I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. There’s a handful of spreadsheets that have shown some expected data, and nothing really stood out to me. After New England slept walk through the AFC side of the playoffs, and Atlanta eviscerated Seattle and Green Bay, we basically knew what we were in for. These are definitely worthy contenders, and that makes it very difficult to develop a Super Bowl LI betting strategy.

The Patriots are currently favored by -3.0 points and I truthfully don’t expect that line to change all that much. The heaviest money will come in over the weekend, but the fact that this line hasn’t really shifted all that much speaks volumes about how well the oddsmakers have done here. In most cases, we’re seeing a 50-50 split. In others, there’s a 66-33 split in favor of the Patriots. It just depends which book you look at.

That makes a ton of sense. Mike McCarthy said it perfectly when he called the Atlanta Falcons a buzz saw. Their ability to score points seemingly at will is incredible to watch. But then again, these are the New England Goddamn Patriots we’re talking about here.

It’s time for the deep dive, folks. Strap in.