Super Bowl odds: Eagles featured prominently in title game exacta matchups

Memo to Philadelphia Eagles fans who have gnawed off their fingernails and worn out the soles of their shoes pacing back and forth the last couple of weeks: Take a deep breath and relax.

No matter what happens Sunday at home against the New York Giants, the Eagles will be playing meaningful football games this month. And at least one oddsmaker likes Philadelphia’s chances of that extending into February.

Caesars Sportsbook is offering odds on 180 different Super Bowl exacta matchups — that is, picking the exact winner and exact runner-up for Super Bowl LVII, which will be played Feb. 12 just north of Phoenix.

Despite back-to-back losses, Philadelphia (13-3) is still heavily favored to win the NFC East and clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed. That’s why the Eagles are among a group of four squads clustered at the top of Caesars Sportsbook’s Super Bowl odds board.

As such, the most likely Super Bowl exacta scenarios — at least as projected by Caesars — involve that same quartet of squads: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Kansas City and Buffalo.

Odds updated as of 3:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 5.

Even though 14 of the NFL’s 32 teams will receive invites to the league’s postseason dance, it’s clear that oddsmakers view the tournament as a four-team battle royal.

The Eagles and 49ers are the overwhelming favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At Caesars Sportsbook, San Francisco is the +180 chalk to win the conference (and +500 to win it all), with Philly right behind at +190 (NFC) and +500 (Super Bowl).

Over in the AFC, it’s mostly about the Chiefs and Bills. Kansas City and Buffalo rank 1-2, respectively, in both odds to win the conference (+170 and +190) and the whole enchilada (+375 and +400).

Thus, the eight exacta matchups with the shortest odds at Caesars all feature the Eagles, 49ers, Chiefs and Bills.

The three favorites — all at +1200 — involve Kansas City beating either the Eagles or 49ers, and Buffalo taking down San Francisco. The Bills beating the Eagles and San Francisco knocking off the Chiefs are next on the Super Bowl exacta odds board at +1400.

» READ MORE: Eagles, Seahawks hit their over preseason win total, handful of others undecided before Week 18

Think Philadelphia will be the last team standing on Super Bowl Sunday? You can get +1600 odds on the Eagles defeating either Buffalo or Kansas City.

Other “Eagles-win-it-all” exacta scenarios at Caesars Sportsbook:

Assuming the Eagles knock off the Giants on Sunday (and they’re heavily favored to do so), Philly will earn that coveted No. 1 seed and first-round bye.

That, of course, does not guarantee that coach Nick Sirianni’s squad will be running out of the tunnel at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12.

All you have to do is rewind to January 2022 for proof that upsets happen in the NFL playoffs.

Last year, both No. 1 seeds — the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers — came out of a bye and lost at home.

In the end, the Super Bowl LVI matchup pitted a pair of No. 4 seeds against each other: the NFC champion Los Angeles Rams and AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals, with Los Angeles prevailing in a thrilling title game.

What if that precise scenario transpired again this season? As things stand heading into Week 18, Tom Brady and the fourth-seeded Buccaneers would defeat the fourth-seeded Jaguars in an all-Florida Super Bowl.

What are the odds on a Bucs-over-Jaguars exacta at Caesars? Right now, +60000. That means a $10 bet would bring back a cool $6,000. Reverse the outcome — Jacksonville defeats Tampa Bay — and the exacta odds drop slightly to +50000 (so $10 to win $5,000).

Highly unlikely results? For sure. But there are several long-shot Super Bowl exacta results that look appealing, especially at the bomb prices Caesars is offering.

Here are three that have us intrigued:

» READ MORE: Eagles open as huge favorites over Giants in Week 18 with No. 1 seed on the line

San Francisco (nine straight victories) is the hottest team in the NFL. Cincinnati (seven straight victories) is the hottest team in the AFC. So a 49ers-Bengals Super Bowl wouldn’t be the least bit shocking.

Both also have recent Super Bowl experience, with the 49ers reaching the title game in 2019 and the Bengals doing so last year.

Although both came out on the short end in those Super Bowls, they certainly have the talent to meet up in Glendale.

There’s also history with this matchup (and exacta result): Two of the 49ers’ five Super Bowl titles came at the hands of the Bengals in the 1980s.

Green Bay needs to defeat Detroit at home on Sunday night to lock up a playoff berth few saw coming when the team was sitting at 4-8 a little over a month ago.

If the Packers get that victory over the Lions, they’ll go into the playoffs on a five-game winning streak — and be extremely dangerous with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and a very good defense.

Buffalo, meanwhile, has won six in a row and is riding a wave of emotions after defensive back Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest in Cincinnati on Monday night.

How the Hamlin situation affects the players on the field remains to be seen. But obviously, the Bills are legit contenders — there’s a reason they’ve been one of the top two Super Bowl favorites since the preseason. They also crushed the Packers in Buffalo 27-17 in October.

Los Angeles has a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback (Justin Herbert) who is surrounded by a Super Bowl-caliber roster. They also are hot, having won four straight games going into Sunday’s finale at Denver.

Alas, it’s a franchise that has a long history of collapsing in January — and a franchise with just one Super Bowl appearance (and it didn’t go well, as the Bolts got hammered by the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX).

In addition to its own bad history, Los Angeles faces a bunch of landmines in the AFC — namely, Josh Allen and the Bills, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, and Joe Burrow and the Bengals. Again, though, the talent is there to make a run.

What about the Eagles? Assuming quarterback Jalen Hurts is 100 percent, their biggest hurdle in the NFC likely will be San Francisco. But the 49ers would have to visit Lincoln Financial Field — a big advantage for Philadelphia.

As for why we would side with the Chargers in an L.A.-Philly matchup: We think the Bolts, as currently constructed, are a more complete team. Oddsmakers agree, as “Chargers-over-Eagles” has shorter exacta odds at Caesars Sportsbook (+7000) than “Eagles-over-Chargers” (+8000).

» 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.