Super Bowl 2023: 10 prop bets for Kansas City vs. Philadelphia
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, center, is doused by defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (91) and teammates during the second half of the NFC Championship NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
The Super Bowl has something for everyone, and that’s especially true with prop bets. From the coin toss and national anthem to commercials and the halftime show and oh, yeah, all the game action. Find a prop sheet online, print one out and have fun with your guests. Here are my top 10 prop bet plays for Super Bowl LVII. Prop bets, odds provided by Westgate, Bovada, FanDuel, Draft Kings and BetMGM.
1. How Long Will It Take Chris Stapleton To Sing The National Anthem? OVER 2 Minutes, 5 Seconds (-145). The value play is taking the under at +110, but that’s risky. There’s no video floating on the internet of the country singer performing the anthem at a previous event, so that makes this more difficult. But he’s got a big voice, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, so the safer play is hoping he belts out a few long notes or goes overboard on his guitar solo.
2 Any QB Receiving TD (50-1). Can you say Philly Special 2.0? Would it be that shocking if Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts pulled off their own trick play at the goal line the way Doug Pederson and Nick Foles did in the Eagles’ last Super Bowl five years ago? With FanDuel offering such big odds, it’s worth a low-risk, high-reward gamble. You can also get “Any QB To Have A Reception” at 12-1 from DraftKings.
3. First TD: Travis Kelce (7-1). Patrick Mahomes’ favorite target scored Kansas City’s first touchdown of the season in Week 1 at . . . Arizona. Talk about good karma. Kelce (15 TD catches, including playoffs) had the first TD in two more regular-season games, and in the Divisional Round against Jacksonville and AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati. Looking for more value? Try Boston Scott (32-1) or Kadarius Toney (22-1).
4. Will The Eagles Convert A 4th Down Attempt In Their Own Territory: YES (+330). This is my favorite prop play, and yes, I put it in the fourth spot for good mojo. No team was better at converting fourth downs than the Eagles, who had a league-best 25. One of those was at its own 34 in the second quarter of the NFC Championship Game. It helps to have Hurts, who was an incredible 27-for-31 on third- or fourth-and-1 sneaks. Sirianni isn’t afraid to gamble, so you should go for it, too.
5. What Will Be The Final Song Rihanna Performs At Halftime Show? Diamonds (10-1). One of the pop star’s biggest hits, it is also one of the favorites (4-1) to be the first song she performs. Let’s take a chance she closes with it, though, as the lyrics, “Shine bright like a diamond” and “We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky” are fitting with the winners receiving diamond-studded Super Bowl rings (what, you thought overthinking only applied to picking NFL games?)
6. Will Miles Sanders score a touchdown? YES (+120). Sanders had a pair of rushing TDs in the NFC title game after totaling 11 in the regular season. When he scores this season, so do the Eagles: they’re 9-0.
7. How Many Times Will Tom Brady Be Mentioned During The Game? OVER 1.5 (-160). This one is interesting because Brady will one day likely replace Greg Olsen in the Fox booth as lead analyst alongside Kevin Burkhardt. But Brady said this week that job won’t begin until 2024, so maybe it won’t be as awkward for the booth to mention him. He just retired (again), was involved in the Eagles’ last Super Bowl win and could easily be mentioned as “passing the torch to Mahomes.” Too many possible options not to take the over here.
8. MVP Winner: Haason Reddick (20-1). Hurts and Mahomes (both at around +125) are heavy favorites, and quarterbacks have won the award 31 times. But this is all about value. Reddick had 16 sacks in the regular season and wrecked the NFC title game with two more and a forced fumble. If he has another big game and Hurts’ numbers aren’t gaudy in a lower-scoring game, it can happen. Some other value plays: Kelce (18-1), A.J. Brown (20-1), DeVonta Smith (40-1) and two with local angles: Isiah Pacheco from Rutgers at 60-1 and former Giant Toney at 300-1. (Note: New York sportsbooks prohibit individual award wagers, so if you really like this one, maybe try and watch the game at a friend’s house in New Jersey or Connecticut).
9. What Color Gatorade Will Be Poured On The Winning Coach? Yellow/Lime/Green (+400). A quick Google search shows that Sirianni was doused in a lime-green looking color after the NFC Championship Game. Andy Reid was drenched in orange Gatorade after Kansas City’s Super Bowl win three years ago. Orange is +350, and it’s likely going to be either one of these two colors, but if you’re feeling frisky, go for purple (+750) or even none (+1000).
10. Which Total Will Be Higher: 76ers’ Joel Embiid Points Vs. Nets (2/11) vs. Eagles’ Rushing Attempts? Eagles’ Rushes -1.5 (-110). These cross-sports prop bets have become the craze the last few years, and Philly-Philly was too fun to pass up. Embiid made this more difficult than I thought, as he scored 37 points Saturday night to surpass his season average of 33.3. The Eagles ran it 32 times per game during the regular season, and 44 times in both playoff games. I need 39. Run, Eagles, Run!
Joe Manniello, an editor on the sports copy desk, has written the NFL picks column since 2015. Manniello joined Newsday in 2004. He graduated from St. John's.
