The Philadelphia Eagles are the biggest Super Bowl underdogs since 2009. The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas on Sunday situated the Eagles as 5.5-point underdogs to the New England Patriots for Super Bowl LII. The Eagles are the biggest Super Bowl underdog since the Arizona Cardinals were 7-point underdogs to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.
The Patriots will be looking for their second straight Super Bowl title after defeating the Atlanta Falcons last year and third in the past four seasons when they take on the Eagles on Feb. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. New England has reached its 10th Super Bowl after their most recent game with a comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship game. Here, they snuck up on the Jaguars after a 10-point deficit and beat them 24-20. The Eagles practically destroyed the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, setting the score at 38-7. This puts the Eagles at their third time in the Super Bowl and first time since facing the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.
The Eagles were 40-1 to win the Super Bowl at the Westgate SuperBook in September. They got off to a 10-2 start but lost quarterback Carson Wentz to a torn ACL in early December. However, backup quarterback Nick Foles stepped in only to lead the Eagles to back-to-back wins in the playoffs. Philadelphia was an underdog in each of its playoff games, against the Atlanta Falcons who they beat 15-10 and Sunday against the Vikings.
The Westgate SuperBook said that if Wentz were healthy, the odds for the Super Bowl would be for the Eagles rather than against. The SuperBook have come out ahead in 25 of the 27 games they’ve been predicting since 1991. The books are up a net $173.6 million on the Super Bowl during that span, with their only two losses coming in 1995 when San Francisco 49ers beat San Diego Chargers and in 2008 when New York Giants beat New England Patriots.