Commanders eye Super Bowl, long-shot history

The Washington Commanders are a win away from becoming one the biggest preseason long shots ever to reach the Super Bowl.

Washington takes on the host Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game. The Eagles were listed as consensus 6-point favorites at ESPN BET on Friday. The Commanders were much bigger underdogs in September.

Washington kicked off the season as a 150-1 long shot to win the Super Bowl and drifted as long as 250-1 at sportsbooks ahead of Week 3. With a win Sunday, the Commanders would tie the 1999 St. Louis Rams for the longest preseason odds for a Super Bowl participant since the NFL adopted a 16-game schedule in 1978, according to betting archive SportsOddsHistory.com.

Very few bettors were willing to take a shot on Washington in the preseason. A $500 Super Bowl bet at 150-1, placed Aug. 17 by a bettor in Virginia with Caesars Sportsbook, is among the largest reported preseason wagers on the Commanders.

Twenty-seven teams -- including the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and New England Patriots -- attracted more Super Bowl bets than the Commanders last offseason at BetMGM sportsbooks. There was approximately 10 times as much money wagered on the New York Jets to win the Super Bowl than there was on the Commanders entering September.

Four months later, Washington is the most popular bet on the board at BetMGM. More bets have been placed on the Commanders to beat the Eagles straight-up than have been placed on any other outcome in either championship game this weekend. Washington is around a +240 underdog to win the game outright.

In the AFC Championship Game, the host Kansas City Chiefs were 1.5-point favorites over the Buffalo Bills at ESPN BET. The second-most-popular NFL bet at BetMGM this weekend was the Bills to beat the Chiefs straight up, as of Friday.