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'The Chase': Was James Holzhauer having an 'off day'? Fans say Episode 3 deserves an Emmy

James Holzhauer is known for his 32-game winning streak on 'Jeopardy!', but here's how he was just bested on 'The Chase'

For shows like 'The Chase' you never know which episode will have you at the edge of your seat. Season 2 might have only just begun, but today's episode might have been one of the biggest wins on the US-run to date, seeing that the team featured managed to win a shocking $660,000, while going up against the high roller himself, James Holzhauer.

This season, the show sees the return of chasers Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer, Brad Rutter and UK chaser Mark Labbett. With Jennings and Labbett having been the chaser on episodes 1 and 2 respectively, this episode saw James Holzhauer take on a new team — Liz, Diva and Greg — hoping to make it big. And turns out, they did just that!

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Liz was the first one to go up against Holzhauer. Having banked an impressive $100k in the first round, Holzhauer knew he was going up against a tough contender. He made her two offers — she could either play for $25,000 and gain a head start on the board or play for $300k and risk the chance of getting caught, seeing that it put her position on the board closer to him. Liz, who was feeling pretty confident in her ability to win, took the $300k offer. This move had everyone on the edge of their seats, but Liz absolute breezed through and bagged $300k while successfully maintaining a gap between her and Holzhauer. 

The next team member to play was Diva. She managed to bank $80,000 in the first round. Going up against Holzhauer, he made her two offers as well — she could either play for $25,000 and gain a head start, or play for $250k, but risk the chance of getting caught. Diva went in for the original $80,000 she won in the cash builder round and was able to secure it with ease, bringing up the team's total to an impressive $380k.

The last person to enter the cash builder round was Greg, who managed to get nine answers right, winning $90,000. Going up against Holzhauer, the chaser made him two offers — he could either take the lower offer of a measly $1,000 and gain a headstart, or play for the higher bid of $280,000 made by Holzhauer, which could close the gap between them. Greg decided to take a chance, much like his teammate Liz, and went with the higher offer. He went on to win the round, bumping up the team's total to $660,000. 

The Final Chase was the team's last shot at taking the money home by outrunning the chaser one last time. Going into the final round, the team breezed right through, proving that they might be the strongest team yet, creating a 21 question gap for the chaser to catch up.

It was now up to Holzhauer to see if he could answer 21 questions within 2 minutes, or else the team would go home with $660,000. While Holzhauer is usually quick on his feet with answers, he ended up giving the team a chance to push back a shocking five times. The last pushback came in within seconds of the timer running out, resulting in Liz, Diva and Greg winning their impressive $660,000!

Twitter was impressed by the team and pointed out that Holzhauer was clearly having an 'off' day. "Something is really off with james like is he just nervous or was he asked to get this many wrong  #TheChase," tweeted a fan. "Apparently, I had a feeling that James was going to stumble a bit in the Final Chase, there, but seeing at how close THAT really was, I thought he might get them, but a few paid off pushbacks, got in the way of it. Even so, that was a thrilling game, for sure," tweeted a fan. 

"That was an excellent hour of television. Top to bottom. Submit *that* for an Emmy. #TheChase," added another. "$660,000 is the most I’ve ever seen someone win on the chase. James was going through those questions and then they were pushing him back when he only need 2 more questions at 9 seconds left. My heart was racing," tweeted a fan. 

It was definitely a nail-biting episode. Did you think Liz, Diva and Greg would bag this win? Sound off in the comments below!

Catch Season 2 of 'The Chase' on Sundays at 9/8c on ABC.