Patriots Tom Brady Bill Belichick
Owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady are favored to win their fifth Super Bowl with the New England Patriots after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 22, 2017 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Getty Images

Making their seventh trip to the Super Bowl in the Brady-Belichick era, the New England Patriots are favored to win yet another title. Following Sunday’s win in the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots have opened as three-point favorites over the Atlanta Falcons in the 2017 Super Bowl.

Sportsbooks in Las Vegas and online have set the betting line at three points, via OddsShark. The Patriots’ moneyline is -155, and the Falcons are +135 underdogs. The betting odds will see slight changes over the next two weeks, though it’s a near certainty that the Patriots will remain favored.

The underdog has won the Super Bowl in each of the last five years. The Denver Broncos opened last year’s Super Bowl as a 3.5-point underdog and went on to defeat the Carolina Panthers by two touchdowns.

With two of the NFL’s best offenses facing off, the over/under is the highest in Super Bowl history. Most Las Vegas sportsbooks have the total at either 58.5 or 59 as of Monday morning, though the total has reached 59.5 in some places.

Both New England and Atlanta have cruised to the big game in Houston. The Patriots followed up their first-round bye with an 18-point win over the Houston Texans and a 19-point victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Atlanta defeated the Seattle Seahawks by 16 points in the divisional playoffs, and their 44-21 win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game might have been even more one-sided than the final score indicates.

New England went 14-2 in the regular season, finishing with three more wins than Atlanta. The two teams haven’t faced each other since Sept. 29, 2013 when the Patriots won 30-23 in the Georgia Dome.

Super Bowl LI marks the ninth trip to the big game for the Patriots in franchise history. New England defeated the Seattle Seahawks two years ago to claim their fourth title.

Atlanta made its only Super Bowl appearance in 1999 when they were defeated 34-19 by John Elway and the Broncos. The Falcons were 7.5-point underdogs in that game.

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