Jaguars-Texans game ends with big gambling controversy

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 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.

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.

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