It's finally officially official. Nick Foles will start Thursday's season opener at Lincoln Financial Field and the spread, as well as the moneyline in Vegas, and now New Jersey and Delaware, took a small yet significant move since the news was announced.
All offseason, there has been speculation on who would start the first game of the season for the Eagles and now that we have our answer, let's take a look at how the market has reacted.
The Eagles opened as -4/-220 favorites against the Falcons, but if you were wise, you didn't bet the opening spread without knowing who was starting the game for the Eagles at QB.
What does that mean?
It means that if you were to wager $100 on the Eagles and they won by five or more, you'd profit a total of $90.91. If you bet $100 on the Eagles to win outright, you'd profit $45.45.
So what has changed?
According to VegasInsider.com, the spread at the Westgate Superbook in Vegas has shifted to the Eagles being -1.5/-125 favorites. You may think that means, if Vegas was expecting Wentz to start when the lines opened, Foles starting is worth 2.5 points against the spread, but it's actually more complex than that.
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When betting an NFL game, there are big pivot points at -3, -7, -10 and -14. Bettors will even sacrifice a significant position to buy "the hook," which is a half-point, to make the spread -2.5, -6.5, -9.5 or -13.5, so the fact that the spread has moved from above three to below three is significant.
What does that mean now?
It means that if you were to wager $100 on the Eagles and they won by two or more, you'd profit a total of $90.91. If you bet $100 on the Eagles to win outright, you'd profit $80.
So while on the surface, the line has only shifted from 4 to 1.5, a bettor will make nearly double on an outright Eagles win after the news of Foles being named QB than when the line originally opened.
Never count out the Super Bowl MVP, though.
