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Prop Bets
Bobby Wagner UNDER 10.5 total tackles (-110). Only six defenders have amassed 11 or more tackles against the Broncos through 18 games this season. Three of those players — Dallas’ Barry Church, New England’s Duron Harmon and Oakland’s Charles Woodson — play the safety position, while Philadelphia’s DeMeco Ryans and Washington’s Perry Riley play inside linebacker in a 3-4 system. That leaves Dallas’ Sean Lee as the lone 4-3 middle linebacker — the position Wagner plays — to record 11 or more tackles against the Broncos this season.
In addition, each of those six aforementioned performances came in a contest where Denver scored at least 34 points and ran a minimum of 71 plays. I don’t see the Broncos hitting either benchmark on Sunday. As for Wagner, the second-year linebacker has racked up 11 or more tackles just eight times in 34 career games (23.5 percent). Four of those outings came during Wagner’s 16 starts this season, but take note that all four occurred within the confines of CenturyLink Field.
Doug Baldwin OVER 39.5 receiving yards (-110). Yeah, Percy Harvin is expected to play. But I’m not banking on a high-target effort from a guy who has appeared in just under two full games this season. Harvin will get some looks, but he’ll function mainly as a decoy, which should open up the field for Baldwin to make some plays. Two weeks removed from a six-catch, 106-yard effort against the San Francisco 49ers, Baldwin has played an integral, yet unappreciated, role in Seattle’s Super Bowl run, with 10 of his 18 outings going for 40 receiving yards or more. One big play — like the one we saw against the Niners two weeks ago — and this one is a wrap.
Russell Wilson OVER 30.5 rushing yards (-110). In the biggest game of his young life, I fully expect Wilson to leave everything he’s got on the MetLife Stadium field. I also anticipate two things that will help us cash in on this prop: First, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will call a few designed running plays for Wilson. Second, I believe early game jitters could play a factor, meaning instead of trying to thread the needle down the field, Wilson opts to pick up some yardage with his feet. Russ hasn’t hit this mark since Seattle’s Week 16 home loss to Arizona, but I feel he’ll be more inclined to run Sunday against Denver’s suspect defense.
Archie Manning will be shown OVER 1 TIME on TV, excluding halftime (-175). I wouldn’t be surprised if we hit the over on that in the first quarter alone. The Super Bowl is storyline hell. Expect to see the Manning family quite a bit, especially with the recent news of the lawsuit leveled against Eli Manning.
No team will get three straight scores (+155). You’ve got the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense, not only of this year, but of recent NFL history. This is about as even as a matchup as you could expect, featuring cerebral, talented quarterbacks and experienced coaches. Neither team is getting boatraced here.
Manning says “Omaha” UNDER 27.5 times, excluding replays (-155). Manning, you might have heard, is ridiculously smart. And he thinks his offensive coordinator, Adam Gase, is even smarter. After all the attention that’s been given to “Omaha” over the last few weeks, in perhaps his last crack at a Super Bowl, do you think he’s going to make it easy on the Seahawks defense? Perhaps Manning and Gase will use it as a dummy call in attempt to use reverse psychology against Seattle, but if they do it’ll be sparingly. The Broncos have averaged 52 offensive plays a game in the playoffs, so if you take the over you’re counting on more than half of those plays getting the “Omaha” treatment, and you’re counting on the FOX mics to pick up every single one. I’m not buying it.