SI Playoff Picks

[Brady_to_Moss]

Don't bet the house on that prediction

I do a lot of sports betting..if it comes down to those 2..denver will be favorites based on what i saw this year with the spreads and how they have been playing

 

[Deus Irae]

I do a lot of sports betting..if it comes down to those 2..denver will be favorites based on what i saw this year with the spreads and how they have been playing

1.) More money will likely bet the Patriots

2.) The Patriots won the earlier meeting


If the Broncos are made the favorites, there will be a lot, and I mean a LOT, of very nervous people laying out those lines, unless the Patriots really struggle in their win and the Broncos absolutely blow the doors off of their opponent. Even with that, they're would probably still be a lot of people holding their breath on such lines.

 

[dannydyn]

No, they're not. Furthermore, the Patriots were favored against both Jacksonville and San Diego in those playoffs, and they won those games. Again, the idea that being the favorite in the SB was an issue is absurd.

I'm not saying that being a favorite means you are bound to lose, but being a favorite DOES put the pressure on you.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

the broncos will be favorites if that game happens...watch

 

[Deus Irae]

I'm not saying that being a favorite means you are bound to lose, but being a favorite DOES put the pressure on you.

Being in a high pressure situation puts pressure on you, regardless of whether you're the favorite or underdog. It's a one-and-done situation, so both sides have the same pressure if they actually want to win. One could argue that 18-0 had the pressure of history, but they'd been carrying that for some time and that's not involved in your standard favorite/underdog scenario.

The problem with 18-0 was that Brady, Neal and the TEs were injured, and a team that put up 38 against the Giants just a couple of weeks earlier was put in a very difficult position against a Giants team that had its D-line as its strength.

 

[fair catch fryar]

the broncos will be favorites if that game happens...watch

The key word here being, "IF Me....I'll just stick with watching the games this weekend and worry about who the Pats have to play next on Monday.

 

[fnordcircle]

Why do any of you give a ****? Seriously. After years of reading the same indignation threads week in and week out in the rare instances when our team hasn't been favored, of late, I've never understood why anyone could be bothered to give a damn what some douche paid to talk about sports says about a football game.

I'd seriously love an answer.

 

[BananaRepublican]

not surprisingly most pick denver reaching SB.

Good. The ambush is setting up well indeed.

Quite happy if the NFC team is favored too. After 2007 does anybody here really believe that pregame favoritism means diddly squat?

 

[BananaRepublican]

No mention of the Jets?

They are all sun bathing in the Bermuda Triangle with a bunch of lost pilots from WWII.

 

[ALP]

interesting, ppl are predicting a DEN-NE champ game, and also believe for the most part that the broncos will take it


guess everybody forgot we handled that team pretty easily before....oh well, i dont mind

 

[Claremonster]

interesting, ppl are predicting a DEN-NE champ game, and also believe for the most part that the broncos will take it


guess everybody forgot we handled that team pretty easily before....oh well, i dont mind

I find it funny actually. I honestly don't give a shat what anyone else thinks who will win. Just as long as the Pats win it all.

 

[Skeeter712]

It seems like a media has a big hard on for the Broncos.

Hey, Denver had the hardest schedule of any team this year. They dominated every team that they played. Every game was magnificent. Denver is battle tested, and will roll in the playoffs. They're going to win it all!!!!

More like a 15 year hard on for Peyton Manning.

I agree, Denver is clearly the frontrunner and will roll over anyone they play.

 

[JMarr]

Why do any of you give a ****? Seriously. After years of reading the same indignation threads week in and week out in the rare instances when our team hasn't been favored, of late, I've never understood why anyone could be bothered to give a damn what some douche paid to talk about sports says about a football game.

I'd seriously love an answer.

It is ultimately a waste of time, and I don't put any credence in what the majority of these talking heads say. It does bother me that some people look on guys like Peter King as some sort of brilliant football analyst whose opinions are based on some sort of superior knowledge and that a big part of his job is to make these meaningless and ill-informed predictions. Even when he had the Pats at #1 it meant absolutely nothing to me, but I'm sure some of our friendly Denver trolls are really feeding off this kind of drivel right now.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if Vegas ends up making the Pats 2-3 point favorites if that game happens. It could be even more if we crush whoever we play in the divisional round.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Don't bet the house on that prediction

You could be right DI, we're all guessing at this point. I would be surprised, though, if the Patriots are favored (IF the matchup actually happens). My shot in the dark guess for the spread is somewhere between Patriots +1 to +2. I base this on two factors: (1) Built in Home field advantage of approx. 3.5 for Denver and (2) the teams being considered about an even matchup if theoretically played at a neutral site.
That bottom line says the Patriots would have to be a 4 point neutral site favorite to overcome the HFA that Denver will be given. I just don't see Vegas saying the Broncos rate 4 points less than the Patriots.

Regarding how the spread will be affected by the amount of action that comes in? Denver's winning streak, the Patriots recent struggles, the pundits heaping praise on PM/the Broncos all week leading up to the game will, imho, cause plenty of action to come in on the Broncos.

The caveats to Denver being favored are any key losses to injury in their divisional game and/or they struggle to win their divisional game while the Patriots steam roll their opponent.

 

[1960Pats]

I'd like to see an Indy vs Denver game next week, so that has me rooting for Houston and Indy this week. Houston still scares me though, and who isn't sick already at the Manning ball washing, so I won't be rooting too hard.

As for the NFC, I wouldn't mind seeing Pete Carroll jumping up and down on the sidelines at the SB, and I also wouldn't mind getting a few more games of AP running with the football either.

 

[Seacoast Fan]

Hey, Denver had the hardest schedule of any team this year. They dominated every team that they played. Every game was magnificent. Denver is battle tested, and will roll in the playoffs. They're going to win it all!!!!

....and don't forget Manning's sterling record in late season playoff games in cold weather.

 

[Seacoast Fan]

They are all sun bathing in the Bermuda Triangle with a bunch of lost pilots from WWII.

....and getting tattoos on their biceps of their favorite girl wearing their favorite Jests player's jersey.....

 

[Uncle Rico]

....and don't forget Manning's sterling record in late season playoff games in cold weather.

For those looking ahead:

10 Day Weather Forecast for Denver - weather.com

Looks like Denver will have a nice week of temps near 50, then suddenly dropping to the 20s Saturday, with a chance of snow.

 

[moosekill]

I still wonder about the real home field advantage for Denver. Manning has never done well in the playoffs and many of those were played inside. He has always really struggled outside in the cold. Now his home field is outside in the cold.

I think Cincinnati has a good chance of going in there and beating them.

As far as point spreads go, if it is Pats Broncos, I think it will really depend on how each team does in the game before. I bet right now it would be pretty much even. My guess is it will be Patriots by 3 by the game, if they end up playing each other.

 

[Deus Irae]

You could be right DI, we're all guessing at this point. I would be surprised, though, if the Patriots are favored (IF the matchup actually happens). My shot in the dark guess for the spread is somewhere between Patriots +1 to +2. I base this on two factors: (1) Built in Home field advantage of approx. 3.5 for Denver and (2) the teams being considered about an even matchup if theoretically played at a neutral site.
That bottom line says the Patriots would have to be a 4 point neutral site favorite to overcome the HFA that Denver will be given. I just don't see Vegas saying the Broncos rate 4 points less than the Patriots.

Regarding how the spread will be affected by the amount of action that comes in? Denver's winning streak, the Patriots recent struggles, the pundits heaping praise on PM/the Broncos all week leading up to the game will, imho, cause plenty of action to come in on the Broncos.

The caveats to Denver being favored are any key losses to injury in their divisional game and/or they struggle to win their divisional game while the Patriots steam roll their opponent.

Time will tell. I just think that recent history shows the money goes NEs way.