12 Jun 2019
After a 16-game regular season, the highs and lows of the playoffs, the big game is nearly upon us - Super Bowl LII kicks off in Minnesota this Sunday night.
Just as has been the case throughout the playoffs, Philadelphia Eagles come into the game as underdogs (6/5 to get the win). Embracing that mentality and playing with a chip on their shoulder has enabled Doug Pederson’ss team to keep rolling to get this far, riding their elite defense.
Philly denied Minnesota in their quest to become the first ever NFL team to play in a Super Bowl in their own stadium when they clinically despatched the Vikings 38-7 in the NFC Championship game. The Patriots, meanwhile, were pushed all the way against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship game. Tom Brady rallied his team to come back from a 14-3 deficit. Despite being down two scores, and even against a Jaguars side full of defensive playmakers, you never doubted that Tom Terrific would manage to overturn the deficit and get his team into the Super Bowl.
If the Eagles do win in Minneapolis, they would be the 4th team in history to win the Lombardi Trophy after not having a winning record the season prior. The last team to do that? The Patriots back in 2001.
You can make a case that the Eagles side that Brady and Belichick (Patriots QB and coach respectively) will face is the best they’sve come up against in a Super Bowl out of the eight opponents they’sve faced together to date. It’ss the first time the Pats are playing a team with both a top 5 scoring offense and top 5 scoring defense. The Eagles are also the only opposition with a defense that ranks in the top 5 in points per game, yards allowed per game and takeaways.
If recent history is anything to go by, Brady will not be on the winning side. As the passing leader in the NFL this season (4,577 passing yards), Brady will be desperate not to join an unwanted club of five quarterbacks to have led the NFL in passing yards during the regular season, only to go on and lose in the Super Bowl. Amongst the quarterbacks to hold that record are Hall of Fame legends such as Kurt Warner and Dan Marino, as well as future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.
It would be a surprise to no one, however, if Brady were to break the mould and win a record-breaking sixth Super Bowl. The 40-year-old is odds on favourite in the American Football betting odds to be Super Bowl MVP at 4/7. Outside of Brady, you might want to take a look at Nick Foles. The Eagles quarterback had a near perfect game against the Vikings, and at 10/3 he is very much worth a punt to win MVP honours. If you’re looking for an outside bet, Malcolm Butler is no stranger to delivering on the big stage. The cornerback’ss last-gasp interception of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in Super Bowl XLIX is one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl history. If you fancy him to come up trumps again in Minnesota, you can back him at an enticing 150/1.
It’ss always difficult to bet against Brady and Belichick. They found a way to win against Atlanta Falcons in last year’ss Super Bowl, despite having to overturn the biggest deficit in Super Bowl history in the process. They simply always find a way to win. The Eagles have got something special going on though, and it’ss difficult to separate the sides as the game approaches. As they say, anyone can win on any given Sunday.
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