By John Simmons

Copyright outkick

The most inconsequential game of Thursday night’s matchup between the Bills and the Dolphins has proven to be very consequential to a lot of bettors’ wallets. With just 11 seconds on the clock, Buffalo had a 10-point lead on Miami and just needed the clock to hit zero for it to count as an official win. The Dolphins snapped the ball for one last play, and Malik Washington caught a pass and ran 14 yards to pad his stats a bit. But was it a pass, or a run? Here’s the play. I’ll let you be the judge. To me, that could go either way, but I’ll say it’s a pass. No way Tua Tagovailoa threw that ball backwards that badly, and it didn’t look like it was a lateral either. However, the play was officially scored as a run, giving Washington 12 receiving yards on the game. Not the sexiest output ever, and given that this play happened when Miami had no chance of winning, it shouldn’t matter to anyone. But it did, because if that play were counted as a reception for Washington, that would have allowed dozens of bettors to cash in on their parlays. When news broke that that play was considered a rushing attempt, bettors immediately raised havoc. I’ve dabbled in sports betting before (quite unsuccessfully, I might add), and like most people, I’ve lost some parlays in some pretty frustrating ways. But none of them were as agonizingly close as this. Tagovailoa was inches away from ensuring dozens of people earned a little extra side cash. Instead, those people are now singing the blues. I feel for the bettors. That one hurts.