We now know that Super Bowl LI will feature the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that oddsmakers think it will be a very high-scoring game. But it’s still pretty eye-opening that oddsmakers are giving it the highest over/under in Super Bowl history, at 59 points (already up one point from the opening line):
#SuperBowl
Over/Under Point Total up to 59!
(BIGGEST Total in Super Bowl HISTORY)— RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) January 23, 2017
The Patriots open as three-point favorites over the Falcons:
#SuperBowl#Falcons#Patriots -3
(over/under 58 total points)— RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) January 23, 2017
Atlanta led the NFL in scoring this season — averaging 33.6 points per game — and the offense has been even more impressive in the postseason. They put up 36 points on the Seahawks in the divisional round and 44 points on the Packers today. Matt Ryan is likely to win the NFL MVP for his dominance in the regular season, and he’s gone on to throw seven touchdown with zero interceptions in the postseason. He’s gotten a lot of help from Julio Jones, who looks pretty much unstoppable these days (even with foot injuries).
And the Patriots’ offense is looking every bit as dangerous right now. New England put up 34 points on a Texans defense considered to be one of the very best, and followed that up with 36 points today against the Steelers. Combining Tom Brady’s two playoff games with his 12 regular-season games (he had the four-game deflategate suspension), he’s thrown 33 touchdowns compared to four interceptions (are you kidding me?).
It’s worth noting that New England had the best defense this season in terms of points allowed, giving up just 15.6 points per game (nearly two full points better than any other team). But, the Falcons’ offense looks pretty defense-proof right now. And so does the Patriots’ offense!
So, it’s hard to disagree with how Vegas views this game on the surface. It shapes up to be a very entertaining shootout, and hopefully will go a long way to make up for what has been an otherwise boring NFL playoffs.
