Patriots-Eagles tough to track

A bettor had to work hard Wednesday to place a wager on Sunday’s New England-Philadelphia game.

After the Patriots opened as 18- to 23 1/2 -point favorites on various boards, the game was pulled by many because of the uncertain status of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who suffered ankle and thumb injuries last week against Miami.

It seemed as if the combination of McNabb’s shaky health and New England’s powerhouse attack made action on the game hard to find on Internet gambling sites.

That wasn’t the case on the main boards in Las Vegas. The Palms, Stratosphere and Peppermill sports books were among several boards that had the Patriots favored by 23 as of Wednesday afternoon.

New England may be the clear choice as the AFC’s best team, but it is a different story in the NFC with the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, who both play today.

Dallas, led by the passing combination of Tony Romo and Terrell Owens, is listed as a 14-point home favorite over the New York Jets.

Green Bay, led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, is a 3 1/2 -point road favorite at Detroit.

While Dallas and Green Bay each have 9-1 records on the field, the Packers hold an edge over the Cowboys when it comes to matching up against oddsmakers.

Green Bay -- which has won five games in a row -- is 8-1-1 against the spread this season, and Dallas -- which failed to cover in a victory over Washington last week -- is 7-3.

Oddsmakers’ slow response to the Packers’ hot start is one reason for the difference. Green Bay, which won its first four games, has been an underdog five times and favored by more than three points only twice.

While expectations have increased with each victory for Green Bay, the Cowboys have played as favorites in eight of 10 games, including four times with a line of more than nine points.

According to AccuScore.com, which simulates every game 10,000 times, the Cowboys have the best chance of representing the NFC in the Super Bowl at 47%. Green Bay is at 24% and the New York Giants 4%. Seattle, Tampa Bay and Arizona split the remaining 25%.

The results are based on Dallas having home-field advantage based on a regular-season victory over the Packers in Week 13.

Indianapolis is listed as a 12-point road favorite over Atlanta today and the over/under is a combined 41 1/2 points.

The under is 5-0 in the Colts’ last five games and 6-1 in the Falcons’ last seven games as a home underdog.

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College football

After not having an over/under line for most of the week, today’s USC at Arizona State game hit oddsmakers boards with a total of 49 Wednesday.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com