2018 Superbowl Betting Preview - New England Patriots v Philadelphia Eagles
It's that time of the year again, Superbowl 52 is upon us. This is one of the most watched and therefore most punted on games of the year, so we thought we would give you an idea of some of the best serious and silly bets going.
Betfair current odds - New England 1.55, Phil Eagles 2.8
Martin's odds - New England 1.4, Phil Eagles 3.5
Whatever happens Sunday night (or Monday morning in our case) we can rest assured that we are watching probably the best football player in history and a dynasty unlikely to ever be repeated. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots go for their 6th Superbowl victory in their 8th attempt. To put how incredible that is into context Brady has played 16 seasons in the NFL, so 50% of the time he makes it to the Superbowl the holy grail an event for American football players. If you look at the other greats of this era Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, they have 8 appearances...combined!
The Eagles go into this match up as a deserving underdog but that has not stopped them winning their past two matches as dogs, even without their starting QB they have not slowed down and actually won the NFC as the No. 1 seed. There are two key areas where the Eagles have an edge in this match up, the whole of their defensive side of the football is better than New England's and also their running back core has more raw talent. Blount and Ajayi could hold the key for the Eagles, can they get that run game going against the best coach in football Bill Belichick? You have to figure that the Pats will simply stop the run game and say 'Eagles you want to win this thing? Then you are going to have to win it through the air QB vs QB.' If this ends up happening it could be a long day for the Eagles. That said, we cannot discount how well Eagles QB Nick Foles has been playing, he has gone toe to toe with the Falcons and Vikings strong D-Lines and passed those tests with flying colours.
The Eagles are a sexy pick for a lot of people this week and their odds have continued to shorten. They seem to relish the role of the underdog but playing away from home now may bring with it a different result. I think the odds are about right here, I have NE at slight value and could not blame anyone for backing them at this price.
Key Trading Notes:
- If Brady is put under serious pressure he will struggle to put up many points.
- If New England are able to run with any success it will be a big problem for Philly.
- Philly have to try and run the ball well, if they do they may well be favourites here.
- If Foles looks steady he should be OK, watch out for the nerves of the big ocassion.
- Brady and Gronk have been injured, if they take a knock they could be in trouble.
- New England love a 4th quarter double digit comeback, if they go down big early then they will be value.
- Can New England stop the Eagles passing game? If they do it is game over.
Patriots have won all 5 of their Superbowls by 6 pts or less, New England at 4.0+ odds to repeat this again has to be worth a few squid!
- Back New England to win by 1-6pts at 4.0+ odds
OK now we have got through the serious part I am going to write a few notes for those who like to place 'silly' bets but also like to have an edge whilst doing so. These will have to be placed with bookmakers so shop around.
Pink is singing the national anthem and my God we know these pop stars love to drag it on. 4/5 of the last national anthems have lasted more than 2 minutes, and the price for it to happen again is near even money. Anything above 1.5 odds is clear value here.
- Back Pink for over 2 minutes national anthem at 1.5+ odds
Will any scoring drive take less time than the national anthem?
A crazy sounding bet but if you look at the numbers there is value in backing YES above evens. Both teams have had onebelow 2 minutes in all their playoff games this year. That means this bet would have won 4/4 times so far this post-season.
- Back YES at 2.0+ odds