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With the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots both being early favorites to win the 2009 Super Bowl, it is estimated that nearly half the future bets placed on the big game have already been lost...and that is great news for online bookmakers and Las Vegas alike.
The bad news is that other teams with short odds and perennial favorites to win the Super Bowl have made it to the Playoffs. Among them: The Pittsburgh Steelers, the Indianapolis Colts and the reigning Super Bowl champions, New York Giants.
The Cowboys suffered their worst loss in 20 years Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles (a 43-3 loss to the Vikings in 1988) and are now 2-8 in their last 10 trips to the city of Brotherly Love.
"There will not be a new head coach," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones repeated several times in a somber Cowboys locker room.
In a game that became do-or-die for both teams shortly before kickoff, the Eagles thoroughly outplayed the error-prone Cowboys (9-7) in every facet.
New England, on the other hand, finished the season in spectacular fashion, but that was not enough in the tight AFC East division.
Miami won the AFC East later in the day and Baltimore took the only available wild-card spot when it beat Jacksonville, and those factors ultimately eliminated New England from the Playoffs.
They are the first NFL team with an 11-5 record to miss the playoffs since Denver in 1985.
Bookies and other NFL teams alike breathed a respective sigh of relief with the Patriots failing to secure a Playoff spot.
Following last year's Super Bowl, the New England Patriots were the 3/1 favorite to win the big game. Heading into the 2008 regular season - and before quarterback Tom Brady's Week 1 injury - Dallas had assumed the favorite position at some online sportsbooks by a quarter to a half point. Following the Brady injury, New England's odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl dropped significantly into double digits territory.
The New York Giants, despite being reigning champions, were initially listed with double digit odds of winning the upcoming Super Bowl.
The Steelers, Giants, Colts and Chargers still received a decent amount of action early on in Super Bowl future betting.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
