It was four years ago that the New York Giants were lifting the Lombardi Trophy at the expense of the New England Patriots. This year, they are back in the big one once again, and if they are going to beat the Super Bowl betting lines in Super Bowl 46, these are the Giants keys to winning the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Matchup: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots
Super Bowl Location: Lucas Oil Field, Indianapolis, IN
Super Bowl Date/Time: Sunday, February 5th, 6:30 p.m.
Super Bowl Television Coverage: NBC

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Key #1: Eli Manning has to continue to get the job done in the clutch
Call it whatever you want to call it. Eli has guts. The younger Manning brother was sacked six times and nailed countless others by the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, but even though he was in a position where he was absolutely brutalized, when his back was against the wall, he got the job done. In fact, that “back against the wall” mentality is what brought the G-Men their first Super Bowl in the Manning era, and it will be what has to happen again this year. It is clear that QB Tom Brady has the better passing game in our eyes with the flexibility at the tight end spot. However, in the end, when the going gets tough, it is Eli that is going to have a shot with the ball in his hands to make something special happen. It might be to lead a comeback. It might be to preserve a lead. It might be to make the big throw in a seemingly impossible position. Yet at some point, Manning is going to need to make a play, and regardless of how well or not well he has played in the game to that point, he is going to have to find some way, against all odds, to make the play that helps New York win this game.

Super Bowl 46 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
New York Giants +3.5
New England Patriots -3.5
Over/Under 55.5
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Key #2: The ground game cannot be stuck in neutral
The first time that these two teams played this year, 25 carries combined from RBs Brandon Jacobs and Danny Ware needed 95 yards on the ground. It wasn’t enough to consider the New York offense even remotely balanced, as the team threw it 39 times on the day, but it was just enough to win the time of possession battle and give Manning the ability to throw the ball around the field. RB Ahmad Bradshaw was out of the lineup in that first meeting of the year, as was WR Hakeem Nicks. The addition of these two is crucial to say the least, but if Bradshaw and Jacobs can’t get the ball going on the ground, these three fantastic wide receivers that Manning has at his disposal could effectively be taken out of the game. These two had a combined 23 carries for 87 yards in the Super Bowl four years ago, but there was a lot more pressure on them to carry the offense with the very young Manning under the gun.

Key #3: Blitz, blitz, and blitz some more
Actually, we probably don’t have the right terminology for this. The Giants don’t necessarily need to blitz, but they absolutely have to get in the backfield on defense and get the ball out of QB Tom Brady’s hands in a heartbeat. If Brady can hold onto the football in the backfield for long periods of time, TEs Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski will have plenty of time to get open and find seams in the defense. That just isn’t going to cut it to say the least. All of a sudden over the course of the last few weeks, men like DE Jason Pierre-Paul and DE Osi Umenyiora are finding ways to get around the corner and into the backfield in a hurry. Penetration is going to have to come straight at Brady as well, as it was when the pass rush was in his face that he made mistakes all season long against some of the best defenses in the game. Sure, generating that pass rush with just four or five guys will make life a lot easier on some suspect corners, but running bump and run and getting guys in the backfield in a hurry will do wonders as well. If the Giants can’t dial up some blitz packages and knock down Brady, they aren’t going to have success in this game.

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The Super Bowl 46 odds are now out, and the New England Patriots are the decided favorites over the New York Giants. Check out the keys to the Super Bowl for the Patriots and see what they have to do to make sure that they beat the Super Bowl betting lines.

Super Bowl Matchup: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots
Super Bowl Location: Lucas Oil Field, Indianapolis, IN
Super Bowl Date/Time: Sunday, February 5th, 6:30 p.m.
Super Bowl Television Coverage: NBC

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Key #1: Tom Brady has to figure out how to beat a brutal pass rush
Some of the best teams in the game this year have had a remarkable pass rush this year, and the teams that have been able to beat the Pats have gotten to Brady and put him under some remarkable pressure. That includes the pair of sacks that the G-Men got in the first go around of these two teams. The Baltimore Ravens were able to get in his face last week, and though he was only sacked one time, Brady did throw two picks and only found the end zone one time, and that was on the ground. This is the same type of defense that the Giants are going to throw New England’s way again with some ferocious pass rushers like DE Jason-Pierre Paul. Whether it is more draws, more quick plays, extra blockers, or whatever the case is, Head Coach Bill Belichick and Brady have to design ways to be successful and to keep the likes of Pierre-Paul and these other remarkable defensive linemen out of the backfield.

Super Bowl 46 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
New York Giants +3.5
New England Patriots -3.5
Over/Under 56
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Key #2: The threat of the big play has to be there
Brady threw for 5,235 yards this year, but the one knock that he has had about his passing game is that there really wasn’t all that much of a vertical passing game. WR Chad Ochocinco might have the ability to stretch the field, assuming that he is back in the lineup for the Super Bowl, while WR Deion Branch is probably the next best option. He caught a deep ball against the Denver Broncos in the Patriots’ first playoff game, but that was a severely different defense than what New England will see in this game. Brady has to be able to have the time to take some shots down the field, no matter who it is that is getting the passes thrown his way, and though we don’t think that he necessarily has to connect on those big time passes, he at least to have to have that threat to keep the New York corners from playing bump and run coverage. We have seen teams hit the deep ball against these defensive backs before, and the Giants have to be taken off the line of scrimmage with the threat of the long pass from one of the best quarterbacks in the game.

Key #3: New England has to become a hardnosed team
With apologies to the football players on the field, all of which have to be tough guys to a certain extent, this New England team is basically soft. The Patriots don’t run the ball right up the gut all that often and have to get cute running the ball with gimmicks and odd formations. They tend to get gashed when teams run hard at them, and their corners really don’t like playing bump and run coverage. Case in point for how soft this team looks: New England needed three shots to get into the end zone from 2nd and goal against the Ravens’ 1-yard line to get in the end zone, and in the end, it was just a jump from Brady got the ball in on fourth down. This is a tough New York team that has taken the emotion from its winning streak and its history of winning the Super Bowl in the past. New England has to match that intensity if it wants to avoid another terrible disappointment in the Super Bowl.

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The Super Bowl 46 odds are going to be contested in just a handful of days, and today at Bankroll Sports, we are going to look at the odds to win the Super Bowl MVP award for the biggest game of the season

Where else could we possibly start than with New England QB Tom Brady (Current Super Bowl MVP Odds: 1.15 to 1 at Sport Bet Sportsbook)? Brady is the best and most important player on the team that is favored on Sunday, and though it isn’t always a quarterback that takes the final honor of MVP, often times, that does turn out to be the case. Unlike last year when the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the Super Bowl, we really don’t anticipate anyone on the New England defense being the difference maker (whereas the possibility was definitely there for the Steelers and for other defensive based teams). The only caution about Brady is that he hasn’t always played well in the playoffs in his career, and the AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens was anything but an MVP type of performance. Normally when Brady puts up his stats, the Patriots do end up winning though, and if he reaches the 300+ yard passing mark and his team ends up winning, Brady is going to be the MVP in all probability.

However, the quarterback on the other side the field, New York’s QB Eli Manning (Current Super Bowl MVP Betting Odds: 1.75 to 1 at Sport Bet Sportsbook) has just as good of a chance to get the job done as Brady does. The Giants are the understood underdogs in this game, but Manning is the man that is going to have to get the job done offensively as he did when these two teams met four years ago in this very game. Historically, Manning has had the grit to be able to get the ball down the field when it is needed most, and he has become a bit of a fourth quarter comeback specialist, starting with the unbelievable play that both he and WR David Tyree made in the Super Bowl four years ago to help the G-Men knock off the previously perfect Patriots. If New York wins this game and the offense is the reason for that, we just don’t see any other possibilities aside from Manning winning the MVP award, especially with the way that he tends to shuffle the ball all over the field and the lack of a running game that exists in a split backfield.

Not all of the Giants are a lost cause, though. The man that could be worth watching is DE Jason Pierre-Paul (Most Recent Superbowl MVP Odds: 55 to 1 at Sport Bet Sportsbook). You probably wouldn’t know it based off of his stats, which only show a grand total of a half sack in three games in the postseason, but Pierre-Paul has beena huge part of the reason why the Giants are in the Super Bowl. The former USF Bull has all of the tools to make a huge difference in this one, especially if the Patriots have to use Nate Solder as a primary weak side offensive lineman instead of the injured Sebastian Vollmer. Pierre-Paul had 16 sacks during the regular season, and if he can cause a ruckus in the New England backfield, he is the one defensive player that we could really see getting the job done for Big Blue.

Sure, it can be said that the New England defense really came up with the plays that made the big difference against the Ravens, but we just don’t see anyone doing that this time around against the Giants. We tend to think that, in spite of the struggles in the offensive line for New York, that there won’t be a single lineman that makes that much of an impact on the game to win the MVP award, meaning we have to shift to the other side of the ball to find another potential MVP candidate. No one ever really knows how the backfield is going to be split for Head Coach Bill Belichick, so the idea of counting on a running back having a multi-TD game just doesn’t seem all that strong. So, the next most logical choice would be TE Rob Gronkowski (Up To Date Odds to Win Super Bowl MVP: 7 to 1 at Sport Bet Sportsbook). Gronk absolutely destroyed the record books for tight ends this year from a touchdown scoring perspective, and he has continued to be huge here in the playoffs as well. There just doesn’t seem to be a team out there that has the ability to cover him when it counts the most down near the goal line. Gronkowski has been walking around in a boot this week with an ankle injury, so we do have a bit of a concern that he won’t even get on the field on Sunday, but assuming that he ends up being okay to play, as long as he keeps up his role as Brady’s favorite target near the end zone, he could end up being the Super Bowl MVP, just as WR Deion Branch was several years ago for the Patriots.

If we had to take a defensive player though, that man would be DT Vince Wilfork (Most Recent Odds to Win Super Bowl MVP: 66 to 1 at Sport Bet Sportsbook). The center of the offensive line for the Giants has been a rotating sieve seemingly all season long, and Wilfork really took advantage last week of a shaky offensive line effort by Baltimore to essentially be the MVP of that game as well. The former Miami Hurricane is clearly one of the best nose tackles in the game amongst teams that run the 3-4, and though statistically speaking, he isn’t always involved, Wilfork is the type of player that can make a few splash plays that stand out in the minds of the voters that can win the award in a low scoring game that lacked a number of offensive heroes.

Current 2012 Super Bowl MVP Odds @ Sport Bet Sportsbook (as of 1/29/12):
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Tom Brady 1.15 to 1
Eli Manning 1.75 to 1
Rob Gronkowski 7 to 1
Victor Cruz 14 to 1
Wes Welker 14 to 1
Aaron Hernandez 16 to 1
Hakeem Nicks 16 to 1
Mario Manningham 25 to 1
Ahmad Bradshaw 30 to 1
BenJarvus Green-Ellis 40 to 1
Jason Pierre-Paul 55 to 1
Brandon Jacobs 66 to 1
Deion Branch 66 to 1
Vince Wilfork 66 to 1
Danny Woodhead 80 to 1
Steven Gostkowski 80 to 1
Stevan Ridley 80 to 1
Julian Edelman 100 to 1
Chad Ochocinco 125 to 1
Osi Umenyiora 125 to 1
Sterling Moore 125 to 1
Brandon Spikes 150 to 1
Chris Canty 150 to 1
Justin Tuck 150 to 1
Kevin Faulk 150 to 1

Latest Odds to Win 2012 Super Bowl MVP @ Bovada.lv (as of 1/29/12):
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Tom Brady 11 to 10
Eli Manning 9 to 4
Rob Gronkowski 7 to 1
Victor Cruz 8 to 1
Hakeem Nicks 14 to 1
Wes Welker 15 to 1
Aaron Hernandez 16 to 1
Ahmad Bradshaw 22 to 1
BenJarvus Green-Ellis 22 to 1
Jason Pierre-Paul 30 to 1
Brandon Jacobs 35 to 1
Mario Manningham 35 to 1
Deion Branch 40 to 1
Danny Woodhead 50 to 1
Antrel Rolle 75 to 1
Justin Tuck 75 to 1
Osi Umenyiora 75 to 1
Vince Wilfork 75 to 1
Chad Ochocinco 100 to 1
Devin McCourty 100 to 1
Jake Ballard 100 to 1
Jerod Mayo 100 to 1
Kyle Arrington 100 to 1
Lawrence Tynes 100 to 1
Steven Gostkowski 100 to 1
Field (Any Other Player 22 to 1)

Trying to beat the Super Bowl odds is never something that is easy to do, and that’s why there are a lot of amateurs that struggling with the Super Bowl gambling lines every year. However, history could be very important in this duel between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, and we are going to take the time to show you the most important Super Bowl betting trends for the game.

Patriots vs. Giants All-Time Series
2011: New York 24 – New England 20
2008: New York 17 – New England 14
2007: New England 38 – New York 35
2003: New England 17 – New York 6
1999: New England 16 – New York 14
1996: New England 23 – New York 22
1990: New York 13 – New England 10
1987: New York 17 – New England 10
1974: New England 28 – New York 20
1970: New York 16 – Boston (New England) 0

The all-time series between these two teams is tied at five games apiece, but as you can see, recent history is most certainly on the side of the Giants. They have covered three games in a row, including winning the one Super Bowl contest between the two in 2008 when they beat the then 18-0 Patriots by a field goal in a tremendous upset. All-time, New York is 7-3 ATS in this series.

These aren’t nearly the only good trends that the Giants have working in their favor. They are three point underdogs in this game, and as long as they stay that way, they have a tremendous Super Bowl betting trend on their side. They are 13-4-1 ATS in their last 18 games in which they are underdogs of a field goal or less.

More importantly though, the Giants are now 8-1 ATS in their last nine postseason games, including covering all four spreads in the playoffs in 2007-08, and covering all three here in the playoffs this year. They are also 7-0 ATS in their last seven games against teams with winning records, and that goes back to earlier this year as well when they were able to go into Gillette Stadium and beat these Patriots.

Things aren’t nearly as good for New England. It failed to cover against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, which dropped it to just 1-7 ATS in its last eight playoff games. The only cover came against the Denver Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs, but even that win is a bit tainted considering the fact that Denver finished up the season at just 9-9 overall. New England only beat one team this year that finished with a winning record, that being this Baltimore side that it just beat to reach the Super Bowl, and it went 0-3 ATS in its three games against teams that ended the year on the right side of .500.

New England has played in six Super Bowls before, including four in the QB Tom Brady era. Brady, who has struggled mightily in the playoffs over the past few seasons if you take out the remarkable game that he had against Denver, is just 1-2-1 ATS in his four shots at the Super Bowl. His one cover came when the Patriots became united against the “Greatest Show On Turf,” the St. Louis Rams in the first of two Super Bowls that were ended with a field goal at the gun.

In regards to the ‘total’, there are a slew of Super Bowl trends that are pointing towards the ‘over’. The Giants have played five of their last seven games as underdogs ‘over’ the ‘total’. New England has gone 26-10-1 for ‘over’ bettors in its last 37 games played on field turf, as the Super Bowl will be played on this year at Lucas Oil Field. The Pats are also 22-7 for ‘over’ bettors in their last 29 games overall.

If you’re looking for some great ‘under’ trends, the Giants have played four straight beneath the ‘total’ in games played on field turf, while the ‘under’ is 5-1 in their last six games overall. In this series, four of the last five have stayed ‘under’, including the Super Bowl in 2008, which many thought could be a shootout. Save for the last three minutes of the game, which featured 14 points, the rest of the game only had 17 in it, making it one of the lowest scoring Super Bowls that we have had in quite some time.

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What? Brett Favre? How in the hell does this guy’s name keep coming up? Yes, No. 4 in going to inevitably be in the broadcast his share of times, as he was the man that was perceived to have built this Green Bay Packers franchise. However, if QB Aaron Rodgers can pull this one off, he will have the same number of titles under his belt that the great No. 4 did in his entire time in Title Town. For the last of our daily Super Bowl prop picks, we’ll take a look at the prop odds for how many times the name “Brett Favre” is uttered during the biggest game of the year.

First off, we have to remember that this is Fox with coverage of the game, meaning Joe Buck and Troy Aikman and their man crushes on Favre are ridiculous. Ok, so one would figure that we would have to go ‘over’ 2.5 mentions of Favre’s name for the big one this week, right?

Not so fast, my friends. Let’s read the rules of this one a little bit closer, as this is always the key to these Superbowl props. This isn’t for mentions of Favre’s name in the coverage leading up to the game or during the postgame interviews or anything like that. Buck, Aikman, or any of the other Fox television stars have to mention Favre’s name at least three times from the kickoff of the ball through the final whistle of the game to make this one a winner.

It’s also not just the mentioning of “Favre.” Not “Brett.” Not “No. 4.” Nothing like that. The announcers have to refer to him as “Brett Favre.”

Now, we’ve already spoken about this man crush thing, but we know that there are going to be plenty of other topics of conversation that can come up over the course of this game. Even though we know that this was the year that Favre will reportedly go off into the sunset, we don’t think that he is worthy of having his full name mentioned at least three times during the telecast of the biggest game of the year, a game that he never had a chance of getting into with his Minnesota Vikings this year.

Free Super Bowl Picks: Under 2.5 Mentions of the name “Brett Favre” +150 at BetUS Sportsbook

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Super Bowl betting action is just mere days away, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are continuing our look at all of the great props that are on the board for you to sink your teeth into. Today, we look at why we believe there will be a TD of at least 44 yards that gets scored in the biggest game of the year to help you beat the Super Bowl lines.

When push really comes to shove, there always seems to be some trickeration in these big time games. In Pittsburgh’s two Super Bowls, we not only saw WR Antwaan Randle El throw a TD pass to WR Hines Ward against the Seattle Seahawks, but we also saw LB James Harrison end up with one of the longest returns in the history of the league when, at the end of the first half, he scored a TD against the Arizona Cardinals. Last year, the New Orleans Saints beat the Superbowl betting lines thanks to that pick six by DB Tracey Porter. We also saw WR Devin Hester return a kick for a TD against the Indianapolis Colts right off the bat in the Super Bowl a few years ago.

We already know that we have two defenses that not only know how to turn teams over, but to take the ball all the way to the house as well. DB Tramon Williams has already done it once in these playoffs for a 70 yard score, while we know that men like S Troy Polamalu, Harrison, and the sorts all know how to scoop and score.

Offensively, QB Ben Roethlisberger isn’t afraid to uncork the long balls, especially to WR Mike Wallace, who will be the fastest player on the field at all times. QB Aaron Rodgers has four different receivers that he utilizes, all of which know what it takes to have a 50-60 yard play without batting an eyelash. WR Greg Jennings, his favorite target, is a fantastic man at running after the catch, and if he can shake just one tackle on a play in which the Steelers send just one too many men at Rodgers, it could be all over.

The only thing we really have working against us is that neither of these running backs are really home run threats. There isn’t a back in the world that we consider a home run threat against the Pittsburgh defense, and the only time that RB Rashard Mendenhall rumbled for that long of a play all season long was on the game winning score against the Atlanta Falcons in OT in Week 1.

Still, it seems like we should be beating the Super Bowl XLV odds in this one with ease, as there should be at least one really long score that makes us a winner.

Free Super Bowl Picks: Longest Touchdown Over 43.5 Yards -115 at BetUS Sportsbook

Every now and again, making Super Bowl picks requires doing a little bit of thinking outside of the box. The Pittsburgh Steelers know that QB Aaron Rodgers does that Championship Belt celebration on his touchdowns and during big plays over the course of the game. Hollywood Sportsbook is offering a very interesting Superbowl prop in the biggest game of the year whether or not there will be a player on the Steelers that will imitate the leader of the Green Bay Packers at any point during this game.

Let’s be real, here. There is absolutely better than a 50/50 chance that this happens at some point. The oddsmakers weren’t all that specific in this one, as all the rules state is that the celebration must clearly be shown on TV during the game or a live picture of the Super Bowl. This doesn’t mean that it has to be after a touchdown, and it can appear during any point of the duel.

Think about this for a second. LB James Harrison comes off of the edge and gets a huge sack or forces a fumble. You don’t think for one second, especially if the Steelers have already allowed a TD or if the game is getting to be out of hand that Harrison wouldn’t be the smart guy to mock Rodgers with his own celebratory move? Think again. In fact, save perhaps the relatively mild mannered Troy Polamalu, there isn’t a player on this defense that we can think of that wouldn’t at least think about doing this Championship Belt celebration at least once if he can do something that negatively affects Rodgers.

Now, let’s go to the offensive side of the ball. WR Hines Ward has never really been known as a player that has the greatest of tempers, and it is clear that he is going to be out to make enemies, not friends in this Super Bowl betting affair. If he hauls in a huge catch or scores a TD, he is a great candidate to pull off this stunt as well. QB Ben Roethlisberger has never been known to shy away from a situation like this either, and we could see him stealing it as well.

The bottom line here is that there are just too many opportunities for Pittsburgh to pounce on poor Rodgers to pass on. Someone, at some point during these three and a half hours, is going to make the move, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see that old Championship Belt flashed several times over the course of the game. We tend to think that this is a mortal lock, and it’s not often that we say that at even money.

Free Super Bowl Picks: Steeler Player to Do the Aaron Rodgers Championship Belt Celebration (+100) at Hollywood Sportsbook

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The Green Bay Packers have suddenly found their running game just in time for this great run to the Super Bowl. However, are they good enough to rush for a TD against one of the impenetrable defenses in the league this year, that of the Pittsburgh Steelers? We take a look at the Super Bowl props today for whether the Pack can get the job done on the ground or not.
Six TDs. That’s all that the Steelers have given up on the ground all season long in 18 games. Just that alone suggests that we should make our Super Bowl picks on the ‘no’, especially knowing that they are conceding right around 63 yards per game this year on the ground.

Green Bay did have 11 TDs this year on the ground and have added four more on the ground in the playoffs. From that perspective, one would think that they would have a great chance, especially at -105 Super Bowl odds, to be able to get into the end zone on the ground, even just one time.

The biggest fear that we have about betting the ‘no’ is the fact that this was a team that was remarkable on 3rd and 4th and 1 situations this year, and if the Pack get down tight near the end zone, RB John Kuhn has a very high success rate. We’re also mildly afraid of QB Aaron Rodgers taking off and running, something that has already netted 12 carries, 56 yards, and two TDs thus far in the playoffs.

However, when push comes to shove, we just don’t see it happening. RB James Starks hasn’t had a run in the playoffs of longer than 27 yards, and he certainly isn’t busting a long one against the Steelers unless there is just a total breakdown of assignments. We don’t really figure the Pack to get more than 2-3 TDs in this game in all likelihood, and the prospects of one coming on the ground just doesn’t look all that great.

Free Super Bowl Picks: No Green Bay Rushing Touchdown -125 at BetUS Sportsbook