Ladd McConkey – NFL Draft Sleeper Alert
Jay Felicio
The Super Bowl. It is perhaps the greatest betting spectacle in all of sports. It is a time when betting enthusiasts can wager on just about anything, and this year DraftKings Sportsbook has put out some very interesting parlays that expand far beyond Super Bowl 56. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the best cross-sport parlays for Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
What Will Be More: Adesanya vs. Whittaker Total Rounds or the Number of Touchdowns in Super Bowl 56?
This cross between the Super Bowl and the UFC middleweight title fight has to be the most intriguing of the cross-sport parlays offered. The current odds favor more touchdowns in the Super Bowl at -165, and the price for more rounds in the title fight sits at +185.
Looking at both bets individually, oddsmakers are expecting anywhere from five to six touchdowns to be scored as the total sits at 5.5 with -115 vig on both sides. The number of five here is key as that would cause a tie for this special, which is priced at +550.
A tie is very well possible as the odds for total rounds in the fight are -130 for over 4.5 rounds. For those unfamiliar, UFC title fights are five rounds. So the market seems to lean toward the fight going the distance, but it is not without risk. In the first meeting between Adesanya and Whittaker, Adesanya won the belt by knocking out Whittaker in the middle of the second round. The safe bet is toward the touchdown for this special, but if you’re feeling lucky, betting the tie certainly has some value.
What Will Be More: Total Goals in the NHL Sunday or First-Half Total Points in Super Bowl 56
Here, we go from the octagon to the ice rink as the entire slate of NHL games is pitted against the first-half total from the Super Bowl. The current odds are leaning toward more goals scored than first-half points with -140 odds. While that does seem to be the likely outcome, the math behind each side makes this a much closer matchup than the odds portray.
There are four NHL games Sunday. The average amount of goals scored per team this season is a hair above 3. So that spread over eight teams playing Sunday puts us just over 24 expected goals.
The first-half total for the Super Bowl currently sits at 23.5, down a bit from an earlier line of 24.5 as the market expects a more low-scoring game. However, the determining factor is the scoring rate of the NHL teams playing Sunday. Of the eight teams playing Sunday, three are among the top four scoring teams in the league, putting up well over three goals per game. So, with the market and the number favoring more goals to be scored, this may have value as it should be priced even higher.
What Will Be More: Trae Young/Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown Combined Points or Ja’Marr Chase Receiving Yards?
This final cross-sport special may be the best of them to bet the plus-money side. The odds for Trae Young, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to have more combined points than Ja’Marr Chase has receiving yards in the Super Bowl is +105.
Chase has had an outstanding rookie campaign that has been dotted with big games, but that might not be the case in the Super Bowl. Chase is going up against a solid secondary that will be doing its best to take him away on most plays. Chase averaged 85.6 yards per game in the regular season, though he only topped that average five times in 17 outings.
Contrast that with Young, Tatum and Brown, who average 27.8, 25.5 and 23.9 points, respectively. Their combined average total is 77.2 points per game, and considering that it is only eight below Chase’s yardage average, them having the higher total is well within reach.
