Weekend's worst bad beats

Rob Nelson of ESPN Stats & Information revisits the worst bad beats from the weekend's gambling action.

Thursday

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys

Line: Over/under 47

There wasn't a single point scored in either the first or third quarters of this game but, even so, bettors on the under still didn't end up walking away winners.

After both teams were held scoreless for the first 19 minutes of play, Jason Witten's 8-yard touchdown catch got the Cowboys on the board. Dallas would go on to take a 17-0 lead after Ryan Switzer's 83-yard punt return touchdown, before the Redskins finally got on the board with a Ryan Grant 20-yard score with 59 seconds left in the half.

The halftime score of 17-7 was particularly upsetting for those on the first-half under of 23.5, who lost by a half point. Those on the full-game under had that same feeling of disappointment later in the night. With the Cowboys still leading 17-7 entering the fourth quarter, Dez Bryant caught his 72nd career touchdown, giving him the most in franchise history.

Bryant's score marked the first of four touchdowns in the final quarter, with Rod Smith's 1-yarder with 2:37 left pushing the total over in a game in which neither team eclipsed 280 yards of offense.

Final score: Dallas 38, Washington 14 (game goes over)

Friday

North Carolina Tar Heels vs Davidson Wildcats

Line: North Carolina -11

You almost had to see what happened at the end of this game in order to believe it. As for those who took North Carolina, they'd appreciate never having to see those final seconds again.

The defending champs led by as many as 18 in the second half, and were up 85-71 with fewer than 30 seconds left. Barring something out of the ordinary, there was really no chance of Davidson covering at that point. Unfortunately for bettors on North Carolina -11, "out of the ordinary" would indeed ensue.

Davidson's Peyton Aldridge made a contested layup with 19.6 seconds on the clock to cut the margin to 12, then teammate Carter Collins stole the inbound pass, but missed a jumper that would have cut the deficit to 10. Jalek Felton grabbed the rebound for the Tar Heels and simply needed to dribble out the clock -- but the true freshman had other ideas. Felton attempted some sort of behind-the-back pass that was stolen by Davidson and resulted in a Jon Axel Gudmundsson layup with 2.4 seconds left to make the final margin 10.

Final score: North Carolina 85, Davidson 75 (Davidson covers)

Saturday

Akron Zips vs Toledo Rockets

Line: Toledo -20.5

Those who bet Toledo must have figured they were on their way to a nice, easy cover. The Rockets led 38-0 with less than 16 minutes left and were covering the 20.5-point spread by three scores. So, the end of this game must have felt like a lifetime for bettors who took the favorite.

Akron got on the board with 30 seconds left in the third quarter on a Manny Morgan 7-yard touchdown, and that was just the beginning. All of sudden, the Zips -- who previously looked like they might get shut out -- put up three more touchdowns in the fourth. The final one would be a Robbie Kelley-to-Kobie Booker 5-yard TD pass with 20 seconds to go that capped off a terrible bad beat for those on Toledo, who got outscored 28-7 over the final 15:30 of the game.

Final score: Toledo 45, Akron 28 (Akron covers)

Sunday

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans

Line: Titans -7

The Texans led 10-0 in the first half and seemed to be in control of this game. It appeared that those who took Houston +7 in this divisional matchup were going to end up on the right side. Then Derrick Henry happened.

Houston fell behind 17-13, and after Tom Savage threw an interception with 1:08 left, the Titans took over at their own 20-yard line. Houston had just two timeouts left, so the game was pretty much over. However, two plays later on third-and-5, Henry -- who previously had rushed for 34 yards on 10 carries in the game -- broke loose for a 75-yard touchdown to crush bettors who had taken the Texans.

It's now safe to say that no bet is over when Henry is on the field. Why is that? The late score marked Henry's second rushing touchdown of 70-plus yards this season, with the earlier one also resulting in a bad beat for bettors. Henry's 72-yard touchdown with 47 seconds left on Oct. 16 against Indianapolis covered the 7-point spread, as it extended Tennessee's lead from seven points to 14.

Final score: Tennessee 24, Houston 13 (Tennessee covers)