The Minnesota Vikings are kind of used to this. Field goals have been a problem of theirs for a while now; Blair Walsh was never the same after he missed what likely would have been the game-winner (laces out!) in their 2015-16 NFC Wild Card Game against the Seattle Seahawks, so they replaced him last year with Kai Forbath. Then, in April, the Vikings drafted Daniel Carson in the fifth round out of Auburn and gave him the job over Forbath in training camp. Problem solved.

Or not. In one of the baddest beats the NFL has produced in a while, Carson missed two field goals in overtime, including from 35 yards out on the final play, leaving the final score 29-29. That’s fine if you had the Vikings at +2 when the football odds first hit the board, but when it became known on game day that Packers QB Aaron Rodgers would play while wearing a brace on his left knee, Minnesota jumped to -2. Ai ya.

The Kick Inside

If it’s any solace to Vikes fans, anyone who bought the Packers at -2 suffered their own microbeat. Mason Crosby had a chance to win the game for Green Bay on the final play of regulation, but he whiffed from 52 yards out. The weather conditions appeared fine at Lambeau, and Crosby had made all five of his earlier attempts during the game, so this was a tough one to swallow for Green Bay bettors.

Really, though, it was more like a coin flip – which is why we’re calling it a microbeat here at the home office. Crosby was 28-for-57 lifetime from 50 yards or longer heading into Sunday’s game, and none of his previous five attempts were that long. Bettors and NFL fans expect total precision from their place-kickers at all times, especially in this era of robo-kickers, but they’re never gonna get it. No, they’re never gonna get it.

My Man Adam

If you had Green Bay in your Week 2 NFL picks at -2, your “actual” bad beat may have come just before Crosby took the field. The Packers went up 29-21 with 1:45 remaining after Crosby connected on his fifth figgie, and the clock was winding down on Minnesota when QB Kirk Cousins – who had an epic fourth quarter – threaded the needle between two defenders and found WR Adam Thielen in the end zone with 31 seconds remaining. Then Cousins and WR Stefon Diggs combined on the successful 2-point conversion to tie the game.

Suffice to say, this was a crazy game overall, and already the second tie in the NFL this year. It contained enough beats on both sides to cover the entire league for Week 2 – a great week for the books, with so many underdogs getting paid. We hope you got some of that cash money, and we hope the prolate spheroid will be with you in Week 3.