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A new football season got underway on September 7th as the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs welcomed the Detroit Lions to Arrowhead Stadium. Many expected Andy Reid’s side to romp to a comfortable victory, especially considering the blistering form that Patrick Mahomes displayed as he led the Missouri side to Super Bowl LVII glory against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, it was the underdog visitors who managed to nick the victory by a single point.
The Chiefs are approaching dynasty-like status after picking up two Lombardis in the last four years. However, while they have made a stuttering start to the new season, the team they defeated at State Farm Stadium back in February certainly has not. That got us thinking: Could the Eagles actually put that heartbreaking loss behind them and collect a second Super Bowl championship in franchise history at the end of the current campaign?
Bookmakers Fancy Their Chances
The bookies certainly seem to think so. In recent years sports fans and betting have become more closely aligned than ever before, both in sportsbooks and casinos. Technology has made both platforms easily accessible to all, and that accessibility has been on full display in recent years. In Michigan for example, many of the state’s casinos had to temporarily close recently. As such, online outlets capitalized, with Michigan online casinos providing no deposit bonuses to new customers, offers that still exist today. Those same websites currently make the Eagles +700 second favorites for the Lombardi this season.
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A Solid Start
The reason behind those ever-shortening betting odds is the solid start to the season the Eagles have made. On their opening game of the new campaign, they were tasked with a trip to the once-feared Gillette Stadium to face off against the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick’s side aren’t the daunted one that they were when the Iggles faced off against them at Super Bowl LII, and they were duly dispatched by a score of 25-20.
Next up were the Minnesota Vikings, who finished with an impressive 13-4 record in the NFC last term. Unfortunately for them though, they ran into a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who was in inspired form. The former Alabama Crimson Tide standout secured two rushing touchdowns as well as another passing touchdown. If the 25-year-old continues in a similar vein as the season progresses, he may very well be the difference maker for his team.
Tougher Tests
While the Eagles currently have two wins from two games under their belt, more difficult tests lie in wait. In November and early December, they will face off against the Dallas Cowboys (twice), the Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, and the San Francisco 49ers in a five-game stretch that will make or break their season. All four of those teams are some of the NFL’s finest at present.
The 49ers made it all the way to the NFC Championship game last season and had it not been for injuries to their first three starting quarterbacks, they may well have posed more of a threat to the Eagles. Meanwhile, everyone knows of the quality of the Chiefs and the Bills’ quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen respectively. The aforementioned Hurts is as good as both of them on his day, and he will have to be at his very best when these testing matchups start to creep ever closer.
