More Numbers to Crunch for Super Bowl LI
Scott Morris | January 25, 2017
Super Bowl LI will have the largest betting handle of any single sporting event in the U.S. as it does each year. That means bettors are digging through all the data trying to find the key combinations to those numbers that will add up to a win for them on Super Bowl Sunday February 5 in Houston.
Thus far, 266 games have been played in the NFL and it all comes down to Atlanta vs. New England for the right to raise the Vince Lombardi trophy.
New England is the favorite going into a game that opened with the highest point total in the history of the Super Bowl.
Both teams are on fire entering this big game. New England has covered the number in 7 straight games, while Atlanta has covered 5 of its past 6.
All season, the two teams have been profitable for bettors as they have a combined record of 27-9 against the number. However, picking a winner for this matchup will not be easy since both making compelling cases to bet on.
As a favorite, New England is highly profitable at 19-9-2 against the number in its past 30 games as chalk. At the same time, when an underdog, Atlanta is 20-7 ATS in its past 27 games.
That run of 27 games for Atlanta dates back to November of 2013 and no other NFL team has a better ATS cover percentage as a dog during that span than Atlanta.
Digging deeper into the spread, Atlanta has a big edge as they are 7-0 SU and ATS in their past 7 games played as 2- to 4-point dogs.
New England on the other hand has been upset when given the small-chalk label. The Patriots are 4-9 SU and ATS over a period of 13 games when tagged as 2- to 4-point chalk.
A quick look at the quarterbacks shows that Atlanta’s Matt Ryan has made a big case for being named the NFL Most Valuable Player. Over his past six games, Ryan has 18 touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Of course, when it comes to his counterpart, comparisons are hard to find as Tom Brady stands alone amongst single callers in the NFL.
Brady has won four Super Bowls, not much more about him needs to be said.
