Patriots Favored to Win SB LII
It won’t be surprising to read that the Patriots are favored to win Super Bowl LII entering Championship Sunday in the NFL. But how do the rest of the teams stack up in terms of the odds?
The Favorite
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the Patriots are currently 5/6 to win Super Bowl LII heading into Sunday’s championship games. New England has been favored essentially all season and despite some struggles in September, the Pats have ironed out a lot of their issues defensively. That said, one problem that did pop up this week was an injury to Tom Brady. A source told ESPN Patriots report Mike Reiss that Brady’s injured hand “should be okay” for Sunday’s AFC title game versus the Jaguars. It’s believed that Brady jammed his throwing hand when a teammate accidentally ran into him on the practice field.
The Challenger
The team with the next-best odds to win Super Bowl LII is the squad that could wind up being the first host in SB history. That would be the Minnesota Vikings, who would play on their home field at U.S. Bank Stadium if they’re able to knock off the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. In fact, Minnesota is currently a 3-point favorite to win this Sunday in Philadelphia. One injury to keep an eye on this week for the Vikings is safety Andrew Sendejo, who was limited on Wednesday due to a concussion. He’ll have to clear the league’s protocol in order to play this Sunday.
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The Long Shots
Both the Eagles and Jaguars have 8/1 odds to win the Super Bowl and are thus considering the long-shots. Of course, Philadelphia was an underdog a week ago when it hosted Atlanta in the Divisional Round and we all know how that turned out. Several Eagles players walked off the field wearing dog masks to represent the fact Philly was a 2.5-point underdog against the visiting Falcons (the sixth seed in this year’s NFC field). The Eagles were outstanding defensively in their 15-10 win, although they won’t benefit from having Steve Sarkisian call plays for the Vikings. Sarkisian put together an atrocious game plan for the Falcons last week and was brutal as a play-caller during the final series of the game. There’s no question the Eagles benefited from Sarkisian’s mistakes.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars have been an underdog all season but they continue to win games on the back of their defense and rookie running back Leonard Fournette. Give credit to Blake Bortles though: He didn’t turn the ball over once during the Jags’ 45-42 victory over the Steelers last Sunday. If he can play mistake-free football, don’t count out the Jags reaching the Super Bowl. They’re currently a 9-point road underdog and aren’t receiving much backing from public bettors.