LAS VEGAS -- These are ESPN Chalk's weekly NFL betting recaps for every Sunday game -- with an emphasis on the word "betting."
Sometimes it's clear from the opening kickoff that a team is going to win and/or cover the spread. Other times it looks like one team is going to coast to victory when the other one rallies, causing bettors to wonder how they could have possibly lost that game and crying "bad beat!" And, of course, there are the back-and-forth, 50-50 games that are virtual coin flips.
This new column, which will also include my takeaways from each game, will separate the different kind of point-spread results from each week, and is intended to be a quick overview for those who have to work on NFL Sundays or otherwise aren't able to watch all the games.
So let's run down Sunday's Week 3 action:
Note: We'll point out crazy over/under results, but this is primarily a recap of the against-the-spread (ATS) results.
Bad Beats (clearly wrong sides)
Indianapolis (-1.5) in 26-22 home win over San Diego
The Colts led 10-0 and it looked like they could be a right-side winner, but the Chargers rallied to tie it 13-13 at halftime. In the second half, it really looked like the Chargers were going to cover, even after they missed a PAT by Josh Lambo and the Colts took a non-covering 20-19 lead. A Lambo FG put the Chargers up 22-20 and at least the cover for San Diego backers looked safe as it was assumed the Colts would be likely to settle for a game-winning FG.