The big game is now less than two weeks away, which means it’s time to start thinking about your Super Bowl 52 betting strategy. While some are happy to simply play a straight-up pick, other bettors wait all year to go little nuts with their wagers on Super Bowl Sunday. A big part of the fun of the Super Bowl is all the prop bets that the bookies put in place, with everything from the coin toss to who will score first having betting lines attached to them.
The old adage in football is that defense wins championships, and it certainly helped the Philadelphia Eagles get to this point, but how will both defenses perform in Super Bowl 52? Let’s take a closer look at some of the defensive NFL prop bets that you can play on Super Bowl Sunday.
Things are a little trickier with the 20-point mark, especially if one of the defensive units ends up being totally dominant. The Patriots are once again favorites to get to 20 points first at -190, while the Eagles are in at +155.
Special Super Bowl 52 Betting Props: Defense vs. Defense
Is this @Eagles defense the best unit Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have faced in a Super Bowl? #SBLII
(via @gmfb) pic.twitter.com/PkMH2srFGx — NFL (@NFL) 24 de enero de 2018
- When: Sunday, February 4, 2018, 6:30 PM ET
- Where: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
- TV: NBC
- Radio: 98.5 FM (New England) / 96.1 FM (Philadelphia)
- Live Stream: NFL Game Pass
- Super Bowl 52 Betting Odds: New England Patriots -5 (Over/Under at 48 points)
Teams Defensive Stats
- Defensive total yards: Philadelphia Eagles 306.56 / New England Patriots 360.94
- Rush yards allowed: Philadelphia Eagles 79.06 / New England Patriots 111.22
- Passing yards allowed: Philadelphia Eagles 227.50 / New England Patriots 249.72
- Average Score Against: Philadelphia Eagles 17.33 / New England Patriots 18.33
Early Super Bowl LII Betting Odds & Prediction for MVP Award
Special Props
Will there be a score in the first 5.5 minutes of the game?
While this may seem like an offensive wager, the reality is that both defenses will be looking to get off to a fast start, which means keeping the opposing offense off the board. The bookies seem to believe that the defenses will be stout in the early going, as no score in the first 5.5 minutes is on the board at -145, while a score inside that time frame is set at +115.Will there be a score in the first 7.5 minutes of the game?
This is where things get a little trickier, as this prop bet takes us all the way to the halfway point of the first quarter. The question that needs to be asked here is if the Eagles defense can hold off Tom Brady for that long, or if the Patriots can slow down the Eagles and their effective running game. If you believe that both defenses can hold strong and keep this thing scoreless, then go with the NO at odds of +150. If you think there will be a score by this point in the game, go with YES at -180.First team to reach 10 or 20 points
The point total is always one of the more popular bets in any football game, but you get to dig a little deeper into that in the Super Bowl by thinking about how many points each defense will give up. There is a good possibility that both of these teams will manage at least 10 points, but who will get there first? The Patriots are favorite at -160, while the Eagles are in at +130.