Super Bowl betting: 7 long shots who won MVP and their comps in Super Bowl LVI

Hitting a longshot invigorates the body like a cold shower and soothes the betting soul like a hot bath. Just ask anyone who cashed Lamar Jackson at +10000 to win 2019 NFL MVP or bet on Han Solo at approximately +372000 to successfully navigate an asteroid field.

Underdog stories are the best part of sports, and it doesn't get much better than when they happen in the biggest event of the year. This year's Super Bowl is packed with long shot MVP odds on BetMGM that could mirror MVP performances from past championship games. If you never want to be told the odds, close this tab and fly away. Otherwise, here are some Super Bowl MVPs who literally defied the odds, and their comparisons in Sunday's matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Super Bowl XLIII MVP: Santonio Holmes, WR Pittsburgh Steelers (+1200)

Super Bowl LVI comp: Cooper Kupp, WR Los Angeles Rams (+600)

Holmes had not broken 100 yards receiving or caught more than five balls in a game during the 2008 season, apparently saving his best performance for last. His 9/131/1 Super Bowl stat line and superbly technical touchdown grab is similar to what Kupp has been doing all year. If we see a low-scoring affair on Sunday, or if the touchdowns are spread out among different positions like in the Steelers-Cardinals Super Bowl, Kupp could walk away with the MVP by simply continuing to do Cooper Kupp things.

Super Bowl XXXIX MVP: Deion Branch, WR New England Patriots (+1500)

Super Bowl LVI comp: Ja'Marr Chase, WR Cincinnati Bengals (+1600)

The Patriots recorded three touchdowns in their 24-21 victory over the Eagles, including two Tom Brady tosses. Branch wasn't a part of that scoring tree. He earned MVP honors by tying the Super Bowl record of 11 catches, many of which were big chunk plays that totaled up to 399 footlong cheesesteaks. We've seen Chase make secondaries look foolish all season. If the Bengals win and he ends the night with a majority of Joe Burrow's yardage, he'll be the first rookie to win Super Bowl MVP.

Super Bowl XXV MVP: Ottis Anderson, RB New York Giants (+1500)

Super Bowl LVI comp: Joe Mixon, RB Cincinnati Bengals (+3500)

New York entered Super Bowl XXV as seven-point underdogs versus the Buffalo Bills. Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells' game plan was to keep Buffalo's high-powered no-huddle offense off the field by grinding the game out on the ground. Much like the Bengals have often done this season, the Giants fell behind early. Parcells stuck to the script, though, riding Anderson to glory via 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. The Rams' rushing defense has been stingy all year, but Mixon is a great talent in his own right, boasting breakaway speed and impressive agility in a 220 pound frame. He's also an excellent pass-catcher, so we may see Zac Taylor try to take some of the pressure off his outmatched offensive line by dumping the ball off on designed plays to Mixon, who produced MVP performances in five of Cincinnati's 13 wins in 2021.

Super Bowl XLVIII MVP: Malcolm Smith, LB Seattle Seahawks (Field, +2000)

Super Bowl LVI comp: Aaron Donald, DE Los Angeles Rams (+1200)

Smith's 69-yard pick-six with 3:21 remaining in the second quarter gave the Seahawks a 22-0 lead over the Broncos and pretty much shut the book on Super Bowl XLVIII before Bruno Mars could even take the halftime stage. The Seattle linebacker added a fumble recovery and nine tackles. A game-sealing or game-changing play by the best game-wrecking defender in the league could mean a Super Bowl MVP for Donald.

Super Bowl LIII MVP: Julian Edelman, WR New England Patriots (+2500)

Super Bowl LVI comp: Odell Beckham Jr., WR Los Angeles Rams (+2500)

An aging, yet highly dangerous and reliable receiver, on a favored team, with a quarterback who's also long in the tooth. The Rams were on the wrong end of this equation in Super Bowl LIII, when Edelman burned them for 141 receiving yards on 10 catches. This year, they are that guy, pal. Beckham went for 113 on nine receptions in the NFC title game. If Cincinnati focuses on not letting Kupp beat them, OBJ could steal the show and the MVP trophy.

Super Bowl 50 MVP: Von Miller, LB Denver Broncos (+2500)

Super Bowl LVI comp: Von Miller, LB Los Angeles Rams (+5000)

Miller notched 2.5 sacks in Super Bowl 50, one of which was a strip sack of Cam Newton that was recovered in the end zone for Denver's first touchdown of the game and a 10-0 lead. He repeated the feat with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter as Carolina attempted to drive down the field for a game-winning touchdown. The Broncos recovered the ball at the Panthers' four-yard line, scored on a C.J. Anderson run to put the game away, and Miller was named MVP. This time around, he'll square off against an offensive line that allowed nine sacks in the divisional round and will be busy trying to contain Donald. There's no reason Miller can't win Super Bowl MVP again.

Super Bowl XXXVII MVP: Dexter Jackson, S Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Field, +250)

Super Bowl LVI comp: Jessie Bates III, S Cincinnati Bengals (+20000)

Sportsbooks have come a long way since Super Bowl XXXVII, where they only offered MVP odds on 22 players and lumped all the rest into a +250 field bet. The longest odds offered was +4500 on John Lynch, so Jackson would have resulted in a healthy payout as an individual wager even though he may not have deserved to win the award. The Bucs safety picked off two passes in the first half and returned them for a total of 34 yards, adding a pass deflection and finishing with one tackle. Fellow defensive back Dwight Smith recorded two pick-sixes, but they occurred in the second half when Tampa Bay was already up several scores, so he lost out to Jackson and field bettors returned 2.5x their investment.

Luckily for bettors in 2022, BetMGM has Super Bowl MVP odds posted for 52 different players. One of them is Bates, an underrated safety who's really elevated his game in the playoffs. His heads-up pass deflection to Vonn Bell in overtime of the AFC championship saved the game for the Bengals and saved the general public from two more weeks of discourse about how the overtime rules are unfair. It's highly probable we'll see the Bengals employ the same single-high zone coverage against the Rams that was effective against the Chiefs and that Matthew Stafford has struggled to beat. The former Lions QB isn't shy about slinging the ball, so we could see more of the throws that have made Stafford the NFL's pick-six leader among active quarterbacks. If Bates gets a good jump on those passes like he did on Ryan Tannehill's first throw of the divisional round, it could result in a Cincinnati score and a Bates MVP.

Stats provided by Pro Football Reference and teamrankings.com.