One Random Super Bowl Bet We’re All Making (Or At Least Want To Make)
We're apparently really focused on the trenches
No joke, you can bet on almost anything when it comes to the Super Bowl.
American sports fans will ante up millions and millions of dollars — legally and illegally — prior to Sunday night’s showdown at SoFi Stadium between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams.
Obviously, bettors can wager on the winning team, the point spread and the total, but if you find the right sportsbook, you can also bet on things like the color of Gatorade dumped on the winning coach. Fortunately or unfortunately, there are technically limits to the sorts of things we can bet using American sportsbooks, though.
That being said, there are still plenty of options, as evidenced by the Westgate Superbook’s prop packet is 36 pages long.
While not all of us will be able to get out to Las Vegas before kickoff, we still decided to dive into the Westgate props and find a few we really liked for this weekend’s game.
Sam Panayotovich — Longest touchdown UNDER 42.5 yards
I’ve been playing this prop for about a decade now. It’s truly a boom or bust wager that stays “Under” unless there’s a kick return or defensive touchdown. In the last 11 Super Bowls, this bet has cashed eight times. The only losers were an 82-yard interception return, 87-yard kickoff return and 108-yard kick return. It’s also hit in four straight years. Even though the oddsmakers have adjusted the number down, I still like it “Under” 42.5 yards.
Ben Watanabe — Will there be a lead change in the fourth quarter? YES +250
Nobody loves to make a situation more difficult than it needs to be more than John Matthew Stafford, and nobody can keep things interested in a game that has no business being close like Joe Burrow. And if Sean McVay manages the second half like a manic toddler, like he often does in big spots, Super Bowl LVI could turn into a beautiful mess late.
Adam London — Total QB sacks OVER 5 (EVEN)
The Bengals’ offensive line held up in the AFC Championship Game, but let’s not forget about their two prior outings. Joe Burrow, the most-sacked quarterback in the regular season by a comfortable margin, was brought down a combined 11 times in the wild card and divisional rounds. The Rams, meanwhile, were seventh in the league in sacks per game during the regular season, logging nearly three per contest. We shouldn’t sleep on Cincinnati’s pass rush either, as it’s collected eight sacks in these playoffs and Matthew Stafford isn’t very elusive.
Mike Cole — Jon Rahm fourth-round birdies (+0.5) over Odell Beckham Jr. receptions
The PGA Tour once again is in the desert this weekend for the Waste Management Phoenix Open where Jon Rahm has always played well. The Arizona State product has finished no worse than 10-under at TPC Scottsdale, and he’s broken par in all but one of the 24 rounds he’s played there. That includes an average of more than three final-round birdies over the last three years. Rahm is the best player in the world — as evidenced by his comical 6-1 odds to win this week — and there’s no reason he won’t go real low again on a relatively easy course. Beckham has come on strong and will make an impact, but to cover the number he probably has to get to five receptions. He did have nine last week, but he has eclipsed five catches just three times all season.
Sean McGuire — Total team sacks Over 5 (EVEN)
The Rams ranked fifth in the league in defensive sack percentage during the regular season, taking down the quarterback on 7.4% of defensive snaps, and now will go up against a Bengals’ offensive line which allowed the most sacks of any team in the league (51). Cincinnati will have its hands full with stopping Aaron Donald, Von Miller and others as it feels possible the Rams could reach this number themselves. Getting this at even money obviously doesn’t indicate a long-shot bet, but it’s worthy of jumping on the Over now as the number opened at 5.5 sacks and has slightly dropped.
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