Before I get into all the wild prop bets, I thought I'd share my research on the 49ers vs Ravens matchup this Sunday. When the line was announced 49ers as favorites by 3.5 points, 60% of the Vegas betting went the Ravens way. That's not too surprising given the emotions of Ray Lewis and the fact the purple birds just knocked off Peyton Manning and Tom Brady on the road.
Line: 49ers -3.5, Over/under: 47
With each Super Bowl bet I make, I usually go with the better defense. That made picking the Giants last year a no-brainer for me. This year is much different as both teams have solid defenses.
Personally, I think the 49ers will win this game and Frank Gore will be the Super Bowl MVP. The entire 49ers offensive line made the Pro Bowl in some sort of fashion and Frank Gore has been unstoppable. In addition, the fact the 49ers have played four dome games this year while the Ravens have played none makes a difference with noise. While I think the Ravens will keep this close in the first half, I think we see the youth and dominance of the 49ers team take over in the second half much like the Falcons game. I'll surely inquire about buying that half point.
Below are some interesting numbers for everyone to chew on and form their own opinion. Enjoy.
Item |
49ers |
Ravens |
Advantage |
Super Bowl Coaching Experience |
Jim Harbaugh |
John Harbaugh |
|
Team Hotel Location |
Marriott Canal Street |
Hilton Riverside Hotel |
|
Avoiding the media pitfalls |
Kaepernick cool as a cucumber. |
Flacco uses "retarded" in a comparison as his answer and already has media buzzing about it. |
|
Most hungry superstar |
Frank Gore |
Ray Lewis |
The whole team is playing for Ray in his final game. |
Video Game Simulation |
49ers |
Ravens |
Push |
PredictionMachine.com based on 50,000 simulations of Super Bowl XLVII |
49ers |
Ravens |
|
Harbaugh Head to Head |
0-1 |
1-0 |
|
Turnover Ratio |
+9 (reg season) |
+9 (reg season) |
|
Offense |
361.8 yards |
352.5 yards |
|
Defense |
294.4 yards |
350.9 yards |
|
Kicking |
Akers 29/42 |
Tucker 30/33 |
|
Post-season completion % |
Kapernick (63.5%) |
Flacco (54.8%) |
|
Post-season QB rating |
Kaepernick 105.9 |
Flacco 114.7 |
|
Post-season points per game |
36.5 |
30 |
|
Post-season points per game allowed |
27.5 |
19 |
Betting Trends:
Item |
49ers |
Ravens |
Advantage |
Against the spread in playoff games: |
2-0 |
3-0 |
Push |
Against the spread vs teams with winning record: |
6-3 |
4-4 |
|
Against the spread in non-conference games |
4-0 |
2-2 |
|
Against the spread as a favorite |
9-6 |
4-4 (as underdog) |
|
Against the spread in all games |
11-7 |
9-9 |
|
Record in a dome this year |
2-2 |
0-0 |
(Ravens got blown out @ Texans, which has retractable roof) |