Super Bowl Wild Wagering Trends for Rams vs. Bengals
By Reed Wallach
As the Super Bowl draws closer, this Sunday, with the Rams playing in the host city of Los Angeles in their home of SoFi Stadium against the AFC Champions Cincinnati Bengals.
The Rams are 4-point favorites at WynnBET Sportsbook and the total is set at 48.5.
We have plenty of game preview content for you over on our Super Bowl tab, which you can find here, but let's talk about the history of the Super Bowl and how the games have played out from a sports betting perspective. Here are a few notable trends (or lack of predictive ones) that we were able to conjure up for the Big Game.
Note: The 2014 Super Bowl will not be included in spread trends with the game closing a PK
Underdogs are 13-7 Against the Spread since 2000
It's profitable to back underdogs in the Super Bowl as seen with their sterling record over the last two decades.
Of course, the Bengals are the dogs here, and Joe Burrow and the Bengals are 8-3 ATS this season as underdogs, including a fantastic 7-2 outright record.
This has been a profitable spot to back Cincy and Los Angeles has struggled to cash as a favorite. Despite going 12-5 straight up as chalk, they are 7-10 ATS.
But...
Favorites Typically Win the Super Bowl
In 54 Super Bowls with a favorite, that team has won outright in 36 of them, good for a 66% win percentage. Now, underdogs do win, but it's typical for the chalk to be accurately lined as it and for them to win.
For what it's worth, underdogs have covered in 24 of those games. With that in mind, it's typical for the underdog to cover and win outright. The Bengals are +165 at WynnBET as of this writing.
Slow Starts in the Super Bowl
Dating back to 1990, Super Bowl's have gone under in exactly 15 of the last 30. So, there's no rhyme or reason to the totals, but there has been a trend of backing the under in the first half. 18 of the last 30 games have gone under in the first half.
There may not be a slam dunk answer as to why, but I envision that the norm is for teams to come out and play games close to the vest early. For what it's worth first quarters are even lower scoring typically. 23 of the last 30 Super Bowls have had first quarters that have 10 or less points, which fits the theory behind slow starts due to conservative play calling.