Philadelphia Eagles Still Have Better Super Bowl 53 Odds Than Redskins, Somehow

• Defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles remain +2500 to win Super Bowl 53 despite a 3-4 record
• Those are better odds than on the NFC East-leading Washington Redskins (+3300)
• No team has repeated as Super Bowl champion since the New England Patriots (Super Bowls 38 & 39)

The Philadelphia Eagles have lost three of their last four games and four of their last six. They’ve looked nothing at all like Super Bowl champions, except perhaps on the odds sheet.

Sportsbooks still list the defending Super Bowl champions as the NFC East’s top contender to win Super Bowl 53, ahead of the division-leading 4-2 Washington Redskins, given odds of +3300.

Odds to Win the Super Bowl 53

*Follow the link in the table to see odds for all 32 teams

The 3-4 Dallas Cowboys (+4500) are also behind the Eagles, while even friends and family aren’t betting on the 1-6 New York Giants (+25000).

Philadelphia’s Story of Woe

The latest loss for Philadelphia was again in the personnel department. Defensive End Derek Barnett will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, the another in a long line of injuries to key players.

The Eagles are currently without their:

Top 2 RB
Top 3 DT
2 of their top 4 WR
2 of their top 3 S
Starting nickel CB
Starting DEhttps://t.co/M1mWE82WbB

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) October 23, 2018

Philadelphia previously lost running back Jay Ajayi to a torn ACL. 

Eagles Have Landed . . . With a Thud

Last season, Philadelphia proudly rode the underdog label to a Super Bowl triumph, going as far as to don dog masks after each postseason victory. But the Eagles haven’t worn prosperity with anywhere near as much comfort.

At the start of the season, Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson advised his team to embrace the pressure that wearing a target as Super Bowl champions brings, but they haven’t heeded his advice at all.

In their most recent outing, the Eagles squandered a 17-0 fourth-quarter lead and fell 21-17 to the Carolina Panthers. 

🐶🐶🐶 pic.twitter.com/sCyuJWOIWL

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) October 21, 2018

Afterwards, the Panthers even mocked the Philly dogs on social media.

So You’re Saying There’s Still A Chance?

The positive in all of this, and perhaps the reason behind the still strong support for the Eagles from the betting public, is that they still hold their fate in their hands.

This week, Philadelphia is off to London, England to face another 2017 powerhouse that is reeling, the 3-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Pederson believes that his team is pressing and needs to relax, and knowing the division title is still theirs for the taking will help them do that. The Eagles will play five more games against NFC East rivals, and they sit just a half-game behind Washington for the division lead.

Beyond divisional games, Philadelphia faces a rugged schedule. Besides the Jaguars, the Eagles also face the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints, the top two teams in the NFC.

Should You Back Philadelphia?

Go ahead if you want to, but here’s some troubling thoughts for Eagles fans:

• Last season, there were 12 NFL teams with losing records through Week 7. Not one of them made the playoffs.
• The last time a Super Bowl champion repeated as champions was in 2005, when the New England Patriots beat the Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl 39.
• Before the Eagles won last year, the last NFC East team to win the Super Bowl was the New York Giants in Super Bowl 42.

If you want to back an NFC team to win the Super Bowl, put your money on the Rams or the Saints. The NFC is a two-horse race.