Super Bowl odds: Eagles close the gap once again on Chiefs, Bills

If you dove into the Super Bowl odds market back in the spring and placed a wager on the Philadelphia Eagles to hoist the Lombardi Trophy this season, you’re sitting pretty right now.

Even if waited until right before the season kicked off, you still made a solid investment.

But if you just sprained an ankle leaping onto the Eagles’ overcrowded Super Bowl bandwagon, well, we have some bad news: You missed the value boat.

Following a second consecutive emphatic victory over a playoff contender — this one a 24-point rout of a division rival on the road — Philadelphia’s Super Bowl odds have shrunk once again.

The Eagles are now tied with Kansas City for the second-best odds to win the NFL championship — and they’re nipping at the heels of the only team in front of them.

With a month remaining in the regular season, here’s an updated look at the Super Bowl odds market.

Note: Odds updated as of 2 p.m. on Dec. 13.

Sixteen.

That’s the number of NFL teams that were ahead of Philadelphia when BetMGM’s Super Bowl LVII odds market opened in mid-February after the Los Angeles Rams outlasted the Cincinnati Bengals to win last year’s title.

At that time, the Eagles were +4000 (40-to-1) to win the 2022-23 Super Bowl, tied with the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks at BetMGM.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts becomes betting favorite to win NFL MVP after dominant Giants win

Among those that were ahead of Philadelphia: Denver and Green Bay (+1600), Arizona (+2000) Indianapolis (+2500) and Cleveland (+3000) — five teams that will be on vacation in less than a month.

The Eagles? They own the NFL’s best record (by two games) and have moved back into the No. 2 spot in the Super Bowl odds pecking order. In fact, among the top three contenders, Philly is the only squad whose odds dropped since last week.

Heading into their Week 14 game against the Giants in New York, the Eagles had Super Bowl odds of +500, right behind Buffalo (+375) and Kansas City (+450). Then Nick Sirianni’s club took the field at MetLife Stadium on Sunday and put up a season high point total in a 48-22 drubbing of the Giants.

That no contest — which followed a 35-10 home beatdown of the Tennessee Titans in Week 13 — led BetMGM oddsmakers to move Philadelphia down a tick to +450.

Meanwhile, the odds for the Bills and Chiefs didn’t budge after the two squads respectively posted lackluster Week 14 victories over the Jets (20-12 at home) and Broncos (34-28 on the road).

Of course, Buffalo and Kansas City have been jockeying for position atop the Super Bowl odds board since the end of last season. That’s when both opened as the +750 co-favorites at BetMGM.

Today, the Bills and Chiefs (both 10-3) are the only AFC teams with double-digit victories. So oddsmakers pegged that preseason prediction.

Their forecast for the Eagles? That’s another story.

» READ MORE: Week 15 NFL lines: Eagles expected to keep rolling in Chicago vs. Bears

Nobody — not even the most diehard Philly fans — envisioned the Eagles entering mid-December with a 12-1 record and a quarterback who is now the favorite to win NFL MVP.

But as Philadelphia kept ticking off victories to begin the season — ultimately winning its first eight in a row — the team rapidly zoomed up BetMGM’s Super Bowl odds board.

For the past two months, the Eagles and Chiefs have been leapfrogging each other for the second and third positions at BetMGM.

In fact, the Eagles’ current +450 price to win it all is only slightly shorter than it was when they entered their bye week following a 26-17 home win over the Cowboys. At that moment, Philly was +550 to win the Super Bowl and sitting between Buffalo (+275) and Kansas City (+750).

The biggest change in the ensuing two months? The Eagles have become much more popular in the Super Bowl betting community — at least at BetMGM.

As recently as Oct. 25, only 5.8% of all Super Bowl bets and 6.0% of all Super Bowl dollars at BetMGM were on Philadelphia. That put the Eagles sixth and fifth in both categories, respectively.

As of Monday, though, Philadelphia is third in both Super Bowl bets (7.6%) and Super Bowl handle (7.5%). Buffalo remains first in tickets (12.3%) and money (17.1%), with Kansas City second in each (11.2% and 12.3%).

That trio is among just a half-dozen legitimate Super Bowl contenders heading into Week 15 (legitimate, that is, if you believe the betting market).

San Francisco (+750) and Dallas (+800) are the only other teams that currently sport single-digit Super Bowl odds at BetMGM.

The 49ers (9-4) have ascended to the top of the NFC West courtesy of a six-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Cowboys (10-3) would be on a seven-game heater if not for an overtime loss at Green Bay on Nov. 13.

» READ MORE: Eagles stats: Jalen Hurts’ MVP case compared to Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Cam Newton magical seasons

Cincinnati (9-4) has won five in a row and seven of eight to charge up to the No. 6 position in Super Bowl odds. The Bengals — who were +3000 and tied for eighth at BetMGM following a 32-13 Monday Night Football loss in Cleveland on Halloween — are now +1000.

Behind Cincinnati are Baltimore (+2000), Miami (+2200) and Minnesota (+3000).

The Vikings’ Super Bowl odds tell an interesting story.

Even after Sunday’s 34-23 loss at Detroit, Minnesota (10-3) is still tied with Buffalo, Kansas City and Dallas for the NFL’s second-best record. Yet the Vikings have the ninth-best Super Bowl odds.

Speaking of the Lions, they’re actually one of the league’s hottest teams. Detroit (6-7) has won five of six since starting out 1-6.

The Lions remain on the outside of the playoff picture. However, they close the regular season with four winnable games against the Jets, Panthers, Bears and Packers. Even though three of those games are on the road, Detroit likely will be favored in each.

Obviously, you can’t win a tournament you’re not invited to. But should the Lions nudge their way into the playoffs, well, you can be sure their current +10000 Super Bowl odds will shrink drastically.

Same goes for the Washington Commanders (7-5-1) and Seattle Seahawks (7-6). Both are currently have +8000 odds to win the Super Bowl at BetMGM.

Given the state of the watered-down NFC, it’s a near certainty that two teams among Detroit, Washington and Seattle will end up in the postseason.

So if you’re stumped for holiday gift ideas for family or friends — or yourself — perhaps consider placing a modest wager one (or all) of those squads. All three are long shots, for sure, but the payoff would be substantial.

What about stuffing an Eagles Super Bowl ticket into the stocking of a loved one? You can certainly do it — just realize that the Black Friday-like deal on Philly ended a long time ago.

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.