Proposition wagers are a Super Bowl tradition that really started in 1986 with Chicago Bears defensive lineman William “Refrigerator” Perry scoring a TD at odds of 20-1 here in Las Vegas in the Bears’ 46-10 rout of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
They’ve grown to the point where they account for more than 50% of some sportsbooks’ overall handle and have exploded even more with the expansion of states offering legalized sports betting since 2017. The assignment here was to come up with the 10 most interesting prop bets decided during the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. Similar to ESPN’s Chris Berman running over in his “Two-Minute Warning” segments at halftime of Monday Night Football games, we go well over our limit here in the telling of these stories.Player to score first TD: Jalen Hurts (+700)
This is always one of the most-bet proposition wagers every Super Bowl and this year was no different. The Eagles moved right down the field on the opening possession of the game with a mixture of runs and short passes. On 3rd-and-goal, RB Kenneth Gainwell apparently scored on a 4-yard TD run to thrill his backers at around 25-1. However, the automatic review of scoring plays ended up overturning the call as the replay showed Gainwell being down just short of the goal line. On the very next play, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts took a 1-yard QB sneak into the end zone to officially score the first TD at around +700. Hurts was either the co-favorite or second choice behind Chiefs TE Travis Kelce at most sportsbooks, plus he also cashed at +350 to score the Eagles’ first TD.
Shortest TD Under 1.5 yards
Hurts’ TD less than five minutes into the game (10:09 mark of first quarter) also cashed Shortest TD of the Game Under 1.5 yards (-160), whereas it wouldn’t have cashed so early if Gainwell’s TD hadn’t been overturned. This cashed for the ninth time in the last 10 years.
Game Tied after 0-0 -110 to -120
This was my personal Best Bet among the props at VSiN.com as I expected a close, back-and-forth game. After the Eagles scored the opening TD, the Chiefs responded with an 18-yard TD pass from Patrick Mahomes to Kelce. As noted above, Kelce never had a chance to score the first TD of the game, though he did score the Chiefs’ first TD at +300 and his own Anytime TD at -135 (plus +210 to score a TD in the first half).