Do the New England Patriots, the giants of NFL football over the past decade, and the Brady-Belichick magic do it again?
These perhaps are the biggest questions facing the multitude of punters who, for the next few days, will be wagering money on Sunday’s Super Bowl LII.
The season’s biggest professional championship match pits the Patriots against the Los Angeles Rams on the Californian team’s home turf at Mercedes Benz Stadium and threatens to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
And it’s largely because the Patriots’ two king-pins, Tom Brady, their 41-year-old quarterback, and Bill Belichick, their 66-year-old coach, are not getting any younger, that there has been any reason for questions to be asked.
Brady has been hailed as one of greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time and possibly the greatest of his generation; ditto Belichick as a coach.
Brady is the only player in history to have quarter-backed his franchise to eight Super Bowl finals and one of only two to have won it five times, the last being in 2017.
He has also been named the Super Bowl MVP four times which is more than any other player and right now statistically he is right up there among the top four in total career passing yards, in career touchdown passes and in the career passes rating.
But – and here’s perhaps the hottest question – is the 6ft 4in Brady still physically fit enough to do it all again, possibly for the last time.
He has said he’d like to retire at 45. His wife Gisele would like it to be sooner and he kind-of promised in an interview before winning Super Bowl L1 that he would do it if he could win two more. A win on Sunday would give him those two.
But looking back to earlier times this year; there were signs that the Brady-Belichick machine was starting to creak a little and might struggle to once again make it into the AFC championship, let alone the Super Bowl.
That feeling began to change, however, as the season progressed and after they made the AFC final as the underdogs and then went on to surprise the high-flying Chiefs 37-31, the Patriots suddenly found themselves in the position of being Bowl favorites again.
For possibly the first time this season they’ll be favored above the Rams when, to a great roar, they run out onto the Mercedes Benz Stadium.
In money line betting on Thursday one New England sportsbook, William Hill had the Patriots at -140 and the Rams at +120 and another, the state’s current sportsbook market leader, FanDuel, at a narrower-132 for the Patriots and +116 for the Rams.
Brady is also back in the bookie’s good books. At +185 he is their favorite to win the Super Bowl L111 MVP with Rams quarterback Jared Goff in second place at -185 and running backs Sony Michel of the Patriots and Todd Gurley of the Rams joint third at -2000.
Clearly, the Brady-Belichick factor is a big one, but the Patriot’s standout offensive line this season and the team’s overall experience are perhaps the other two factors that have most swayed the bookies and other tipsters into giving New England the nod.
New England’s offensive line has been magnificent in the latter half of this season.
The Chiefs came into the AFC final tied for the NFL lead in sacks in the regular season. They’d made 52. The Patriots allowed them to get to Brady just once and there were no sacks.
Nor were there any against the Chargers. Patriots’ center David Andrews and guards Shaq Mason and Joe Thuney were just too solid.
When it comes to experience, we note that Sean McVay, at 32 is the youngest head coach ever to make it into the Super Bowl, and at 24 Jared Goff, the Rams star quarterback is almost young enough to be Brady’s son. You should also note that the Rams haven’t made it into the Super Bowl for 17 years.
Furthermore, while the Patriots, coming as they are from two successive Super Bowl appearances, are jam-packed with men who have been there and done it all, the Rams will be fielding only three Super Bowl veterans.
They are wide receiver Brandin Cooks, cornerback Aqib Talib and running back C.J. Anderson.
Mind you, Anderson has been something of a revelation since transferring into the Rams squad in mid-season. This when Gurley was injured.
Together with fit-again Gurley, the pair might just prove to be a hard-to-handle twin threat to the Patriots defense.
And if the Rams hot-shot defensive tackles, Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh, can produce anything like the great pass rush performance that made Saints quarterback Dru Brees’s life so utterly miserable in the NFC championship, the underdog Rams might still surprise us all.
You can never be too sure of anything in a big game like this, can you? Betting on a winner is never a sure thing.
The general feeling, however, seems to be that the edge the Patriots have in Super Bowl know-how and experience and the winning culture of the Brady-Belichick combo will be enough.
It should see New England come away from LA on Sunday with a record 6th Super Bowl title.
SUPER BOWL L111 DETAILS
Contestants: Los Angeles Rams vs. New England Patriots
Venue: Mercedes Benz Stadium, LA
Time: Sunday, Feb 3, 6.30pm (ET)
Standings: Rams 13-3, Patriot 11-5
Betting Odds
Spread: Rams +2 -105, Patriots -2 -115
Money line: Rams +116; Patriots -132
Totals: Rams and Patriots both 57 -110
*FanDuel on Thursday
Super Bowl L111 MVP odds
Tom Brady NE q/back +115
Jared Goff LA q/back +185
Sony Michel NE r/back +2000
Todd Gurley LA r/back +2000
James White NE r/back +2500
Aaron Donald LA Def/tackle +2500.
