Odds To Win The 2012 Superbowl
We are down to the conference title games and it is no surprise, especially with the defending champion Packers out of the picture, that the Patriots have the best odds out of the 4 teams to win the Super Bowl. The Ravens, who the Pats face in the early game Sunday, have the worst odds and they have a tall order trying to beat New England in their house.
Here are the 4 teams left in the playoffs and their futures odds to win the Super Bowl.
New England Patriots +120
The Pats easily beat the Denver Broncos last week 45-10 in the divisional playoff game at home and while it is no surprise that they had a great game on offense they also played a pretty good game on defense. Tom Brady has WR Wes Welker and a great TE duo in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and if he has time to find them the Pats may light up the scoreboard again. New England also rushed for 146 yards in the win over Denver so the Ravens and their great defense, which ranks 4th against the pass and 2nd against the run, will have their hands full.
The New England defense will have to try to contain Joe Flacco and RB Ray Rice and even though neither of these guys had good games last week they were facing a great D of Houston and the Pats have had their issues on D this season. Brady is 4-1 all time against the Ravens and Baltimore was only 4-4 on the road in the regular season. If the Pats’ offensive line can protect Brady facing a Ravens’ pass rush that had the 3rd most sacks in the league this season they should have no problems winning and getting back to the Super Bowl.
San Francisco 49ers +330
The 49ers showed they can light up the scoreboard, as last week against the Saints Alex Smith played the hero bringing San Fran back twice in the 4th quarter with a long TD run and a TD pass with 9 seconds left to ice the game. They will be facing a red-hot Giants’ team that has won 4 straight and has only given up 22 points in their 2-playoff games.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
RB Frank Gore did not have a ton of rushing yards last week, but he averaged 6.8 yards per carry in the win over the Saints and he will be facing a Giants’ run D that gave up 147 yards last week in the win over the Packers. The main concern for the 49ers has to be Eli Manning, as while San Francisco totally stuffed the run last week against New Orleans they gave up a ton of passing yards, but they did have 2 picks. The 49ers’ offensive line must protect Smith against a Giants’ pass rush that has 17 sacks in their last 4 games.
New York Giants +350
The Giants are riding high winners of 4 straight and they had a shocking win over the Packers in Green Bay last week. Eli Manning is playing great and he has 2 solid WR’s in Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks. Manning may have to do it all, as Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs lead a Giants’ rushing offense that has struggled all season and even in the win last week New York failed to rush for over 100 yards. On top of that the San Fran run D is the best in the league and only gave up 37 rushing yards to the Saints.
A couple of keys for the Giants, who have already lost 27-20 in San Francisco earlier this season, is playing solid run defense on Frank Gore and protecting Manning in the pocket against a legit 49ers pass rush.
Baltimore Ravens +700
The Ravens head into New England as big betting underdogs and while they played great D in their 20-13 win over the Houston Texans last week. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice did not have big games. The Ravens’ pass rush must get to Brady in the pocket and their secondary, which came up with 3 picks against Houston, may have to pick off Brady to have any chance to win this game.
Ray Rice may be the key on offense, as if he has a good game running the ball the more Brady and the dynamic Pats’ offense will be on the sidelines.
