Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.
Here are our best bets for Sunday, Feb. 12:
TOP PLAY
The play: Super Bowl LVII, UNDER 50.5 total points
The odds: -110
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: 6:30 p.m. (Fox)
Our take: The talk leading up to Super Bowl LVII has focused almost entirely on both offenses. This should come as no surprise considering the MVP-caliber quarterbacks on either sideline. But there hasn’t been enough said about the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense in recent weeks.
Steve Spagnuolo’s unit has been excellent when it needs to be — notably in late-game situations against some of the best that the AFC has to offer. The Chiefs’ defense was the unsung hero against the Cincinnati Bengals, who had a chance to win the AFC Championship Game late. It’s obvious by looking at the depth chart that Kansas City isn’t as talented on offense as it was the last few years, but Patrick Mahomes and Spagnuolo’s unit have carried it to the big game regardless.
This game will be tense from the opening kickoff with neither team wanting to make a fatal mistake. The Chiefs and Eagles are in this game because they’re both incredibly well-rounded football teams. In addition, Philadelphia’s offense — despite its deceivingly high scorelines in the last few weeks — is designed to take a lot of time off the clock with a run-first mentality.
All of this is to say that this one isn’t as cut and dry as you’d imagine. The under has hit in the last four Super Bowls, as well, so why not ride the wave? Under 51 total points in Super Bowl LVII is today’s top play.
ANY TIME TOUCHDOWN SCORER IN THE SUPER BOWL
The play: Super Bowl LVII, Jalen Hurts any time touchdown scorer
The odds: +100
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Our take: Remember when many talking heads in sports media believed Jalen Hurts was just a product of the system? Good times. As it turns out, the Eagles’ star quarterback is exactly that — a star. The offense runs through Hurts and it didn’t take long to realize that was the case when he went down with an injury.
Hurts is incredibly tough to defend against because of his dual-threat ability. Philadelphia has weapons across the entire offense in A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, Miles Sanders, etc. Thus, defenses can’t commit more bodies to keep Hurts from running the ball. Even if they do, their efforts are not always rewarded.
The former second-round pick out of Oklahoma has found the end zone a whopping 15 times this season (including in both playoff games) on the ground. The Eagles’ offense is incredibly efficient in the red zone and Hurts is a big part of that success. There’s a lot of value here at +100 for him to find the end zone for a third straight playoff game.
HOW WE’VE FARED
NCAAB: Auburn +3.5 vs. Alabama (LOST $36)
EPL: Newcastle money line over Bournemouth (LOST $16.50)
PGA: Rory McIlroy better second round than Collin Morikawa (WON $10)
Saturday’s record: 0-2
Total for the week: 3-9
Total for February: 9-12
Total for 2023: 34-46
NOTE: If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10.)
Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).
