No Deja Vu in Football?
I wasn’t planning on doing a Super Bowl preview. First of all, I figure there’s enough coverage of it without me putting in my two cents. Furthermore, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I was really disappointed that the Green Bay Packers are not going to be facing off against the New England Patriots.
But then my buddy, and one of my handful of readers, e-mailed me that I should write about how underrated the New York Giants are and how he expects an upset similar to the one in Super Bowl XXV when the underdog Giants beat the mighty Buffalo Bills. Although I was planning to write on how disappointed I was by the season premiere of Lost, I couldn’t ignore Dr. X’s request.
As I type this, the Patriots are 12 point favorites. Now my understanding of Vegas lines is that they aren’t really predictions of outcomes of games. Rather, they’re used to try to get half of gamblers to bet on one team and the other half on the other team. When that happens, the casinos win regardless of the outcome of the game because they still get their juice, their commission from taking the bet. Since the line hasn’t moved that much since it opened, it would appear that there still isn’t that many people thinking the Giants could win.
I know one thing for sure, if I were in Vegas I would be betting heavy on the Giants. I’m not saying they will win, but the way the Giants have been playing and as vulnerable as the Patriots have appeared against the Chargers and these same Giants at the end of the regular season, I just don’t see a 12 point win.
My friend Dr. X goes even further than that. He actually thinks the Giants have a shot at winning the game. He suspects that all the media attention that the Patriots have gotten will finally get to them and they won’t be as prepared for the game as the Giants will be. As I mentioned above, he also sees parallels between this Super Bowl and Super Bowl XXV. Back in 1991, the Giants defense was able to contain a much-ballyhooed offense powered by Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, James Lofton, and Thurman Thomas.
Unfortunately for Dr. X and New York fans, that Giants defense will not coordinated by Bill Belichick as it was in 1991. The Giants defense has played well, but this time around Belichick will be on the opposing team’s sidelines. And while the Patriots no longer have Adam Vinatieri, one of the best kickers in NFL history, I don’t see their current kicker Stephen Gostkowski being the second coming of Scott Norwood, who notoriously missed a game-winning field goal for the Bills.
So I’m predicting a Patriots victory. And since my friend Johnny Ringo is a bigger Pats fan than Dr. X is a Giants fan, that’s what I’m hoping for also. Although it would have been pretty funny to see the Giants win without the retired Tiki Barber or the injured Jeremy Shockey. It also would have been funny to see the Pats go undefeated in the regular season but fail to win the Super Bowl. Then again I have a strange sense of humor.
On Monday: Christmas in February, the Pau Gasol/Kwame Brown trade.
But then my buddy, and one of my handful of readers, e-mailed me that I should write about how underrated the New York Giants are and how he expects an upset similar to the one in Super Bowl XXV when the underdog Giants beat the mighty Buffalo Bills. Although I was planning to write on how disappointed I was by the season premiere of Lost, I couldn’t ignore Dr. X’s request.
As I type this, the Patriots are 12 point favorites. Now my understanding of Vegas lines is that they aren’t really predictions of outcomes of games. Rather, they’re used to try to get half of gamblers to bet on one team and the other half on the other team. When that happens, the casinos win regardless of the outcome of the game because they still get their juice, their commission from taking the bet. Since the line hasn’t moved that much since it opened, it would appear that there still isn’t that many people thinking the Giants could win.
I know one thing for sure, if I were in Vegas I would be betting heavy on the Giants. I’m not saying they will win, but the way the Giants have been playing and as vulnerable as the Patriots have appeared against the Chargers and these same Giants at the end of the regular season, I just don’t see a 12 point win.
My friend Dr. X goes even further than that. He actually thinks the Giants have a shot at winning the game. He suspects that all the media attention that the Patriots have gotten will finally get to them and they won’t be as prepared for the game as the Giants will be. As I mentioned above, he also sees parallels between this Super Bowl and Super Bowl XXV. Back in 1991, the Giants defense was able to contain a much-ballyhooed offense powered by Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, James Lofton, and Thurman Thomas.
Unfortunately for Dr. X and New York fans, that Giants defense will not coordinated by Bill Belichick as it was in 1991. The Giants defense has played well, but this time around Belichick will be on the opposing team’s sidelines. And while the Patriots no longer have Adam Vinatieri, one of the best kickers in NFL history, I don’t see their current kicker Stephen Gostkowski being the second coming of Scott Norwood, who notoriously missed a game-winning field goal for the Bills.
So I’m predicting a Patriots victory. And since my friend Johnny Ringo is a bigger Pats fan than Dr. X is a Giants fan, that’s what I’m hoping for also. Although it would have been pretty funny to see the Giants win without the retired Tiki Barber or the injured Jeremy Shockey. It also would have been funny to see the Pats go undefeated in the regular season but fail to win the Super Bowl. Then again I have a strange sense of humor.
On Monday: Christmas in February, the Pau Gasol/Kwame Brown trade.
posted by The Pocho at 12:47 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home