Eagles Fly Into Super Bowl as Biggest Underdog Since 2009, Patriots Favored by Nearly a Touchdown

Posted on: January 22, 2018, 12:00h. 

Last updated on: January 22, 2018, 09:32h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

The Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots will meet in Super Bowl LII at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on February 4.

One team is there for the fourth time in seven years, and looks to defend its ownership of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Then there’s the Eagles, a team that hasn’t played in the big game since 2004, and has never been called Super Bowl champs (they won league championships in 1948, 1949, and 1960).

With Tom Brady under center for the Patriots, a five-time Super Bowl champion that many believe is the best the game’s ever seen, the Patriots are opening in Las Vegas as heavy favorites. In fact, the Eagles are currently the biggest Super Bowl underdog since 2009 when the Pittsburg Steelers opened as a seven-point favorite on the Arizona Cardinals (Pittsburgh won 27-23).

While Philly fans presumably could care less what Las Vegas has to say, perhaps they should. The odds-on favorite has won 33 of the last 51 Super Bowls, or about 65 percent of the time.

Birds vs. GOAT

The Super Bowl odds are in New England’s favor for multiple reasons, but none more so than Tom Brady. Arguably the greatest of all time, Brady led the Patriots to back-to-back touchdown drives in the final nine minutes of play against the Jacksonville Jaguars to come back from a 20-10 fourth-quarter deficit.

There was a bit of concern heading into the game regarding a hand injury Brady sustained during practice last week. Brady showed no issues, however, as he completed 26 of 28 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Brady’s foe in Super Bowl LIII is Nick Foles, the Eagles backup who took over after Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 14. While the devastating injury lengthened the Eagles’ odds of winning the Super Bowl, Foles has proved to be a more than formidable replacement.

Foles threw for 26-33 for 352 yards, three touchdowns, and zero picks in Philadelphia’s 38-7 thrashing of the Minnesota Vikings.

Non-Game Props

The most-watched television event of the year caters to the assortment of viewers, some of whom aren’t actually all that interested in the game itself.

The biggest attraction, aside from the array of highly anticipated commercials, is the halftime show headlined by Justin Timberlake. Returning to the big game for the first time since his 2004 infamous “wardrobe malfunction” with Janet Jackson where he exposed her breast, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is taking a variety of bets on JT’s performance.

Obviously, the bookmaker asks “Super Bowl halftime show to have a ‘wardrobe malfunction’? The line is selling at 3-1, or an implied chance of 25 percent.

“Janet Jackson to appear in the halftime show” is at 5-1. And as for the first song, “Can’t Stop the Feeling” is the favorite at 5-4, followed by “Sexyback” (17-10), and “Rock Your Body” (4-1).

Trump to attend the big game is at 4-1, and the odds of having at least one player on each team kneel during the national anthem is at 2-5.