Tom Brady and the New England Patriots go after their sixth championship when they face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52.
The Patriots opened as a 6-point favorite in the big game but have since dropped to 5-point chalk at most sportsbooks. New England was an 8-point favorite last week in the AFC championship game but failed to cover in a 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Brady orchestrated another fourth-quarter comeback with two late touchdowns to Danny Amendola with New England trailing 20-10.
The Eagles have been underdogs throughout their playoff run. That includes last week’s NFC championship game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Eagles were a 3-point home underdog but ended up crushing the Vikings 38-7 behind a stellar performance from quarterback Nick Foles. Foles had three touchdown passes and the Eagles defense took care of the rest, including a pick-six from Patrick Robinson.
Even with last week’s against the spread loss against Jacksonville, the Patriots have been a strong play for bettors. In their last 12 games, New England is 10-2 ATS and has rebounded well from ATS losses, going 9-1 straight up and ATS in the last 10 games after an ATS loss. In the postseason, New England has a five-game winning streak SU while going 4-1 ATS.
The Eagles are 2-0 SU and ATS in this year’s playoffs as an underdog. This season they were an underdog five times, compiling a 4-1 record SU and ATS. The Eagles have also been paying off for bettors in the postseason at 7-1 ATS in their last eight, despite going 4-4 SU in those eight contests.
The matchup trends SU heavily favor the Patriots. In the last five matchups between the Eagles and Patriots, New England is 4-1 SU but only 2-3 ATS. However, the last time the Eagles and Patriots did meet up in 2015, Philadelphia pulled off a 35-28 upset as an 8-point road underdog. Including that win, the Eagles are 7-2 ATS in their last nine against New England.
The matchup between Philadelphia and New England that everyone remembers was in 2005 when they faced off in Super Bowl 39. The Patriots were a 7-point favorite and escaped with a 24-21 victory while failing to cover the spread.
This will be the Eagles’ third trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history. Their other trip came in 1981 when they lost to the Oakland Raiders 27-10 as a 3-point favorite.
New England is in the Super Bowl for the third time in the last four years and 10th time overall. During the Brady era, the Patriots have now made it to the big game eight times, going 5-2 SU and 3-4 ATS in their previous seven. In those seven games, New England was favored five times, going 3-2 SU and 1-4 ATS. Both SU losses came against the New York Giants in games in which they were favored by 2.5 points and 12.5 points, respectively.