Super Bowl 51 Patriots vs. Falcons Betting Props: 1st Touchdown, 1st Score

Quarterbacks Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons will take center stage this week as the front-runners to win Super Bowl 51 MVP honors, but the running backs on their respective teams appear to have the best shot to hit paydirt first.

New England’s LeGarrette Blount and Atlanta’s Devonta Freeman have each scored the first touchdown of their games three times between the regular season and playoffs, and both are listed at 8-1 to do it again at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark when they square off in the big game on Sunday.

However, the favorite is wide receiver Julio Jones (15-2) of the Falcons, a player who has yet to score the first touchdown in any game this year. Jones scored six touchdowns overall this season, two fewer than last year, when he had a career-high 136 receptions while playing all 16 games for just the second time in his career.

In addition, Julian Edelman—the leading receiver for the Patriots—has never been a huge scoring threat and totaled only three touchdowns this year. Edelman is also at 8-1 to score the first touchdown despite six of his teammates scoring more than him.

Edelman and Blount are 9-2 co-favorites at sports betting sites to score New England’s first touchdown in the Super Bowl, while the same can be said for Atlanta’s Jones and Freeman, who are 4-1.

The kickers for both teams are good, though, and deserve to be considered in the conversation for the first score of the game. Matt Bryant of the Falcons and Stephen Gostkowski of the Patriots have combined for more than 60 field goals, so there is a distinct possibility that one of them will put his team on the board first before a touchdown is scored.

The odds of New England's first score being a field goal or safety are 27-20 compared to 5-4 for Atlanta. Bettors can also wager on the exact outcome of the first score, with touchdowns by the Patriots (7-4) and Falcons (19-10) the top favorites.