SB Trend favor Eagles in Week 1
The 2018 NFL regular season kicks off on Thursday Sept. 6 when Philadelphia hosts Atlanta at Lincoln Financial Field from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The two teams met in the 2017 Divisional Playoffs and Philadelphia captured a 15-10 win over Atlanta as a 2 ½-point home underdog.
For the Week 1 rematch, the Eagles opened as four-point home favorites but that number has moved in Atlanta's direction and the line is listed as low as Philadelphia -1 ½ at a few betting outfits.
On Monday, Eagles coach Doug Pederson says quarterback Nick Foles will start for the team in the opener and Carson Wentz still hasn't been medically cleared for contact.
Foles was the starter in last year's postseason matchup against Atlanta and was 23-of-30 for 246 yards but the veteran who won last year's Super Bowl for the Eagles hasn't looked sharp in the preseason.
Whether or its Foles or Wentz under center for the Eagles, backing the defending Super Bowl champions in their Week 1 opener the following season is a well-known angle and the public has banked on it.
The trend didn't connect last year as Kansas City stunned New England 42-27 at Foxboro. However, bettors should note that we've only seen Super Bowl winners drop back-to-back openers twice since 2000.
Those consecutive setbacks occured in the 2012 and 2013 seasons when the Giants and Ravens lost to the Cowboys and Broncos respectively.
Super Bowl Winner - Week 1 History (2000-2017) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Including New England's defeat to Kansas City last season, the defending champions are now 15-3 straight up and 11-5-2 against the spread in Week 1 openers since 2000.
There is another popular Super Bowl betting angle that calls for fading last year's runner-up in Week 1.
In case you forgot, the Eagles defeated the New England Patriots and they're listed as six-point home favorites over the Houston Texans in Week 1.
Super Bowl Loser - Week 1 History (1999-2017) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In the 2017 regular season, the Falcons did win their Week 1 opener at Chicago but they failed to cover the spread as road favorites.
Including that result, the Super Bowl runner-up from the previous season has gone 6-13 SU and 4-15 ATS since 1999.
Despite the poor overall numbers (21%) versus the number during this span, the Super Bowl ‘losers’ have won four of the last six seasons and they were expected to do so as favorites.
We also highlighted in the above table that the ‘over’ has gone 6-2 in the last eight Week 1 openers for the Super Bowl loser and the total for the Patriots-Texans matchup is currently the only ‘over/under’ listed in the fifties for the opening weekend.
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Where to place a bet this NFL Season?
- Use our exclusive BetMGM Bonus Code VIBONUS1500 to unlock BetMGM’s welcome offer for new sportsbook users!
- Compare the latest NFL Odds from the best sportsbooks before placing a bet on this week's games.
- Check out the North Carolina Sportsbooks just before they launch legal online sports betting.
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