Dramatic Eagles-Panthers finish takes ‘years’ off gambler’s life as $3.1m bet hangs on game’s final drive

Want to spice up a Sunday?

Try making one of the largest wagers ever reported on a regular-season NFL game. Then watch as your pick, an overwhelming favorite, nearly falls at home in the final moments of the fourth quarter. 

That was the experience for one Kentucky gambler, who bet $3.1 million on the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the lowly Carolina Panthers at Circa Sports, as reported by ESPN. At -700 odds, this person stood to win approximately $442,800 on the moneyline with an Eagles win.

But despite being a 12.5-point underdog at FanDuel, the Panthers played more like a team with playoff seeding at stake.

A rejuvenated Bryce Young gamely moved the Panthers into Eagles territory on the final drive. He completed a 13-yard pass on fourth down that moved the ball to the 38, and a second-down pass to Xavier Legette gave the Eagles – and the unnamed gambler – a brief scare when the receiver seemed to have the ball in the end zone.

He didn’t. Young eluded a pass rush on fourth down but his final attempt was incomplete, resulting in a 22-16 win for Philadelphia.

Legette gave the Eagles a brief scare when the receiver seemed to have the ball in the end zone

‘The bettor lost years off his life,’ ESPN’s joked on X after the game, ‘but he cashed.’

‘Buddies life flashed before his eyes when Bryce threw that pass to Legette,’ one commenter added.

Another commenter had a similar thought: ‘That Legette deep ball prob made his heart skip a beat.’

Fortunately for the bettor, the Eagles do have Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 124 yards to break the Eagles season record on Sunday. Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score as Philadelphia won its ninth straight game over the struggling Panthers.

The Eagles (11-2) maintained their position as the No. 2 team in the NFC, behind Detroit (12-1), after a mostly lethargic effort against the Panthers (3-10).

Barkley added another milestone in his MVP push when he used a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter to surpass LeSean McCoy’s Eagles record of 1,607 yards, set in 2013. Barkley now has 1,623 yards with four games left.

Hurts’ passing numbers were a pedestrian 14 of 21 for 108 yards. He hit Grant Calcaterra with a 4-yard TD pass and Barkley ran in the 2-point conversion for a 22-16 lead early in the fourth.

Young finished 19 of 34 for 191 yards.

Chuba Hubbard, who topped 1,000 yards rushing on the season, made it 16-14 on a 1-yard run in the third quarter. Eddy Pineiro, who kicked a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter, missed the extra point.

Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was examined earlier for a concussion, changed the game late in the second quarter when he picked off Young’s deep pass at Philadelphia’s 41. Hurts scrambled 15 yards on the next drive and finished it with a 4-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith for a 14-10 lead.