If you’re a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles, congratulations on making it this far.
One of these teams will win a Super Bowl title for the second time in the past six seasons.
Most of the rest of the football-loving world could need a little extra oomph to maximize their enjoyment Sunday, and the commercials are growing more lame over the years.
Now the country’s secondary Super Bowl pastime is prop bets, or bets that are not specific to the winning team or the final score.
Field Level Media takes a look at four game-related prop picks and a couple of “novelty” props — something to root for besides your end-of-quarter squares.
–Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton over 10.5 tackles (-110 at BetMGM)
One of the unsung heroes in this game is Chiefs middle linebacker Nick Bolton, who finished second in the NFL with 180 tackles. Counting regular season and playoffs, Bolton has had 10 double-digit tackle games when counting solo tackles and assists, which this prop does.
Can he get 11 in the Super Bowl? Against a team like Philadelphia that likes to run up the middle and relies on the QB sneak in short-yardage spots, he’ll have plenty of opportunity to make this one happen.
–Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker under 1.5 field goals (+100 at BetMGM)
The Super Bowl is no time to settle for 3.
Andy Reid has tons of belief in the Chiefs’ kicker, but a coach like him on a stage like this could be in a “four-down territory” mindset most of the game. There’s no doubting his counterpart, Nick Sirianni, will not hesitate to push the go button on fourth down if the Eagles are within reasonable distance.
Kansas City’s offense is so methodical that it’s only had to settle for a field goal shorter than 40 yards 12 times all season.
–Eagles QB Jalen Hurts to throw for more yards than Patrick Mahomes (+225 at DraftKings)
Like the daring side? This is a spicy pick to consider.
Hurts hasn’t been asked to air it out a ton during the playoffs following a Week 14 shoulder injury. He’s only eclipsed 250 yards five times all season. But the biggest potential mismatch of the game is the Eagles’ star receiving duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith against Chiefs rookie cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie.
Fellow corner L’Jarius Sneed was cleared from concussion protocol and might play, but there are doubts he’s 100 percent healthy with a new knee injury that landed him on the injury report. The Eagles might need to score in bunches to keep up with the Chiefs, requiring chunk plays in the passing game.
–Eagles over 21.5 first downs (-130 at DraftKings)
To beat Mahomes, the best approach is to keep the ball out of his hands.
Sirianni knows that from his time as the Indianapolis Colts’ offensive coordinator in 2019, when the Colts beat Mahomes by calling 45 rushing plays and chewing up 37:15 of the 60:00 game clock. The Eagles have the run-game personnel to replicate the plan. They’ve only failed to get to 20 first downs in a game three times this season.
–Will there be a flea-flicker? Yes (+210 at DraftKings)
Reid has shown a penchant for truly bananas gadget plays even when the stakes are high, like the ring-around-the-rosie huddle break against the Raiders in Week 18 and the hook-and-ladder on first down. Flea-flickers are the oldest form of trickery in the book and would make a great centerpiece for the winning team’s highlight package.
–Yellow/green Gatorade poured on winning coach (+175 at BetMGM)
Red for the Chiefs isn’t a lock. There’s video evidence Kansas City goes orange to celebrate the Lombardi, but we’ve also seen postgame yellow. Eagles players dumped yellow sports drink on Sirianni after winning the NFC Championship game.
Blue is on a two Super Bowl streak, emptied on Rams coach Sean McVay last year and Bruce Arians when the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in February 2021.
Red and orange have been the public’s favorite picks at most books this week.
We’re locking in lemon lime.
–Field Level Media
