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How the Lions went from perennial underdog to sportsbooks' worst enemy

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It was Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17. The Buffalo Bills were handling the Kansas City Chiefs, and bookmakers around the nation were poised to do something they'd never done before -- make the Detroit Lions the favorites to win the Super Bowl.

For weeks, the Lions had been closing the gap with the two-time defending champion Chiefs. They inched even closer with their blowout win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the early slate, just prior to the Bills-Chiefs game. Then, at roughly 5:30 p.m., the trading team for ESPN BET hit the button and moved the Lions ahead of the two-time defending champion Chiefs in the odds to win the Super Bowl.