.5 all week, but late money must be coming in on the Bengals as the line is now an even 7. Joe Burrow is extremely confident and he has an offense loaded with weapons at the skill positions, so you can see why you can’t count this team out. He also has the moxie to take the necessary risks to win this game. But there’s a downside to this strategy. The Bengals have been on the edge of playing recklessly all season. Last week Burrow was sacked 9 times but were bailed out by a horrible game by the Titans offense. They won’t be so lucky against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. This team will score points, and put plenty of pressure on Burrow and the Bengals offense. We know that Burrow is unflappable, but he will certainly be tested this week in Kansas City. Burrow pointed out last week that SEC stadiums are typically louder than NFL stadiums, but he hasn’t played on the road in KC in the playoffs. Things are different there.

While I think anything can happen in this game, I’m going to lay the points here. The Honey Badger is back for KC, which should bolster the defense that was shredded by Josh Allen and the Bills. Mahomes will put up points, and this could turn into a blowout if Burrow makes some mistakes.

San Francisco 49ers +3½ Los Angeles Rams

Many would concede that the Rams are the better overall team, and it’s certainly a team loaded with elite talent, but the 49ers have had their number. It’s a matchup issue, as the 49ers are built to give the Rams headaches. The Rams don’t defend the run well. They’d much rather pin their ears back and kill you with their pass rush. But the 49ers love to run the football and they do it very well against the Rams. Also, everyone is talking about the mistakes we’ve been seeing from Jimmy Garoppolo, but Matt Stafford has had his share of mistakes as well. He’s played much better in the playoffs, but against the 49ers pass rush we easily could see more this week.

This is a tough game to pick, but it’s hard to pass on the 49ers and 3.5 points in this game. The Rams are at home but there could be more 49er fans in the stands so both teams will be dealing with the noise. The key to the game could be the 49er defensive line. If they get pressure today then the 49ers should be able to win this game outright.

Based on last week’s games, betting on NFL games can be quite stressful, so try to enjoy the experience!

2021 was a year of huge expansion in legalized sports betting across the United States. The legal sports gambling market doubled in 2021 with more than $52.7 billion was wagered throughout the year.

Young people are diving in and giving sports betting a try, and the continued popularity of NFL football and college football is certainly helping to drive interest.

We can expect continued growth in 2022 as states like Ohio will be joining the fun, while New York will continue to grow as well with casinos a possibility inside New York City.

High rollers and casual gamblers will now have many more ways to play, and everyone will need to think about what they really want to get out of this. Are you really putting the work in to win these bets, or are you just enjoying the high roller lifestyle when traveling to places Like Las Vegas? Be honest with yourself as you navigate these new opportunities.

As more and more states rush to get in on legalizing all forms of gambling, we continue to see success stories as state start to see the cash roll in. Detroit has had casinos for years, but Michigan expanded legalized gambling and added sports gambling to the mix, and the results have been very positive:

Internet casinos, poker and sports betting in Michigan generated $1.4 billion in revenue in 2021, the first year online gambling was operational in the state.

Internet casino gaming generated $1.1 billion in revenue while internet sports betting produced $292.2 million, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Meanwhile, bettors wagered $3.7 billion at online sportsbooks last year.

Michigan became the third state in U.S. history to generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue from online casino games and poker, and the first to do so in its first year.

At some point states will start to cannibalize each other’s revenues, but with sports gambling most players are state residents. So each state is just adding to the overall pool of players. Let’s see how this trend plays out . . . Ohio will be joining the party in 2022!

The NFL Wildcard Weekend saw most of the favorites advance, we have some pretty good matchups heading into the Divisional Round. The Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs are still the favorites to meet in the Super Bowl, but neither team has an easy matchup this weekend.

Cincinnati Bengals +3½ at Tennessee Titans

The Bengals are riding high behind the golden arm of Joe Burrow. Meanwhile, nobody is talking about the Titans who managed to grab the top seed in the AFC and now have a healthy Derek Henry back in the backfield. I like the Titans in this game, but Borrow would make me nervous. The kid is special and he won’t be intimidated by playing on the road. That said, the Titans have a big edge when it comes to experience and coaching, and they can tear apart the Cincy defense with their running game.

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