8 Toughest Gambling Beats of the First Half of the NFL Season

Bad beats when wagering on the National Football League are unavoidable and even the best professionals will shake their heads in amazement inside Las Vegas sports books on a weekly basis.

Being a sports handicapper, I may categorize bad beats differently than the normal fan, as I look over the entire game rather than one individual play.

One of the many things I learned as a sports book supervisor is patrons will always mention how bad a game turned against them, but will fail to admit being on the wrong side when cashing a ticket.

Let's take a look at eight games that should have turned out differently from a betting perspective.

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs, Week 8

The San Diego Chargers are the worst team to wager on—period.

Backers of this underachieving franchise the last two weeks will likely skip over handicapping its games the rest of the year.

The Chargers have failed to cover the spread versus the Chiefs in both meetings this year despite racking up a combined 822-593 edge in total yards.

Last week's Monday Night Football broadcast was one of the sloppier games you'll ever watch, which is why it's no surprise that San Diego fumbled the game away.

Deep inside Kansas City territory, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers failed to get a clean snap from center, ultimately leading to a three-point defeat.

San Diego backers were hoping to push due to laying three points, but ultimately lost.

Denver Broncos at Miami Dolphins, Week 7

Tim Tebow was the equivalent of a four-letter word in Las Vegas in Week 7, rallying the Denver Broncos from a 15-0 deficit to an 18-15 come-from-behind victory over the Miami Dolphins as one-point road favorites.

Casual bettors couldn't wager fast enough on the NFL's biggest story after replacing starter Kyle Orton two weeks earlier in a 29-24 home loss to the San Diego Chargers.

Professionals thought they got the best of it—so did Las Vegas—but in the end there was a lot of "Tebowing" going on up and down the strip.

Seattle Seahawks at Cleveland Browns, Week 7

Cleveland Browns backers definitely got the worst of it against the Seattle Seahawks as three-point favorites in Week 7, dominating the time-of-possession battle by holding onto the football for 42:56.

Browns second-year quarterback Colt McCoy had the team in field-goal position with under two minutes remaining when he was sacked and headbutted on third down by Seahawks defensive end Red Bryant.

The automatic first-down penalty sealed a 6-3 Browns' victory, while eliminating any chance of covering the spread.

Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys, Week 4

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was in complete control in leading his team to a 20-3 halftime lead, only to throw it away in the final 30 minutes.

Detroit snagged a 34-30 come-from-behind victory as 2.5-point road underdogs inside Cowboys Stadium despite holding onto the football for just 23:21 and being out-gained by 131 yards.

It was an even more embarrassing loss to Romo, extending the lead with a touchdown out of the break.

The largest blown lead in a losing effort for the franchise left bettors shaking their heads for days.

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings, Week 3

Professional bettors were loading up on the Minnesota Vikings as three-point home underdogs against the Detroit Lions in Week 3, which looked like a sure thing until the third quarter.

It became one of the worst beats of the year when you realize that the Vikings hadn't lost to the Lions inside the Metrodome since 1997.

Detroit outscored Minnesota by 23 points in the second half to move the game into overtime, eventually winning with a Jason Hanson 32-yard field goal.

To add insult to a professional bettors' injury, it moved the winning side to 3-0 for the first time since the 1980 campaign.

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills, Week 3

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led his team to a 21-0 second-quarter lead over the Buffalo Bills as seven-point road favorites, only to see it slip away.

The result was a win for Las Vegas due to the amount of public action on the visitor, but it still falls into the category of a bad beat.

After all, New England had beaten Buffalo 15 consecutive times coming into that Sunday affair.

It ultimately resulted in the Bills becoming the first pro football team to overcome deficits of 18 points or more in consecutive weeks, going back as far as the 1950 campaign.

Some will argue that a game is four quarters, but trailing Brady by three touchdowns is quite a tall mountain to climb.

It will likely never happen again.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings, Week 2

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the verge of starting the 2011 season with an 0-2 record, only to send the Minnesota Vikings down that treacherous road.

Minnesota backers were only laying a point inside the Metrodome, jumping out to a 17-0 halftime lead.

Statistically, the Buccaneers likely played their worst 30 minutes under third-year head coach Raheem Morris, getting out-gained by 222 yards going into the break.

The end result was a 24-20 Tampa Bay win that changed a lot of bettors' bankrolls heading into the afternoon.

New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers, Week 1

The New Orleans Saints were four-point road underdogs on the opening night of the 2011 NFL season, coming back from a 21-7 first-quarter deficit, only to fall 42-34 to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Casual bettors will not see this as a bad beat, but professionals were left frightened about wagering on the rest of the schedule in Week 1.

Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram was stopped on the one-yard line to end things in the fourth quarter, a play call that head coach Sean Payton would probably like to take back.

Virtually every bettor inside the sports book was left wondering why star quarterback Drew Brees wasn't given a chance to throw for a score.

Often times, coaching decisions result in bad beats.

I'm not saying that New Orleans would have scored on a pass play, but I like the chances of it better than handing the ball off to a player in his first NFL game.