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Case of the Mondays: Defeat Snatched From Jaws of Victory for Lions


by - 9/25/2017

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco

In an absolutely wild slate of 1:00 NFL games on Sunday, none ended in more bizarre fashion than the Falcons-Lions showdown. In the span of zero plays taking place, Detroit went from thinking it had the game won to confirmed losing. As for the Ravens, they wish their game against Jacksonville in London had never taken place. It was also a rough weekend on the gridiron for Florida State and Oklahoma State.

Odds provided by BetOnline Sportsbook unless otherwise indicated.

Detroit Lions . Trailing Atlanta 30-26, the Lions got the ball back by forcing Atlanta to punt with a little more than two minutes remaining. Quarterback Matthew Stafford promptly engineered a stellar drive-what looked like a game-winning drive, in fact. After two incomplete passes starting with 1 st-and-goal at the one-yard line, Golden Tate dove into the endzone following the completion of a short slant route. Eight seconds remained when the play was ruled a touchdown. Upon video review, Tate's knee was ruled to have hit the ground before he scored. By rule, a 10-second runoff ensured because Detroit had no timeouts lef..And just like that ("that" being the head referee looking at a TV screen), the Lions went from an apparent 33-30 victory to a 30-26 loss. The Falcons are +425 favorites to win the NFC.

Joe Flacco . The Ravens showed up for the national anthem at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday. They didn't show up for the game.Baltimore, which had been 2-0 at the expense of perhaps the NFL's two worst teams (Cincinnati and Cleveland) got blown out by the Jaguars 44-7. Flacco was especially horrendous, going 8-for-18 with 28 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. He was benched in the fourth quarter and replaced by Ryan Mallett, who completed six of nine passes for 36 yards and one score during garbage time. Baltimore is a +2.5 home underdog against Pittsburgh in Week 4.

Florida State . For the first time since 2011, Florida State is out of the AP top 25. The Seminoles have already lost twice this season, first to Alabama and again to N.C. State this past Saturday. Playing without Deondre Francois, who is out for the year with a torn patellar tendon in his knee, FSU fell at home to the Wolfpack 27-21. "They were always one play ahead and we didn't make the plays that we needed to make," Seminoles' head coach Jimbo Fisher lamented. "We got to get that cleaned up to have a nice football team. It's been done around here before with this kind of start." Florida State is a -7.5 favorite at Wake Forest on Saturday.

Mike Gundy . Last Friday, Sept. 22, marked the 10-year anniversary of Gundy's 'I'm a man, I'm 40!' rant. That is a happy anniversary for everyone, because it means the famous video circulated just about everywhere for all to see. But things weren't so happy for Gundy one day later. His previously undefeated Oklahoma State squad was upset at home by TCU, 44-31. The Cowboys' comeback effort was all but derailed when an inexplicable wide receiver pass was called and-you guessed it-picked off with six minutes remaining. TCU eventually iced the game with a 42-yard touchdown run on a third down. Oklahoma State is +2000 to win the National Championship (Bovada Sportsbook).

Milwaukee Brewers . One weekend earlier, the Cubs swept St. Louis to all but end the Cardinals' hopes in the National League Central. This time around Chicago took three of four games at Milwaukee to effectively end the Brewers' chances of capturing the division title. The Cubs led by 3.5 games heading into last Thursday's series opener, so the home team could have overtaken the defending World Series champions with a sweep. Instead, the Brewers went in the wrong direction. They lost in 10 innings in each of the first two contests, blowing one save in the process, before getting shut out 5-0 by Jose Quintana on Sunday. Milwaukee is +5000 to win the World Series; the Cubs are +650.

Enes Kanter . Prior to this past weekend, Kanter played for a winning team in Oklahoma City. Now he is sitting around staring a losing season-and probably multiple losing seasons-in the face. That's what happens when you get dealt from the Thunder to the Knicks. Kanter was traded along with Doug McDermott and second-round draft pick in exchange for Camelo Anthony. The 6'11'' Turk averaged 14.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in just 21.3 minutes per game for an OKC team that went 47-35 last season. "Please beat the Warriors for me," Kanter told Oklahoma City in his goodbye message on Instagram. "Please, I'm gonna be watching that game, so please beat the Warriors for me."Russell Westbrook is a -170 favorite to lead the Thunder in scoring this season.

Jordan Spieth . Spieth went into the Tour Championship at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings and as the frontrunner for the $10 million prize. The 24-year-old failed to win the tournament, but so did everyone else in the top five of the season-long race. Still, Justin Thomas' solo second-place finish was enough to snatch the cup from his countryman and good friend. Thomas, who will almost certainly bag PGA Tour Player of the Year honors, birdied holes 16 and 17 to separate himself from Spieth. Rookie Xander Schauffele made a four on the par-5 18th to edge Thomas by one stroke. Spieth finished T7, four strokes behind Thomas and five south of Schauffele. Team USA is a -300 favorite to win this week's Presidents Cup (Bovada Sportsbook).

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