Category: Superbowl

Super Bowl 47 Preview: Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers

Quarterbacks will be front and center when the AFC champion Baltimore Ravens battle the NFC champion 49ers from San Francisco this Sunday, Feb 3rd in New Orleans, looking to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy in Super Bowl XLVII.

Colin Kaepernick will be under center for the Niners when kickoff ensues at 6:30pm ET Sunday, while the Ravens will have Joe Flacco leading the way, as the two teams look to add another notch to their respective team’s Super Bowl belts. The 49ers have claimed five championships for their franchise, while the Ravens are looking to add to the one win they claimed back in 2001.

Sportsbook odds makers have the 49ers as the slight favorites, giving them a 3.5 point handicap with the Total now sitting at 47 points.

Kaepernick has been especially impressive since he took over from the incumbent quarterback Alex Smith mid-way through the 2012 season, displaying an ability to not only throw the ball down the field, but using his legs to confuse defences, which was on display when he rushed for an NFL rushing playoff record for a quarterback by hauling the ball 183 yards during a big win over the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round. Flacco has been equally impressive by throwing eight TDs and zero interceptions while spearheading an attack that has knocked off some of the best QBs in the game in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, during wins over the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.

On the defensive side of the ball, the 49ers have arguably the best front seven in football, and boast one of the top 3 defenses in the NFL statistically. They have one of the top rush ends in Aldon Smith, DT Justin Smith, middle linebacker Patrick Willis and outside linebacker NaVarro Bowman. The Ravens have been defined by their defence over the past decade, led by all-world middle linebacker Ray Lewis. However this year, the Ravens have struggled to slow down top offences and sat in the middle of the pack, but key to this drop has been injuries to key players such as Lewis, safeties Ed Reed and Bernard Pollard, as well as outside linebacker Jameel McLain.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Niners have Frank Gore leading the way on the ground as one of the best running backs, as well as long time stretch receiver Randy Moss, and wide out Michael Crabtree, who’s become the go-to guy for Kaepernick on 3rd down. For the Ravens, Torrey Smith is the man when it comes to big plays, but Baltimore also has solid receiving weapons in Anquan Boldin and Tight end Jacoby Jones. Ray Rice is the man when it comes to running ball, but he’s also a definite threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, especially on 3rd and long when Flacco has to check down.

Super Bowl XLVII Hosted by New Orleans February 3, 2013

The 47th edition, Super Bowl XLVII, will be played February 3rd, 2013 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. And because it’s annually the biggest single sports day in North America, the 2013 Mardis Gras calendar in Orleans Parish will be changed. This will be the 10th time the city of New Orleans has hosted the Super Bowl, the most of any host city in Super Bowl history.

It will be the first Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans since the Superdome sustained damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The game will be carried by CBS, which plans on charging a record high US$4,000,000 for each thirty-second advertisement. CTV will be the Canadian carrier.

Even after coming up on the short end of the score in last year’s National Football League championship game, the New England Patriots are the oddsmakers’ early favorite to win next season’s Super Bowl. The Patriots are 5-1 to win the 2013 Super Bowl by oddsmakers.

The Green Bay Packers, who had a 15-1 record during the regular season before losing to the Giants in the NFC playoffs, are listed as the second favorite at 11-2, according to offshore sportsbooks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles are both listed at 6-1, followed by the Giants at 8-1. The Giants finished ahead of the Eagles this season to make the playoffs as the National Football Conference’s East division winner.

The New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers have 10-1 odds, with the San Diego Chargers and Houston Texans at 12-1. The other New York team, the Jets, are tied for the 13th-best odds among 32 NFL teams at 20-1.

The Giants’ odds of winning the Super Bowl at the start of the 2011 season were 25-1, while the the Patriots were the pre-season favorites at 9-2.

ODDS TO WIN 2013 SUPER BOWL

New England Patriots 5-1
Green Bay Packers 11-2
Pittsburgh Steelers 6-1
Philadelphia Eagles 6-1
New York Giants 8-1
New Orleans Saints 10-1
San Francisco 49ers 10-1
San Diego Chargers 12-1
Houston Texans 12-1
Chicago Bears 17-1
Detroit Lions 18-1
Atlanta Falcons 18-1
Dallas Cowboys 20-1
Baltimore Ravens 20-1
New York Jets 20-1
Indianapolis Colts 25-1
Tennessee Titans 30-1
Cincinnati Bengals 30-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Kansas City Chiefs 50-1
Seattle Seahawks 50-1
Denver Broncos 50-1
Carolina Panthers 50-1
Miami Dolphins 50-1
St. Louis Rams 50-1
Oakland Raiders 60-1
Minnesota Vikings 60-1
Arizona Cardinals 60-1
Cleveland Browns 75-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 100-1
Washington Redskins 125-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 150-1

NY Giants Battle Favorite NE Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI

The New York Giants and the New England Patriots will pick up where they left off in 2008, playing for NFL supremacy, playing Sunday, Feb 5th in Indianapolis, kickoff at 6:30pm ET.

The Giants won that first Super Bowl encounter with New England and the Patriots are looking for revenge four years later. Tom Brady has lost in the Super Bowl only once and this is the game he wants to prove that he and Bill Belichik are the greatest head coach/quarterback combination of all time.

The Patriots have opened as a 3-point favorite and the line has moved up and down several times since it was posted. The line currently sits at 3.5 and the money is tipping in favor of the Patriots at a 51% clip. Brady and the Patriots can dominate the game if Rob Gronkowski turns up healthy and stays healthy throughout the game.

The Moneyline is a small number for bettors looking for an outright Giants win. The Giants are +145 on the Moneyline and the public is eating it up. The bettors are hammering the Moneyline with 75% of the action coming down on the Giants. The Over/Under on the game is settled at 54 after opening at 56 with 53% of the public hitting the Under.

The New England Patriots enter the game 10-8 Against the Spread for the season and Belichik has never been a coach to concern himself with the point spread or Superbowl betting numbers. The Patriots failed to cover their first playoff game before blowing out an inferior Denver Broncos team.

The New York Giants are 11-7-1 Against the Spread and they have a history of playing better against a favorite. This is the reason the public initially jumped on the Giants but once Gronkowski is announced as a starter, the betting patterns will trend towards the Patriots.

Super Bowl prop bets becoming more popular than betting on the game itself

Prop bets have become a big part of Super Bowl betting, and all you have to do is check out the props available for Super Bowl XLV on Sunday in Dallas at sportsbooks to see for yourself.

There are the crazy, wacky props that have nothing to do with the game itself, which tend to attract non-football fans, and there are the individual player and team props that NFL bettors usually prefer.

One of the most popular are quarterback props, like what will happen first for each QB. For Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, throwing a TD pass pays -200 while tossing an interception is at +160.

For Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, throwing a touchdown is at -230 and throwing an interception is at +190

You can also wager on the over/under for total passing yards for the two pivots, with Roethlisberger’s total at 247.5, and the over at +105 odds and the under at -135. For Rodgers, the over/under is 272.5, with over at -135 and under at +105.

There are also plenty of running back prop bets for Super Bowl XLV, like total rushing yards. For the Packers’ Brandon Jackson, the over/under is 11.5 yards, with over at +125 and under at -155.

For the Steelers’ Rashard Mendenhall, the over/under is 81.5 rushing yards, with the over at +105 and the under at -135.

Of course, some sportsbooks offer so many wacky bets, it’s hard not resist, like how long Christina Aguilera’s version of the Star Spangled Banner will last.

Super Bowl XLV injury update: Pittsburgh Steelers & Green Bay Packers

Any NFL Betting fan knows that one of the biggest contributing factors to a team’s performance is health – specifically which players are out of the lineup with injuries, and which players are playing hurt.

And at no time, in no game, are injuries a bigger factor than the Super Bowl.

Heading into Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, both the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers have some injury concerns.

For the Packers, wide receiver Donald Driver is nursing a quadriceps injury, but the team said Friday he will play in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday against the Steelers.

Driver has been battling the injury all week. He was put on the Packers’ injury report Thursday, leading to speculation he wouldn’t play in Dallas. But Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Friday that while Driver was being held out of Friday’s practice as a precaution, he expects the veteran receiver to play Sunday.

For the Steelers, there has been a lot of speculation about starting center Maurkice Pouncey’s availability for the Super Bowl.

Pouncey suffered a high left ankle sprain in the Steelers’ 24-19 win over the New York Jets in the AFC championship, and has been seen on crutches and wearing a walking boot on his left foot.

But Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Friday he expects Pouncey back at center on Sunday. Pouncey’s ankle sprain is a Grade II+, in other words, almost a complete tear of at least one of the major ligaments in the ankle. If this was a regular season game and not Super Sunday, there’s little doubt he would be out.