Indy holds slim lead going into fourth quarter
Football Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joseph Addai's four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter has helped the Colts grab a tenuous 17-16 lead over New Orleans heading into the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV.
Drew Brees has lit a fire for the Saints with a spectacular performance over the last two quarters, but he'll need to lead the team to at least one more score if New Orleans is to celebrate its first-ever Super Bowl victory.
Garrett Hartley has kicked three field goals - all over 40 yards - for the Saints. New Orleans' lone touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Brees to Pierre Thomas.
Meanwhile, Peyton Manning has been steady under center for the Colts as he tries to engineer his team to a second title in four years.
Trailing, 10-6, the Saints used a gutsy approach to start the second half, trying on onside kick. The ball glanced off Indianapolis' Hank Baskett, and after a scrum at the bottom of the pile, New Orleans' Jonathan Casillas came away with the football.
It was the first onside kick in the Super Bowl coming before the fourth quarter, and the move paid off. Brees moved the Saints into the lead at 13-10 on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Thomas with 11:41 left in the third. Brees completed all five of his passes on the drive for 51 yards, the last one being a screen on the right side of the field. Thomas evaded defenders, stepped out of a tackle in the middle of the field before diving into the end zone.
Indianapolis went back on top, 17-13, with 6:15 left in the quarter thanks to Addai's four-yard TD run. Manning hit Dallas Clark with an 11-yard gain up the middle to convert a 3rd-and-5. On the next play, Addai powered up the middle, spun out of a tackle and scored standing up to end the 10-play, 76-yard drive. He accounted for 24 yards in the march.
Brees then moved the Saints from their own 34 to the Indy 29, but the drive stalled when Jeremy Shockey couldn't break loose for a first down after a four-yard catch over the middle. Hartley was called on and split the uprights from 47 yards out with 2:01 remaining.
Hartley became the first kicker to have at least three field goals made of 40- plus yards in the same Super Bowl game.
The Colts were deep in their territory when the quarter came to a close.
A Manning touchdown pass capped a 96-yard drive in the opening quarter and then the Colts had a goal-line stand to stop the Saints in the final two minutes of the half.
Matt Stover kicked a 38-yard field goal midway through the first quarter, and Manning ended the Super Bowl's record-tying longest drive with a 19-yard scoring toss to Pierre Garcon with 36 seconds remaining in the same period.
The Saints, in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, got a 46-yard field goal from Hartley in the early moments of the second quarter, but were thwarted on a fourth down run from the one with 1:49 left. Hartley split the uprights from 44 yards on the final play of the second quarter.
Through three quarters, Brees has connected on 25-of-32 passes for 244 yards, while Manning is 17-of-24 for 162 yards. Addai has 10 rushes for 79 yards.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.