One-and-a-half and 53.
That's the opening pointspread and total posted at Caesars Palace for Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Kansas City Chiefs are a slight favorite over the San Francisco 49ers in a game that matches an explosive AFC squad against a strong, steady NFC foe.
The NFL's championship game will be dissected and scrutinized unlike any other sporting event this year.
Long-term Super Bowl trends will mean little or nothing when the Chiefs and 49ers take the field on the first Sunday in February.
Does it matter that Super Bowl favorites are 28-23-2 over the first 53 installments?
No.
Does it matter that Super Bowl underdogs, after getting dominated in the 1970's, have cashed in nine of the last 12 games?
No.
Or does it matter that the NFC leads the AFC in the all-time series by the narrow count of 27-26?
No.
So what truly matters?
Answer: The gameday performance of 53 players on each team's roster, some players obviously more important than others, and the coaching staffs of each squad.
The mainstream media and fantasy football geeks focus on skill-position players.
Hardcore sports bettors know better.
They understand the game starts and ends at the line of scrimmage where offensive and defensive lines dictate whether or not high-profile stars will have the time and skill to display their talents.
One could argue last year's Super Bowl contest was decided before the singing of the national anthem.
The Patriots defeated the Rams, 13-3, when New England's offensive and defensive lines controlled the line of scrimmage from start to finish.
It was New England's sixth Super Bowl title and third over the past five seasons.
Eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick -- six rings as a head coach, two as a defensive coordinator -- schooled 33-year-old counterpart Sean McVay in the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history.
Curiously, Rams' running back Todd Gurley, the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year, touched the ball only two more times than L.A.'s punter Johnny Hekker, 11-9.
Gurley rushed 10 times for 35 yards and caught only one pass for a loss of one yard.
Either Gurley was playing hurt or McVay foolishly ignored his most effective weapon.
With either scenario, the football organization, in general, and McVay, specifically, came under fire.
Of course, none of what transpired last season in Super Bowl LIII will influence this season's big game.
However, sophisticated handicappers will take note that NFL coaches are critical factors in the game's ultimate outcome, especially in evenly-matched, high-level football contests.
And it's not just a coach's preparation before kickoff nor adjustments during the halftime break, but rather the crucial tweaking and tinkering that occurs after every play.
Against quality postseason competition in any sport, teams emerge victorious with crafty in-game adjustments, not pregame scheming.
Three key questions to pose before investing in the outcome of Super Bowl LIV:
1) Will Kansas City's cavalier starts to its only two postseason games, when trailing the Texans 24-0 and the Titans 17-7, finally catch up to the Chiefs?
2) Will K.C.'s offensive firepower, when scoring 35 unanswered points against Houston and 28 unanswered against Tennessee, be too much for the 49ers to keep pace?
3) Kansas City's offense led the 2019 NFL regular season with 21 plays of 40 yards or more and San Francisco's defense led the NFL by yielding only six plays of 40+ yards. What gives?
Eye On Gaming contributor OUCH recently offered some words of caution when dealing with championship games which are promoted endlessly by network television and often entice the casual gamber.
OUCH wrote, "These games are tightly-lined, have every bit of information you could want out there, and present a scenario where any team could cover (or even win)."
He concluded, "Give me a Thursday night in the Big West or a Friday night in the Metro Atlantic...those games are flying under the radar, and that's where the value is."
Bingo!
That's the opening pointspread and total posted at Caesars Palace for Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Kansas City Chiefs are a slight favorite over the San Francisco 49ers in a game that matches an explosive AFC squad against a strong, steady NFC foe.
The NFL's championship game will be dissected and scrutinized unlike any other sporting event this year.
Long-term Super Bowl trends will mean little or nothing when the Chiefs and 49ers take the field on the first Sunday in February.
Does it matter that Super Bowl favorites are 28-23-2 over the first 53 installments?
No.
Does it matter that Super Bowl underdogs, after getting dominated in the 1970's, have cashed in nine of the last 12 games?
No.
Or does it matter that the NFC leads the AFC in the all-time series by the narrow count of 27-26?
No.
So what truly matters?
Answer: The gameday performance of 53 players on each team's roster, some players obviously more important than others, and the coaching staffs of each squad.
The mainstream media and fantasy football geeks focus on skill-position players.
Hardcore sports bettors know better.
They understand the game starts and ends at the line of scrimmage where offensive and defensive lines dictate whether or not high-profile stars will have the time and skill to display their talents.
One could argue last year's Super Bowl contest was decided before the singing of the national anthem.
The Patriots defeated the Rams, 13-3, when New England's offensive and defensive lines controlled the line of scrimmage from start to finish.
It was New England's sixth Super Bowl title and third over the past five seasons.
Eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick -- six rings as a head coach, two as a defensive coordinator -- schooled 33-year-old counterpart Sean McVay in the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history.
Curiously, Rams' running back Todd Gurley, the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year, touched the ball only two more times than L.A.'s punter Johnny Hekker, 11-9.
Gurley rushed 10 times for 35 yards and caught only one pass for a loss of one yard.
Either Gurley was playing hurt or McVay foolishly ignored his most effective weapon.
With either scenario, the football organization, in general, and McVay, specifically, came under fire.
Of course, none of what transpired last season in Super Bowl LIII will influence this season's big game.
However, sophisticated handicappers will take note that NFL coaches are critical factors in the game's ultimate outcome, especially in evenly-matched, high-level football contests.
And it's not just a coach's preparation before kickoff nor adjustments during the halftime break, but rather the crucial tweaking and tinkering that occurs after every play.
Against quality postseason competition in any sport, teams emerge victorious with crafty in-game adjustments, not pregame scheming.
Three key questions to pose before investing in the outcome of Super Bowl LIV:
1) Will Kansas City's cavalier starts to its only two postseason games, when trailing the Texans 24-0 and the Titans 17-7, finally catch up to the Chiefs?
2) Will K.C.'s offensive firepower, when scoring 35 unanswered points against Houston and 28 unanswered against Tennessee, be too much for the 49ers to keep pace?
3) Kansas City's offense led the 2019 NFL regular season with 21 plays of 40 yards or more and San Francisco's defense led the NFL by yielding only six plays of 40+ yards. What gives?
Eye On Gaming contributor OUCH recently offered some words of caution when dealing with championship games which are promoted endlessly by network television and often entice the casual gamber.
OUCH wrote, "These games are tightly-lined, have every bit of information you could want out there, and present a scenario where any team could cover (or even win)."
He concluded, "Give me a Thursday night in the Big West or a Friday night in the Metro Atlantic...those games are flying under the radar, and that's where the value is."
Bingo!
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