The greatest quarterback of all time and the New England Patriots are heading back to the Super Bowl for the third straight year.
The 41-year-old Tom Brady — the leader of five previous Super Bowl Winners — will play in his ninth league championship, which is four more than the next closest in NFL legend Joe Montana. Brady’s counterpart, young 24-year-old star Jared Goff, has never been on this big stage.
Super Bowl LIII between the Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 6:30 ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Super Bowl Live from Atlanta. It will be the first NFL championship hosted at the venue, which opened in 2017. The AFC champion Patriots (-140) are currently favored over the NFC champion Rams (+120) by three points (odds provided by Bovada).
While the Super Bowl is nothing new for the Patriots, it is for the Rams. The last time the NFC champs were here was when they played out of St. Louis 17 years ago in 2002. They lost that game as heavy favorites to none other than the Patriots.
Before you go jumping on the Patriots’ bandwagon, remember, New England was a huge favorite over the Philadelphia Eagles last year and failed to deliver.
There are three common betting lines on the Super Bowl — money line, point spread and over/under totals.
With the Patriots sitting at -140 on the money line, that means a bettor would have to wager $140 to earn a profit of $100 ($140 bet + $100 profit = $240 total return). A $10 bet would earn a total return of $17.15. With the Rams at +120 as the underdog, that means a bettor would have to wager $100 to earn a profit of $120 ($100 bet + $120 profit = $220 total return).
The Patriots must win by four points or more for a bettor to win the point spread wager. The Rams must win outright or lose by two points or less. Payoffs are typically just under double your bet. For example, a $20 bet on the point spread would return about $39.
The line on the over/under sits at 58 points. The team that wins the Super Bowl has nothing to do with this bet — only the total points scored by both teams in the game matter. If the total is 57 or less, the under wins. If the total is 59 or more, the over wins. Like the point spread bet, the return is typically just under double your bet.
The American Gaming Association estimated that Americans bet a grand total of $4.76 billion on Super Bowl LII. Sports books in Nevada took in a record total of $138.48 million. No other single sporting event draws this much interest.
Online betting sites like Bovada offer common wagers like the point spread, but there are pages of proposition bets as well — like will there be a score in the final three minutes of regulation time and which team will win the coin toss?
None of this matters to the players, of course. They just want the championship trophy and ring.
The Super Bowl comes down to coaching legend Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady. Can this dynamic duo that has already won five Super Bowls come up with a game plan to silence young genius Sean McVay and the Rams? Bettors certainly think so, as the line opened as a pick ’em game and has already surged to three points for New England.
• For the Patriots to win, they must continue to control the time of possession as they have in their first two playoff games.
• For the Rams to win, they must get ahead early and find a way to put pressure on Brady — which is easier said than done.
The Patriots went 4-5 on the road this season, which includes Sunday’s 37-31 overtime win against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. New England went 2-0 versus playoff teams on the road — the win over K.C. and a 38-31 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
The Rams improved to 7-2 on the road with their 26-23 overtime win over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship. Los Angeles was 2-2 against playoff teams on the road.
Super Bowl Pick — Los Angeles Rams (+120). While this sure looks like Ring No. 6 for Brady, VGB picked the Rams in July at 10-1 to win Super Bowl LIII in NFL futures betting. It’s not time to jump ship now.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
