The Atlanta Falcons struck first blood. Following a scoreless first quarter, the Falcons recovered a New England Patriots fumble and turned it into a Devonta Freeman touchdown. The prop bet for first team to score had Falcons touchdown at 2/1.
Super Bowl prop bet 2017: Falcons score 1st on Devonta Freeman touchdown
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
At some point, one of these teams was going to have to score. The Super Bowl is an NFL playoff game and the rules don’t allow those to end in a tie. Whoever and whenever the first team scores also happens to be a very popular prop bet.
Heading into the week, the odds makers in Las Vegas believed the Patriots were most likely to score first. These were the odds on which team would score and how they would do it on Sunday morning:
Patriots touchdown: 9/5
Falcons touchdown: 2/1
Patriots field goal: 3/1
Falcons field goal: 7/2
Falcons safety: 20/1
Patriots safety: 20/1
The Patriots scored first 15 times this season prior to the Super Bowl. The Falcons struck first 11 times in their games this year. They scored a touchdown in eight straight of those games.
Prop bets allow you to put money on individual events on the field (or off) rather than the entire game itself. That can be anything from the time it takes to sing the national anthem to who wins MVP honors after the final whistle blows. These extra wagers have been a part of the big game since 1986, when bettors could plunk down cash on whether William “Refrigerator” Perry would score a touchdown for the Bears in Super Bowl XX . (He did.)
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