Gridiron Experts Super Bowl Pick

Gridiron Experts Super Bowl Pick

Gridiron Experts has been on a hot streak with our free picks for the playoffs in our weekly article Money Where Your Mouth Is, but this game is a lot closer and harder to predict. While many watched a nail biter with the luck of a coin flip to decide the outcome of the New Orleans Saints stamped ticket to the Super Bowl, the Colts won with ease. Does that mean that the Colts are a better team? No, in fact all we really know for sure is that the Colts are favored to win.

5 points is the spread in which the Indianapolis Colts are favored to win Super Bowl XLIV. Are they really deserving of such a large margin? Bookies may think so, but those who love sports betting aren’t sold on any kind of a  sure thing.

The fact that The Who are the halftime show is almost fitting under these circumstances, and we are going to break down why.

The Indianapolis Colts had an amazing season. They were working on a perfect record right up until they pulled their starters against the Jets, allowing New York into the playoffs and setting up the AFC Championship. But the result of laying down the last couple games of the season didn’t matter, in fact, it’s almost as if the Colts knew the New York Jets were going to do them a favor and knock off the Chargers for them. Regardless, how the Colts got to the Super Bowl this Sunday is not the point, its who they’ve played that has caught our attention.

If you were to break down the Colts opponents this season, including playoff teams, you’d notice that Peyton Manning and company haven’t played a team like the Saints.

Both playoff teams, the Ravens and Jets, pride themselves on a strong running game and smart, tough defense. Throughout the regular season, the Colts saw divisional teams like the Titans and Jags who also have strong running games. There were  teams like the Dolphins and 49er’s who are not known for anything but the same offensive style, but no real shoot’em up offenses. By our count the only opponents that have tested the Colts secondary were the Texans, Patriots, and Cardinals. All three teams lost (Texans twice) and that may be all you need to know, but it’s not the result of the score we’re so interested in, it’s the fact that strong passing teams can throw the ball on this Colts team. Granted you need to be sharp; players like Kelvin Hayden and Jerraud Powers are solid, but could not be called shut down corners.

So where does a team like the Saints come into the picture? Are they the type of team that will get to Peyton Manning and pester him all day, trying to create turnover? Not really. The Saints are more likely to surprise the Colts with the fact that they they can score equally as fast and can dissect a defense just as Peyton Manning does.

While you may think we are leaning towards a surprise upset, we’re not. 5 points is too rich for our blood, and Gridiron Experts is predicting a Colts squeaker Super Bowl victory by a field goal. The edge is going to the Colts, mainly due to the fact that the game is at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, the same place Peyton and his blue and white teammates were three years ago to win a Super Bowl betting victory against the Bears. This, in our opinion, should be one of the most exciting, highest scoring Super Bowls in years.

Colts 32  Saints 29

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