Being a huge Pats fan, I am thrilled that our boys are in Houston. With an unbelievable winning streak and overpowering defense, they are the natural favorites. The latest line is the Pats by 7.
The interesting point is that I see a real parallel between this Superbowl and the one two years ago. In that game, the Rams were the dominant team and the oddsmakers favorites. And why shouldn’t they have been, they had an incredible offense led by Kurt Warner and had dominated all opponents. The Pats, in the other hand, were not nearly given nearly as much praise and it was assumed that they would be crushed like all of the Rams previous opponents.
As history will show (and I should know, I was there in New Orleans), the Pats came out ahead in the contest. They won through shear force of will.
Now fast forward to this year, we now see similar situation in reverse. The Pats are the heralded team with an incredible winning streak, a dominant defensive unit and consistent though unspectacular offense. The Panthers, on the other hand, have been largely ignored. Up until the big game, they were largely a team of unknowns. Who the heck is Jake Delhomme? (I am not even sure if that is spelled correctly!) Once more, the oddsmakers are on the side of the dominant team.
Now I am not saying that this means that the Patriots will lose, but I am saying that this is going to be a tough game. The Panthers did not just get here by luck. Just like the Pats two years ago and this year, they got here through hard work and determination. They are not going to roll-over and give up to the Pats. Finally as mentioned before, the Pats have a tendancy to keep games close.
In conclusion, I think that this game is going to be very close and either team could win. I think that the
oddsmakers are wrong on the 7 point margin and I would bet for the under.