Super Bowl XLVII Prop Bets and Pick

            Here’s our favorite prop bets for tomorrow night’s game, with our official Super Bowl pick at the end.

Cross-Sport Bets

49ers Points (+3) over Blake Griffin’s Combined Points and Rebounds vs. Boston Celtics

            Griffin is averaging just under 19 and 9 for the season. I like San Francisco to at least score 25 points, if not a bunch more.

Joe Flacco Touchdown Passes (-115) Greater Than Kobe Bryant’s Number of 3-Point Field Goals Made

            At the time of this writing, Kobe hasn’t hit a 3 in his last six games. Furthermore, he hasn’t even attempted a long-range shot in two of the games, and only attempted one in two more. Remember this when Kobe goes 5 for 7 on Sunday from distance.

Lionel Messi Goals (-0.5) over Frank Gore Touchdowns

            Lionel Messi scored 4 goals in one game this past Sunday. Gore’s going to need to hit pay dirt twice to make this bet competitive.

Chris Bosh Points (-0.5) over Largest Lead of Super Bowl XLVII

            Bosh averages 17 a game, plus he’s making another trip to Toronto, which could mean he wants to put on a show for his former hometown fans. God (working through the body of Ray Lewis, which apparently was a side effect of his deer-antler spray purchase) will not allow this game to get out of hand.

Distance of First Touchdown Pass of Super Bowl XLVII (-6.5) over Steve Nash’s Total Assists

            Kobe Bryant is doing all the distributing in Laker-Land now. This is the easiest bet on the cross-sports board.
 

San Francisco 49ers Player Props

Colin Kaepernick Will Score a Rushing Touchdown (+115)

            Hard to believe we won’t have some “Kaepernicking” on Super Bowl Sunday.

Frank Gore Over 85.5 Rushing Yards (-115)

            San Francisco has done a masterful job of managing Gore’s carries all season. There won’t be any restrictions against Baltimore, a team that is vulnerable against the run.

LaMichael James Longest Rush Over 11.5 Yards (EVEN)

LaMichael James Will Score a Touchdown (+300)
            James started making an impact the last quarter of the regular season (remember his long-kickoff return after 28 straight Patriots’ points turned around a near collapse in December), and as mentioned in the previous prop, Baltimore is vulnerable against the run.

Randy Moss Over 36.5 Receiving Yards (-115)

            Randy Moss might not of been the greatest wide receiver of all-time, but no one was more feared. Think of him as the Barry Sanders of wide receivers. Even now opposing defenses still roll a safety to his side of the field for deep help.

Baltimore Ravens Player Props

Joe Flacco Over 3.5 Rushing Yards (-115)

            Flacco isn’t a stiff, even though he looks like one. I see at least one 3^rd and 4 that ends with Flacco scampering out of bounds with a gain of 5.

Ray Rice Receptions Over 3.5 (+120)

            Baltimore probably will have a hard time running the ball, but that won’t limit the Ravens from getting the ball to one of the best receiving backs in the league. I could see Rice hauling in five or six passes.

Jacoby Jones Will Score a Touchdown (+350)

            The only long-shot bet for a Ravens player to score that I like.
 

Super Bowl XLVII Game Props

Longest Touchdown of Super Bowl XLVII Over 45.5 (-115)

            Each team has electric return men, defenses that can generate turnovers, and plenty of playmakers on offense. It would be hard to believe we won’t see one long touchdown.

Total Sacks in Super Bowl XLVII Under 4.5 (-115)

            Both offensive lines are solid. Only way this goes over is if San Francisco jumps all over Baltimore and Flacco has to throw 55 times.

San Francisco 49ers Will Throw Challenge Flag First (-115)

            This shouldn’t be a newsflash for anyone, but Jim Harbaugh is a fantastic coach in THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. He is a little reckless sometimes with the challenge flag though.

One Quarter of Super Bowl XLVII Will Be Scoreless (+180)

            Both defenses are talented enough to combine for a scoreless quarter.

Novelty Props

Color of Gatorade Dumped on Winning Head Coach Will Be Red (+350)

            This will make sense when you get to my pick at the end of this column.

MVP of the Super Bowl Will Thank God First (EVEN)

            If you’re a supporter of the Ray Lewis, this will be your favorite bet on the board.

Alicia Keys Will Take Longer Than 2 Minutes and 5 Seconds to Sing National Anthem (-115)

            I couldn’t find a clip of Keys performing the anthem (this was a valuable scouting tool when Christina Aguilera botched the National Anthem a couple of years ago), but I see a long, dragged out, R & B version.

Jim Harbaugh Will Be First Coach Shown On Television After Opening Kickoff (-120)

            Sorry John, Jim is way more interesting.

No Credentials Prediction

49ers (-3.5) over Ravens

            San Francisco will dominate the line of scrimmage offensively, and create a couple of turnovers to slow down the Ravens. Giving Jim Harbaugh two weeks to come up with a game plan is dangerous.

San Francisco 38, Baltimore 28

Regular Season = 140-111-5

Postseason = 6-4

10 Awesome Things That Happened This Weekend (9/21-9/23)

10. Jon Jones Survives An Early Armbar, Submits Vitor Belfort
            To the dismay of Dana White and millions of disgruntled MMA fans everywhere, a dislocated elbow wasn’t enough to hold down Jon Jones.

9. Denny Hamlin Dominates in New Hampshire

            A solid bounce-back by No Credentials preseason championship pick. Even despite his crew trying to hijack his qualifying effort, Hamlin methodically picked his way through the field from his 32^nd starting spot. He’ll be one of the favorites next week when the circuit moves on to Dover.

8. Bears Win 23-6

            This game wasn’t really all that awesome, but I did pick Chicago in the Sportsbook 100K Survivor Pool.

7. Notre Dame Shuts Down Michigan

            It’s time to call your crazy Catholic uncle who gave up on college football 12 years ago…Notre Dame is back.

6. Falcons, Texans, and Cardinals Last Undefeated Teams Left in NFL

            Who had that trio pegged as the last teams to lose in the league? All three look legit after impressive wins Sunday.

5. Minnesota Vikings Shock 49ers
            I’ll be the first to dub Sunday’s shocking result in the Metrodome “The Christian Ponder Game”.

4. Replacement Refs Make Complete Mess of Lions-Titans Game

            I’d knock the replacements more, but this game did turn out to be the most entertaining one of the week, so maybe they deserve some of the credit. Here’s the list of wacky things that happened.

-         A reenactment of the famous “Music City Miracle” occurred, resulting in a 65-yard punt return for the Titans.

-         Jake Locker completed touchdowns of both 61 and 71 yards.

-         Lions runningback Mikel Leshoure ran for 100 yards, which I think is the first time a Lions runningback broke the century mark since Barry Sanders in 1998.

-         Tennessee was up 20-9. Detroit was then up 27-20. Tennessee was then up 41-27. Naturally, the game went to overtime.

-         The game went to overtime after Detroit scored two touchdowns in 18 seconds, with the second being of the Hail-Mary variety.

             I don’t think the writers of “Playmakers” could of pumped more crazy shit into one script than what happened in this game.

3. Sean Payton Does Matter, Saints Are 0-3
            As soon as his suspension is over, Sean Payton better be asking for a raise.

2. Ravens Win Wild, 31-30 Game Over New England
1. Torrey Smith Honors His Brother
            Let’s forget for a moment that the refs put on one of the most uneven displays of officiating in NFL history.. Let’s also forget that Bill Belichick grabbed an official, and then his head looked like it was going to explode during his post-game press conference. Let’s instead focus on Torrey Smith, who’s brother passed away in a motorcycle accident just 19 hours before kickoff. Playing on an hour of broken sleep, Smith caught six passes for 127 yards and two critical touchdowns. His first fired up the Ravens after the Patriots stormed out to a 13-0 lead. It was hard not to get goose bumps as he pointed to the sky. It’s usually overkill to say that any professional athlete’s performance was inspiring, but Torrey Smith’s accomplishments Sunday night fit that description