Betting on the Super Bowl: Fantasy Football vs. Real Football
The wait is almost over… On Sunday, February 2, 2014 the Denver Broncos will play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (not New York) at 6:20pm EST on CBS. Pretty much anyone who watches football would agree that the best defense (Seattle) will go up against the best offense (Denver) and that’s exactly how it should be. But our fantasy seasons already came to a close. How can we get involved?
Instead of picking a group of players to fill out your fantasy roster, you can pick who you think will win the big game! The NFL betting odds for this game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos is brought to you by our friends over at Top Bet. The Broncos are a 2.5 point favorite. To beat the spread, the Broncos will have to win by 3 points.
If you listen to our podcast you know that we are born and raised Broncos fans, so we think they can beat the spread. Full disclosure. But when betting on the Super Bowl you need to look at the numbers. And since it’s our jam, let’s look at these teams from a fantasy prospective and see if we can gain some impartial insight.
Compare and Contrast:
Quarterbacks – One could argue that the whole crux of the Broncos being the favorite is based solely on the record breaking performance of Peyton Manning throughout the entire 2013 season and throughout the playoffs. He’s crazy-town on fire! He broke tons of records: Passing TDs with 55, Passing Yards with 5,477, and the Broncos as a team scored a record 600 points in the 2013 season. This category is a bit of an unfair comparison. Russell Wilson is just fine, but no one is Peyton Manning. Fact. BRONCOS win this one.
Running Backs – This is more interesting… Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch is a beast. He’s almost always in “beast mode.” He rushed for 1,257 yards on the season and scored 12 rushing TDs to go with one fumble. He also racked up 316 yards receiving and two receiving TDs. However, you might be surprised that Knowshon Moreno of the Broncos rushed for 1,038 yards, 10 TDs and no fumbles while also obtaining 548 yards receiving and three TDs in the air. We give this category to the SEAHAWKS, but only by a hair.
Wide Receivers – When you have two receivers with over 1,000 yards (Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker) and the top receiver on the other team totaled 898 yards (Golden Tate), you will win. Therefore, BRONCOS wins this category by a landslide. And don’t get fooled by the “Percy Harvin is back” talk. We’ve heard it all before. He’s a great talent, but due to injury he hasn’t been a key player on this team all season. We wish him the best, but you can’t count on him for production.
Tight Ends – Julius Thomas was the third highest scoring Tight End in standard scoring fantasy leagues… and he sat out two games due to injury. The leading Tight End in Seattle, Zach Miller, garnered 387 receiving yards and five TDs on the season. Orange Julius wins it for the BRONCOS.
Kickers – TIE! Prater and Hauschka will be key players in this match up. I would take the over on almost any bet regarding the number of field goals this team will yield. Both guys are straight up fantasy and real life studs. Laces OUT!
Defenses – In fantasy football, the defense is one player. They don’t play a large role in whether or not you win your weekly matchup. The ladies at Her Fantasy Football probably pay more attention to Defenses than just about any other fantasy site out there, but at the end of the day, they are one player. In real football, they are half the team!!! Over the entirety of the 2013 season, the Seattle Seahawks were the second highest scoring defense in fantasy football. Denver didn’t even break the top 25. This category goes to the SEAHAWKS, hands down.
So, what do you think? Will the Denver Broncos fulfill their destiny or will the scrappy, young Seattle Seahawks upset and prove again that defense wins championships?