SB XLVIII Game & Prop Results
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ (The Spread) – In a completely unexpected result, the Seattle Seahawks routed the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.
The Broncos opened as 2-point favorites for this year’s Super Bowl but the spread dropped to 1.5 on Thursday before climbing all the way up to 2.5 on Saturday afternoon and then dropping again to 1.5 before kickoff. The total for the game opened at 47, climbed to 48.5, dropped back down to 47.5 and then settled in at 47 before the start of the game.
Thus, the Seahawks covered the spread by 36.5 points, which was a shocker to most public bettors, who sided with the Broncos at a near 70-percent clip. The combined score also went over the posted total of 47, as Doug Baldwin caught a 10-yard touchdown reception with 11:45 left in the game to push the total over.
Russell Wilson completed 18-of-25 passes for 206 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while Peyton Manning struggled to the tune of 34-of-49 passing for 280 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also had the opening snap of the game fly over his head and into the end for a safety. Things never improved for Denver, which trailed 22-0 at halftime and then 29-0 when Percy Harvin returned the opening kick of the second half for a touchdown.
Seattle linebacker Malcolm Smith also had a big night while recording five tackles and returning a Manning pass 69 yards for a pick-six late in the second quarter. For his efforts, Smith was named Super Bowl MVP as he joined Ray Lewis of Baltimore in 2011 and Chuck Howley of Dallas in 1971 as the only linebackers to be picked as the top player in a Super Bowl. Smith was such an obscure MVP that he wasn’t even listed in the MVP prop bets before the game, although bettors that took “The Field” would have cashed in 25/1 odds with Smith’s victory.
In other prop bets, “tails” cashed in at -115 for the winning coin flip, which ended a five-year streak won by “heads.” With a Seattle safety being the first score of the game, that cashed in 40/1 odds and with Marshawn Lynch scoring the first touchdown of the game, bettors would have won at 5/1 odds.
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