ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons will be underdogs in Sunday’s (Feb. 5) Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots, but one bettor is putting over $1 million worth of faith in the NFC champions.
According to ESPN.com’s David Purdum, CG Technology took the bet Friday on the Falcons to cover the three-point spread.
The anonymous bettor is risking $1.1 million to win $1 million.
While the Falcons are tasked with facing a New England team that has won four Super Bowls, recent history suggests Atlanta may be the smart play.
According to OddsShark, in the past 15 Super Bowls, 12 underdogs have covered, including last year.
At the same time, the seven Super Bowls pitting the No. 1 scoring offense (Falcons) against the No. 1 scoring defense (Patriots) have yielded a 6-1 record for the defense-oriented teams, according to Andre Vergara of Fox Sports.
New England is far from a defense-only team, though, as it boasts perhaps the best quarterback of all time in Tom Brady.
Atlanta will counter with likely regular-season MVP Matt Ryan under center, and if Matty Ice carries over his recent play to the biggest stage in sports, then one person stands to be $1 million richer.
