Pause, reflect, and get set to collect.
New Jersey online gamblers savor a prosperous, pleasantly-surprising journey backing the Philadelphia Eagles this year.
Bird bettors pocket the over on the team’s season win totals and playoff props, along with a high-profile individual yardage mark, as the 9-7 Eagles essentially sit idle this weekend.
They will host a primetime, Saturday night matchup with the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys. But the game means nothing to both teams, who prepare instead for postseason matchups next weekend.
And it’s a non-starter for most gamblers.
Week 18 instead brings focus to how well the Eagles have rewarded their regular-season backers.
Philadelphia Eagles Season Betting Overview
The Bets That Paid
The over-under win total became a windfall for gamblers. The Birds opened at 6.5 across many NJ sportsbooks, with little edge perceived. This was considered a rebuilding year from the 4-11-1 fiasco of 2020 and gamblers may have considered this number a stretch.
But they took it and romped to victory.
Many later upped the ante, taking the Birds at +7.5 when they began this late-season, 7-2 surge. Some climbed all the way up the ladder, taking them at +8.5 late in the season.
Many gamblers will cash this ticket more than once.
Playoff Forecasts
After the Eagles defeated the New York Jets to become 6-7, DraftKings had them at +125 to make the playoffs. Square odds for a fair chance.
That, too, has come to fruition. It was a gutsy bet at the time, because the Eagles needed to win and get help. They got plenty with the Dallas Cowboys twice toppling the Washington Football Team, and then they took care of their own business.
Mr. Smith Hits The Over
PointsBet Sportsbook initially listed DeVonta Smith’s over-under at 750.5 receiving yards. Many other books were in the same neighborhood.
The Eagles’ first-round draft pick has 875 yards now, along with five touchdowns. He would be in the area of the 964-yard total projected by ESPN if he plays Saturday.
Smith’s total is second only to DeSean Jackson, who reached 912 for the Eagles’ rookie record, which Jackson set in 2008.
Updated Eagles Futures Still Available
The Eagles are +2200 to win the NFC at DraftKings and +5000 to win the Super Bowl. They were in the +8000 range at the start of the season and above that after the 2-5 start.
Nick Sirianni for coach of the year is another. He’s the fifth-most popular pick at DraftKings, a far cry from when critics sought his ouster midway through the season.
Sure, +3500 is remote for the Eagles rookie head coach with only one regular-season game left. But here is something for bettors to hang their hats on looking forward: his odds plunged more than anyone’s in the past two weeks.
Sirianni was +6500 in late December. But Philadelphia’s rout of the New York Giants, coupled with its recent nail-biting triumph over the Washington Football Team, sliced his odds nearly in half.
Because the award only covers the regular season, Sirianni will not triumph. But he’s ahead of most coaches in the league.
Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals has the inside track at +150. He guided a 4-11-1 team from last season to the AFC North championship, an improvement to 12-4.
Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers is second at +175. Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans is third at +350, and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots is fourth at +2000. Then comes Sirianni.
Look who’s behind him. Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams is +4000 for his 12-4 team.
Kliff Kingsbury, who has guided the Arizona Cardinals to an 11-5 record, is +5000.
Sirianni is on another planet compared to Andy Reid at +8000. That’s because Reid has the great Chiefs team that has played in the last two Super Bowls.
Who’s the real long shot? None other than reigning Super Bowl-winning coach Bruce Arians, at +10000. Having Tom Brady at quarterback lessens the chance for coach of the year.
NFL Coach Of The Year Odds
This is an award that’s hard to quantify. Because only the regular season counts, it often goes to the most improved team. Another factor is the perception of a coach handling a handicap.
Belichick, for instance, has a rookie quarterback in Mac Jones. But the Patriots reeled off seven straight wins and will make the postseason.
Vrabel has guided the Titans to the top AFC playoff seed entering Week 18 despite the loss of all-world running back Derrick Henry.
Sirianni has taken a 4-11-1 team to 9-7 and fashioned a 7-2 run.
“You have to be impressed with the job Nick Sirianni has done for Philadelphia, but right now Zac Taylor has done an even more remarkable job for Cincinnati,” Johnny Avello, the director of race and sportsbook operations for DraftKings, told NJGS. “This close to the end it looks like Taylor and LaFleur, who has been good for three years in a row.”
Eagles Coaching Success
Sirianni’s resurgence prompts a trip down memory lane.
The last Eagle to be named coach of the year (AP) was Reid in 2002. He led the Birds to a 12-4 mark and a berth in the NFC Championship game, which they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Bucs.
Ray Rhodes garnered this honor in 1995. His resume included guiding the Eagles to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth. Rhodes was the last rookie coach before Sirianni to lead the Birds into the playoffs.
The Eagles also have one of the few league champions on this list. That was Buck Shaw in 1960. He led the Eagles to the championship, which occurred several years before there was a Super Bowl.
Put former Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil on this list. He won in 1999, the same year he took the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl triumph. But in 1980, when he led the Birds to the Super Bowl, he did not win.
Belichick is with this group. His Patriots won in 2003 and he is the last coach of a Super Bowl champion to capture this award.
Put Bill Walsh on the list for 1981 with his San Francisco 49ers. Add Don Shula and the 1972 Miami Dolphins for the game’s only perfect season.
Coach Of The Year Snub
The biggest snub of all-time was Chuck Noll.
This boggles the mind. Noll won four Super Bowl titles with the Steelers. He also built them up from nothing.
Noll inherited a bad team, went 1-13 in his first year, and built the Steelers into a champion. They made the playoffs eight years in a row.
Yet Noll, somehow, never was named AP Coach of the Year. Had betting existed in those days, it would have been considered a bad beat. This award can be hit or miss.
How many times was Vince Lombardi, for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named, get recognized as the top coach? Once, in 1959. That was for his 7-5 record for the Green Bay Packers in his first year.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)