Blog Archives

Baltimore Ravens – B+
Baltimore already had a quality team in place, so they needed help in just a few areas to put them over the top. It looks like they got what they needed. Cornerback Jimmy Smith has a ton of talent and should challenge for at least the nickel spot right away. The team got younger and faster at receiver by taking Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss. Tackle Jah Reid should help provide depth on the offensive line. A solid draft overall.

27) Atlanta Falcons – Adrian Clayborn, Defensive End, Iowa

A first team All-Big Ten selection, Clayborn is a powerful defensive end that can add a boost to the Falcons pass rush. He didn’t produce in his senior year like he did when he was a junior and had 11 sacks, but he is good value at this point in the draft.

28) New England Patriots – Gabe Carimi, Offensive Tackle, Wisconsin

The rich get richer as the Patriots grab another player with a ton of talent that can start right away. Matt Light may not return and the Pats would need a replacement for him. A mountain of a man at 6’7, he was the Outland award winner for best offensive lineman.

Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore is mostly set at the skill positions, but needs to address their aging defense. Linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed are nearing the end of their careers, and three other members of the secondary are free agents so that area must be addressed. Nose tackle Haloti Ngata is also a free agent, but the team would be silly to not give him a long term deal. The offensive line may need a boost as well, with center Matt Birk a free agent and Michel Oher possibly switching to right tackle from the left side.

With Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers nearly upon us, now is a good time to look at some of our favorite prop bets for the Super Bowl.

Prop bets are propositions such as “team to win the coin toss” or “team to score first”, and they have gained popularity over the last 10 years or so. It used to be that props were only available on big games such as the Super Bowl, but they have become so popular that they are now available on just about all NFL games.

Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be played on Sunday, February 6, and if you have no strong opinion on the side or total, there are plenty of player props available to keep your interest.

Prop bets have become more popular over the past decade, especially in the Super Bowl, which has more props available for both teams and players than in any other game of the year. Betting player props is an untapped niche in regards to making big money, and those of us that enjoy playing Fantasy Football should already be adept at projecting player stats.

The Green Bay Packers have been installed as 2½ point favorites for Super Bowl XLV with the betting total set at 44½, but if you do not like those full-game numbers, another viable option could be to bet individual quarters.

Now some bettors may scoff at the thought with the belief that betting on quarters is totally random, and while that may sometimes be true, many other times, teams have discernable patterns regarding what quarters they are stronger or weaker in. After all, if this was not the case, how would the sportsbooks set the quarter lines?

The latest line on Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers is Green Bay -2½, with the total set at 44½.

Now many bettors may find those numbers too tight to wager on, but another viable option might be teasing the side and total. Remember that generally, 6-point teasers are priced at -110, 6½-point teasers are -120 and 7-point teasers are -130.

When handicapping each individual leg of the teaser, it is important to know that at those prices, the break-even point for one leg of a 6-point teaser is 72.3 percent, for a 6½-point teaser, it is 73.8 percent and for a 7-point teaser, it is 75.1 percent.

The NFL latest line has the Super Bowl XLV total set at 44.5, which may seem high when you consider that this year’s participants, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers possess the two best defenses in football this season in terms of points allowed.

The Pittwburgh Steelers allowed the fewest points in the NFL this season at just 14.5 points per game, but the Packers were not far behind, finishing second in the NFL and first in the NFC allowing only 15.0 points per contest.

It is not often that you will see a sixth seed favored over a second seed, yet the sixth seeded Green Bay Packers found themselves as road favorites over the NFC second seeded Bears in the NFC Championship Game, and the Packers are now favored over the AFC second seed, the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV odds.

The NFL opening Super Bowl line is Green Bay -2.5, with the betting total set at 44½.

Believe it or not, there is some precedence here, as the Packers are the second sixth seed to make the Super Bowl, and the first one, the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, was also favored over a second seed at -4½ points over the Seattle Seahawks.

The New York Jets did the unthinkable, which is make Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense look very ordinary, and thus the Jets find themselves in the AFC Championship Game for the second straight year.

Meanwhile, the Steelers advanced with a wild 31-24 win over the Ravens in a game that did not have as many offensive fireworks as the final score implies, as much of the scoring came with short fields set up by a plethora of turnovers by each side.

The NFL playoff betting odds for this contest is Pittsburgh -3½ at betting odds of -115 at home, with the betting total set at 38½.