Eagles upsetting Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX has historical trends on Philly’s side

The Philadelphia Eagles enter Super Bowl Lix (that's 59, for our non-Roman readers) as 1.5-point underdogs to the two-time defending champions, Kansas City Chiefs. But entering the NFL's biggest game as underdogs might not be the worst fate for the Eagles, especially with how the game has trended over the last near-three decades.

Favorites in the Super Bowl are just 9-18-2 against the spread in the past 29 years, and with the line being so small this year, the Eagles covering the spread (1.5 points) would obviously make a win very attainable.

Eagles have been much better against the spread than Chiefs

If you're looking for the one area where Philadelphia has a clear edge over the Chiefs... it might be in how they fare versus the odds. This season, the Eagles are 14-3 against the spread, and 5-2 against the spread (and straight up) against other playoff teams. That's a pretty convincing record ATS.

Kansas City, meanwhile, is just 7-9-1 against the spread this season, a number which comes from Patrick Mahomes and the team grinding out wins in games they seemingly had no business winning.

Favorites in 14 games, the Chiefs went 14-0 straight up but just 6-7-1 against the spread. In other words, they win... but don't always win pretty.

I'm not giving betting advice here, and not telling you which way you should lean during next Sunday's game. I'm just saying that Philadelphia is great against the spread, Kansas City is pretty bad against the spread, and the spread is very close in Super Bowl LIX — so there's reason for hope as an Eagles fan.

Still, overcoming the spread and overcoming the Chiefs dark magic are two very different tasks. If Philadelphia can do both, they'll become America's favorite city for the moment. And who could have predicted that?