Super Bowl Defense Props: Defense Can Win Us Money Too
So you're sick of talking about offense for the Super Bowl, right? You're right, I'm not either, but in this case, I'm going to cover the defensive props that are available to bet on with the Super Bowl. The Chiefs aren't known for defense, but they've been better this year. The Eagles offensive line and Jalen Hurts get a lot of attention, but they have a solid defense and there is room for us to make some profit on plays in this Super Bowl.
We will start with some of the more known bets - sacks. Chris Jones has gotten a lot of attention for the Chiefs recently because of how successful he was during the season and how much of an impact he had during the playoff game against the Bengals. In that game he was able to grab two sacks and wreak havoc. He will likely be double-teamed most of the game in the Super Bowl, but he's kind of used to that. On the year, he had at least a half-sack in 12 of his 17 games this season. He only needs a half-sack (that means him and someone else get credit for it) for this to cash. I think the chances are greater than 50% and he doesn't need to be the only one back there to get a sack. Hurts is elusive so this could be difficult. But, I will take a shot on Jones over 0.25 sacks.
On the other side is Haason Reddick, he is a linebacker for the Eagles. On the year, he has 16 sacks, the second-highest total in the NFL this season. He's also gotten 3.5 sacks in his two games this season. The Chiefs will need to gameplan for him. His sack total is at just 0.25 in this game and that seems insanely low to me. He may have to drop into coverage and worry about Kelce the whole game, but I have to think the Eagles will try and get him into the backfield. I can't advise taking the over, it is too highly juiced in my opinion. The under just doesn't seem likely. If we are looking for a plus money play here, I'd probably play Frank Clark to get over .75 sacks. He plays for the Chiefs and with the attention on Chris Jones, I think Clark is the most likely candidate on the Chiefs to get a sack. If they contain Hurts, which will be their goal, he might just not have an open receiver and Clark can bring him down. I'd take the over on that at +125.
Here's a play I really like - No interceptions for the game at +210. Let me start with Hurts because everyone knows about Mahomes's talent. Hurts only had six interceptions this season. He hasn't thrown one in the playoffs. If you remove his "bad" game against the Bears he only had four interceptions on the season. He's thrown the ball over 500 times this season and only had six interceptions. The Chiefs defense can be opportunistic, but I think Hurts protects the ball. Now, Mahomes is amazing, we get it. He can make mistakes and does make you wonder what he was doing at very sporadic times. He had 12 interceptions this season. Even if you remove his "bad" game against the Broncos, he still had 9 interceptions in over 700 passes. The Eagles have a good defense, and they were tied for the third most interceptions this year. But, you won't find me betting against Mahomes very often. I'm taking the no interceptions at +210.
One last one that I'll look at is Haason Reddick over 3.5 tackles plus assists at +110. My thought is mostly around him helping to stop the run game, but also potentially needing to be involved in stopping Travis Kelce in short routes. I think he will be around the ball quite a bit and think 4 tackles is reasonable to expect from him. He's had four or more tackles in nine games this year, so this isn't a lock. It is more of a gut play.
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