Lack of PAT Attempt Results in Bad Beat for Bears Bettors on Sunday Afternoon

• Bears failed to cover 11-point spread after no PAT attempt was made following Chicago’s last-second TD in loss to Saints
• Saints closed as 11-point favorites after opening -8
• NFL rules say no PAT attempt is necessary if the game’s final result is not in doubt as time expires

Few expected the Chicago Bears to actually beat the New Orleans Saints in Sunday afternoon’s Wild Card Round contest. The Bears entered the game as double-digit underdogs at most NFL betting sites, so their 21-9 defeat was hardly a huge surprise.

However, the Bears’ final touchdown of the game did leave plenty of bettors reeling. While the Saints opened as eight-point favorites, enough money came in on New Orleans over the course of the week to cause betting sites to increase the spread to Saints -11 or -11.5.

No PAT Attempt

The game was well out of reach by the time Jimmy Graham hauled in a one-handed touchdown grab from Mitchell Trubisky as time expired in the fourth quarter. Graham’s last-second touchdown had no bearing on the game’s actual result, but the score did give the Chicago Bears an improbable shot at a backdoor cover of the point spread. The seemingly-meaningless TD pulled the Bears to within 12 points of New Orleans, pending the extra point.

However, the Bears wound up declining to even attempt the extra point. Instead of attempting a pointless kick, both teams ran on the field and shook hands with nothing but zeroes left on the clock. NFL rules say that the Bears did not have to even attempt the extra point with no time left on the clock and the game outside of a two-point margin.

The final score of 21-9 was an absolutely brutal break for bettors that put money on Chicago to cover the 11- or 11.5-point spread. On the flip side, the lack of an XP attempt proved to be quite the gift to bettors that backed the Saints to cover the hefty spread.

New Rule Change Costs Bettors

That aforementioned rule change went into effect back in 2018 in an attempt to improve player safety.

The rule says, “If a touchdown is made on the last play of a period, the try attempt shall be made (except during a sudden-death period, or if a touchdown is scored during a down in which time in the fourth quarter expires, and a successful try would not affect the outcome of the game).”

The rule change was made after Stefon Diggs’ 61-yard touchdown reception at the end of the Minnesota Vikings’ win over the Saints in a playoff game as time expired. Both teams had to come back onto the field for a meaningless PAT attempt that had no bearing on the outcome of the game, so the NFL decided that the rule was a necessary addition. The Vikings did not even wind up attempting a PAT, with QB Case Keenum instead opting to take a knee.

Big Liability for Sportsbooks

The New Orleans Saints were easily the most popular bet in this game among bettors at sportsbooks all over the US. Jeff Stoneback of BetMGM told ESPN that the game was easily MGM’s biggest liability of Sunday’s playoff action.

Stoneback said, “We needed the Bears pretty bad. We gave back what we won yesterday (Saturday) alone on the Saints game.”

The Bears opting to kick the extra point would have resulted in a push for bettors that bet on the Bears +11. Converting a two-point conversion would have helped bettors that bet on Chicago to cover cash those bets. The Bears wound up mounting a 99-yard touchdown drive to close the game immediately after Saints quarterback Drew Brees had a touchdown run overturned by replay.

While the outcome was a bad beat for many, there was one bettor that wound up cashing-in in a big way thanks to the Bears’ pointless last-second score. One bettor placed a live bet worth $25,000 on the Bears +17.5 midway through the fourth quarter when Chicago was trailing 21-3.