Super Bowl 53 Odds and Trends Update

Kickoff is slowly drawing near in Atlanta for Super Bowl 53, but there’s still plenty of time to get in your bets on the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots.

The line remains the same at most sportsbooks, with the Rams still the underdog at +3 at Bovada Sportsbook. Why are we focusing on the underdog instead of the favorite as usual? Well, the Super Bowl trends in recent years are heavily tilted toward the underdog. In the last seven Super Bowls, the underdog is 6-1 straight up and against the spread. That includes last season when the Philadelphia Eagles upset the Patriots as a 4-point underdog.

Despite all their Super Bowl success, the Patriots haven’t been a smart choice for bettors when they’ve been favored in the big game. During the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady years, New England has been a Super Bowl favorite six times and in those games has gone 3-3 SU and 1-5 ATS.

Rams perfect when Parry is referee

One other interesting trend making the rounds involves the referee for Super Bowl 53, John Parry. He’s been the referee for seven Rams games and in those games Los Angeles is a perfect 7-0. In 14 Patriots games with Parry wearing the black and white stripes, New England is 9-5.

If you were hoping the Super Bowl injury report would help you with your Super Bowl betting, you were probably very disappointed. The injury report didn’t have a single New England player on it, while the Rams’ three players listed were running back C.J. Anderson (illness), safety Blake Countess (foot) and kicker Greg Zuerlein (left foot). The Rams don’t expect any of the players on the report to miss the game or be overly affected by their ailments.

Gurley’s status subject of speculation

One name absent from the injury report was Rams running back Todd Gurley. Rams fans and anyone betting the Rams hope that means the knee injury that kept him out of two games late in the regular season is no longer an issue. Gurley wasn’t much of a factor in the Rams’ win over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game as he had only four carries for 10 yards. Los Angeles has stated Gurley’s usage was due to performance and not health, but to beat New England, the Rams will need not only a healthy Gurley but a productive Gurley as well.