AFC PARTICIPANT: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS SUPER BOWL LINES -120
The AFC’s overall #1 seed used their home field advantage throughout the playoffs to get themselves into the Superbowl. Led by QB Tom Brady, the dangerous Patriots offense tallied 35 and 45 points in both victories.
NFL Football Gambling
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New England has relied heavy on QB Tom Brady all season long. Brady led New England to a 12-4 regular season record and was clear of the division’s number 1 spot by 3 games over the Buffalo Bills.
Brady threw for 4109 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season. In postseason play, he’s thrown for 6 touchdowns to go along with almost 600 yards of passing.
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TE Rob Gronkowski and WR Julian Edelman have been the main targets out wide. Gronkowski has caught 2 TD passes this post season and Edelman has 17 receptions.
AFC Divisional Game
After securing a first round bye, the Patriots awaited the winner’s of the Wild Card games. After the Ravens emerged out of Pittsburgh, they came into Foxboro firing away. Ravens QB Joe Flacco led Baltimore right down the field for an opening drive touchdown to set the tone early.
Fast forwarding to the 4th quarter, QB Tom Brady had another one of his miraculous game winning drives when he hooked up with Brandon LaFell for a 23 yard touchdown pass. Brady threw for 367 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win.
AFC Champion
Things were a lot less stressful for the Patriots here. Things went so smoothly, Tom Brady was even taken out of the game in the 4th quarter.
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After New England was denied a late first half touchdown, they took a 17-7 lead into the locker room. The Patriots came out of halftime with the idea of removing all doubt. Behind 3 third quarter touchdowns, New England secured their spot in the Superbowl with a 45-7 thrashing of the Colts.
New England’s defense was the main reason for dismantling Andrew Luck and the Colts. The Pats D forced 3 turnovers and put the offense in easy situations to strike for the end zone.
Strengths
QB Tom Brady
Brady not only has the clutch gene in him, he is just simply a winner. Making his 6th Superbowl appearance this season, the man under center has proven he can take the ball on the final drive and lead his team down the field.
Coaching
Like Tom Brady, this will be Belichick’s 6th go round in the Superbowl. Belichick has easily solidified his spot as one of the most feared coaches in the NFL. From the play calling, to throwing the challenge flag, Belichick has out coached everyone. He’ll have a tough task going up against Pete Carroll on Superbowl Sunday.
-Postseason defense
The Pats D has stepped up in their two postseason games. While they allowed 31 points to Baltimore, they came up clutch on multiple occasions in the 2nd half against the Ravens and completely dominated the Colts last week.
Forcing 5 turnovers combined, New England’s defense will give Seahawks QB Russell Wilson all he can handled on Superbowl Sunday.
Weaknesses
-Which Rushing Attack Will Show Up?
The Rushing performances for New England throughout the entire season has been questionable. That holds to form specifically in the playoffs.
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In the AFC Divisional Game, New England rushed for a mere 14 yards. Their leading rusher, Brandon Bolden, with just 7 yards.
In the AFC Championship, the Patriots turned to LeGarrette Blount. Blount responded to Belichick’s trust with a 148 yard, 3 touchdown game.
If the AFC Championship rushing attack shows up, New England will be tough to beat. If the AFC Divisional Game attack shows up, the Seahawks can drop in coverage and force Brady to throw into some tight windows.
DeflateGate
With the accusations of the Patriots potentially deflating their footballs now verified, the question remains how much of a distraction this will become. The media was all over it when the news broke calling out the integrity of the Patriots and NFL.
With 11 of 12 footballs confirmed as deflated 2 pounds less, New England will surely be punished with the loss of draft picks. However, unable to do anything as far as removing them the Superbowl, will the Patriots be able to overcome the spotlight of cheating?
Check out our Updated Super Bowl XLIX Odds.
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