The Kansas City Chiefs win – but their fans in Las Vegas lost a heartbreaker

Kansas City Chiefs punter Matt Araiza intentionally tiptoed out of the end zone Saturday to give up a safety, adding meaningless points to the scoreboard but shaking the football world game.

Araiza’s surrender in the end zone — which put the finishing touches on Kansas City’s 23-14 playoff victory over the Houston Texans — settled Las Vegas’ bets on cyberspace in a game that players call it “backdoor coverage.”

Gamblers who sensed a possible upset could have bet on underdog Houston and were up 9.5 points Saturday, within the final point spread that started at Kansas City -8. But while Las Vegas’ money earlier in the week was on Kansas City, the line shifted and forced the remaining Chiefs fans to give up 9.5 points by Saturday.

In other words, betting on Houston would be a winning investment provided that the Texans win the game outright or lose by no more than 9 points. And conversely, KC bettors needed the Chiefs to win by 10 or more.

The deciding play for the lead was certainly unusual, as Kansas City, leading 23-12, faced fourth-and-15 from its own 18-yard line with 15 seconds remaining. Chiefs coach Andy Reid could have easily kicked the ball with virtually no chance of Houston scoring twice in the final seconds, possibly with the help of a blocked kick.

But to completely lock up the game, Reid opted to have Araiza sprint toward his own goal, dance on the edge of the end zone to kill precious seconds, then run out of bounds with nine seconds left.

Those two points meant everything to the players who received or gave 9.5 points as the final margin narrowed from 11 to 9. The ESPN team running the game immediately took note of the significance of those points.

“And there are a lot of people paying attention to it,” said play-by-play manager Joe Buck. “It makes it a 9-point game.”

Buck and analyst Troy Aikman took note of how longtime NFL broadcaster Al Michaels would delicately interject gambling issues in calls, in an earlier era when sports betting was not as open as today.

“Al Michaels is smiling right now,” Aikman laughed.

“Al Michaels is stunned,” Buck added. “Wow.”