An interesting storyline to track this NFL season has been Circa Sports’ survivor pool. That contest has a $9.27 million pool this year, up from $6.1 million last year, and it fell from 13 to 10 remaining entrants last week thanks to wins from the Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. And the contest is now down to just four entrants, after six incorrectly picked the 7-7 Denver Broncos to win against the 3-11 New England Patriots Sunday night, and were undone by a 56-yard field goal in the final seconds from Chad Ryland:
Of course, these bets looked doomed for a significant portion of this game before Ryland’s game-winning field goal. The Patriots trailed 7-3 at the half, but put up a 20-0 third quarter. And even a missed extra point and missed field goal from Ryland didn’t seem too likely to be consequential.
But in the fourth quarter, Russell Wilson led the Broncos on a remarkable comeback. That saw them score two touchdowns and two two-point conversions, and tie the game just inside the final three minutes. And they then forced a punt from New England on the ensuing drive. But the Patriots got a defensive stop of their own, then pulled off a 43-yard drive in 56 seconds to give Ryland this chance. And he made the most of it, cashing a 56-yard attempt and ruining the night for many of these remaining entrants.
The final four entrants now face Week 16B thanks to this contest’s setup. They’ll have to pick one of the three Christmas Day games: the Las Vegas Raiders at the Kansas City Chiefs, the New York Giants at the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Baltimore Ravens at the San Francisco 49ers. We’ll see if anyone else winds up being doomed by a long field goal.
[Ben Fawkes on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.