Odds on the odd (Super Bowl XLIV edition)

By Os Davis | Friday, February 06, 2009 | ( 0 )

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If Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest gambling day of the year in America, Super Bowl Monday certainly has bookmakers hopping as well: Turning that calendar page is like a gambling reset button.

Hey, did you lose money thinking the Pittsburgh Steelers would cover? Did you cash in on those 10/1 odds against the Arizona Cardinal defense recording a safety in the game and thus have extra money with which to, um, speculate? Check out these hot-off-the-press, super-early bird Super Bowl XLIV odds; these particular numbers were supplied by BetUs.com, but most bookies have essentially identical offerings. Get ready to salivate over some of these enticing propositions. No one predicts the Super Bowl this far in advance? Ha!

As always, these lines are for amusement purposes only. RealFootball365.com does not condone gambling of any sort, except for harmless society-approved forms such as lottery tickets, office pools, stock market speculation, casino blackjack, etc.

The Temptation Category
Pittsburgh Steelers: 9/1
New England Patriots: 9/1
Indianapolis Colts: 10/1
New York Giants: 12/1

If you believe in a storied Tom Brady comeback and the full-on return of the Patriot machine, you’ll probably want to pony up those dollars now before the big inevitable Matt Cassel-for-Tony Gonzalez trade. Assuming the Giants and Colts begin the season intact, as they did not in 2008, the Mannings’ll threaten – Peyton perhaps seeing AFC championship action for the last time. (What are the odds...?)

As for the Steelers, though we all know that (a) repeat champions happen in the NFL about once per decade and this decade has been spoken for, and (b) the defending champion typically starts at the top of Vegas’ odds tables, the 2008 Steelers were clearly a team on the rise rather than peaking out or squeaking in.

The WTF (in a good way) Category
Tennessee Titans: 18/1
Carolina Panthers: 18/1
Baltimore Ravens: 20/1
New Orleans Saints: 20/1

The above teams may immediately being playing the disrespect card. Who else believes that the Saints, with essentially the same offense, could be looking like the Air Coryell Chargers (or the 2002 Oakland Raiders, for that matter) next season, easily pass-pass-passing their way through the NFC playoffs? And what, the Panthers and Titans didn’t impress enough this past season?

And like the Steelers, the Ravens are rising; those two/three Pittsburgh-Baltimore clashes should be dandies in 2009.

The WTF (in a bad way) Category
Dallas Cowboys: 10/1
San Diego Chargers: 12/1
Philadelphia Eagles: 16/1
Minnesota Vikings: 18/1

It is astounding to believe that these three downward-plummeting teams have shorter odds than the likes of Baltimore and Tennessee; have any punters backing these horses actually seen a football game in the 2000s? The heads of Wade Phillips, Norv Turner and Brad Childress will be called for by season’s end – and Phillips’ certainly will be had and bagged by Week 10; can I get some odds on that one?

Then there’s the Eagles. Don’t talk to me about the end-of-the-season hot streak. That happened back when Jeff Garcia got stuffed in at QB in 2006 as well. The truth is, the average Philly player is about 49 years old, and Andy Reid still can’t keep track of the game clock. One wonders how this coach manages to wake up in the morning; does his wife have to set the alarm for him every night?

All-Time Gutsiest Early Super Bowl Pick Ever
Arizona Cardinals: 25/1

Anyone? Come on, they’re the defending NFC champs. Hello?

Dark Horses Worth a Look (The Remember the Cardinals Category)
Atlanta Falcons: 20/1
Green Bay Packers: 25/1
Denver Broncos: 25/1
Jacksonville Jaguars: 25/1
Miami Dolphins: 30/1
Chicago Bears: 40/1

Particularly alluring here, of course, are the Falcons and Dolphins, a pair of teams for which the upside appears to be limitless right now.

Dark Horses to Stay Well Away From (The Remember the Browns Category)
New York Jets: 30/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 40/1
Houston Texans: 40/1
Buffalo Bills: 50/1
Seattle Seahawks: 50/1
San Francisco 49ers: 60/1
Cleveland Browns: 60/1
Oakland Raiders: 100/1
Cincinnati Bengals: 100/1
St. Louis Rams: 100/1
Detroit Lions: 150/1
Kansas City Chiefs: 150/1

Happy speculating, all, and remember, as 19th-century baron/Scotch whiskey distiller Sir Thomas Robert Dewar once said, “No wife can endure a gambling husband, unless he is a steady winner.”

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	About Os Davis Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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