Patrick Mahomes’ slide was a wise move late in Chiefs’ win, but bettors were unhappy

Church was in service Sunday night.
The Chiefs salted away a 23-20 win Sunday night with a 7-minute, 24-second drive that didn’t result in points but also didn’t allow the Jets to get the ball back.
New York had the ball just once in the fourth quarter and it resulted in a turnover when Jets quarterback Zach Wilson lost a fumble. The Chiefs took over at the Jets’ 47-yard line and ran 15 plays, picking up a net 45 yards.
The Chiefs could have scored, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes slid at the 2-yard line rather than scoring a touchdown. That came inside of the 2-minute warning and allowed the Chiefs to run out the clock.
A slide short of the end zone is called “Church Mode,” and Chiefs fans saw Jerick McKinnon do something similar in Super Bowl LVII.
Unfortunately for bettors, a Chiefs touchdown would have covered the spread and many called it a bad beat.
“Teasers and parlays cashed, but a big win for us,” Zachary Lucas, director of retail trading at Twin Spires, told USA Today about the Chiefs-Jets game. “(It was) the biggest decision I’ve seen in three years.”
Here is the play and some of the reaction from people who wagered on the game and/or play fantasy football.
By taking this slide instead of scoring, Patrick Mahomes may have ruined thousands of bets that had the Chiefs sitting around -7.5 or -8 coming into the game.