Fortune favors the bold, and it's certainly a bold strategy to put money on the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets. Cincinnati and New York are two of the worst teams in football, with each destined for a top three draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Jets lost their first 13 games, while the Bengals lost franchise quarterback Joe Burrow midseason and are on their third-string quarterback.
There was no way the Jets and Bengals were going to win a game the rest of the season, right? Especially not in Week 15, as the Jets were 17.5-point underdogs and the Bengals were 14-point 'dogs. But both teams did the improbable, with the Jets stunning the Los Angeles Rams and the Bengals upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers -- not just covering the spread, but winning outright -- altering the NFL playoff race in the process.
For any bold gamblers who decided to throw caution to the wind and bet on the Jets and Bengals in a moneyline parlay, a nice holiday bonus came their way. How nice? Per William Hill Sportsbook, a $100 parlay bet on the Jets and Bengals, not just to cover but on the closing moneylines, would've paid out $8,800. The closing moneyline for Bengals was +700 and the Jets was +1000, resulting in the 88-1 odds.
How unlikely was the scenario the Jets and Bengals were both going to win this week? Per ESPN, it was the first time since 1973 that two underdogs of 14+ points won outright in the same week. This was only the fourth time in the Super Bowl era that it's happened.
The Jets are the 10th team to start a season 0-13 -- and just the fifth team to snap a 13-game losing streak to start the season (the first since the 2011 Indianapolis Colts). The Bengals were the first team since the 1970 Philadelphia Eagles to start a season 2-10-1 and win the next game (they were the first team since the 1973 New York Giants to even start a season 2-10-1).
Obviously the odds were long, but if you were willing to risk some spare money on two of the three worst teams in the league -- you'll definitely have some extra cash for the holidays.