For virtually the first time all season, the New England Patriots are projecting to be fully healthy when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52. Players like Julian Edelman and Dont’a Hightower, who were lost to season-ending injuries are still out but the rest of the team is good to go per the Patriots’ latest injury report.
Latest Super Bowl 2018 odds: Patriots steady favorites against Eagles for Sunday
After being taken out of concussion protocol, Rob Gronkowski is cleared to play this Sunday as the Patriots and the Eagles make their final Super Bowl preparations.
Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Despite their clean bill of health that included news that star tight end Rob Gronkowski would play, the betting line has remained steady with New England going off as 4.5-point favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The opening line of New England -6 was almost immediately bet down to -4.5 and has stuck there all week in the final moments leading up to the game.
New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles
When: Sunday, February 4, 6:30 p.m. ET
Where: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Betting Line / Total: New England -4.5 / 48.5 Points
The spread is an interesting one. Both teams enter this game with identical 15-3 SU and 12-6 ATS records. During the regular season, the Eagles allowed one less point on defense at 295 than the Patriots did at 296, and on offense the Patriots scored one more point than the Eagles at 458 to 457.
New England and Philadelphia are seemingly evenly matched, so this spread simply boils down to Nick Foles not getting the same respect as Carson Wentz may have and New England’s reputation as an unbeatable force.
The Patriots are a perfect 13-0 SU and ATS in their last 13 games as a favorite of seven points or less per the OddsShark NFL Database. But in the Super Bowl, six of New England’s last seven appearances have been decided by four points or less, with the only exception being last year’s overtime win against Atlanta.
Like the Patriots, Philadelphia put out a clean injury report as well, expecting all of their active roster players to play on Sunday. It is rare to see two teams this healthy heading into the final game of a grueling NFL season, with the obvious exception of course being Carson Wentz’s absence under center.
News of Gronkowski’s return may have contributed to a slight uptick in the total, which moved from 48 to 48.5. Four of the last five Super Bowls have had at least 52 total points and seven of the last nine have had at least 48 scored.
For more odds info, picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes, or check it out at OddsShark.libsyn.com.
