see what i did there? i'm so darn clever.
denver (+5) 2 units
denver (ML) 2 units to win (3.8). if i had slightly bigger balls, all 4 units would be on the ML. if this game is close, i really think there's a big advantage for the broncos. carolina's schedule was incredibly easy, especially away from home. they lost their last game away from home. at atlanta. and the 4 road games before that were at ny, no, dallas, and tennessee. then we get to their only good road win on the year - at seattle. boy, that sure looked like an impressive win at the time, didn't it? well, turns out seattle went 5-3 at home this year, with wins over the bears, lions, 49ers, and browns. maybe that wasn't so impressive. their other 2 road wins were at tampa and jacksonville. my point is, carolina has faced game pressure one time away from home since mid-october. and they lost that game at atlanta. we really have no idea how the panthers will perform if this game is close. hell, maybe they will be awesome. or maybe they will blow out the broncos and it won't matter. but i see no reason not to take the league's best defense and a qb who's done it before, even if he is throwing with a noodle arm these days. on the bright side for payton manning, global warming has helped him in the playoffs. once again, he won't have to deal with sub-zero temperatures.
there is no doubt that denver's defense faces an entirely different challenge today than they did 2 weeks ago. and wade phillips' defenses have seen remarkably little read option. only 40 times in the last 4 seasons that phillips has been a defensive coordinator (3 of those seasons were at houston). but i trust him to come up with a solid plan with 2 weeks to prepare. and when newton drops back, he can be very indecisive, which will give those rushers time to get to him.
under (43.5) 2 units. i feel like i always get burned on unders in championship games. like today will be 13-6 going into the 4th and suddenly it will be an offensive explosion and the final score will be 27-23. i'll probably play the first half under, too. and really hope there are no defensive or special teams scores.
it will be interesting to see if denver double teams olson like they double teamed gronk 2 weeks ago. other than one play late, when the safety inexplicably let gronk get past him, that was pretty effective. if they can take away olsen, cam loses his security blanket.
ok, i could ramble on and on about this game, but i'll wrap it up. i think denver's defense keeps it close and the broncos pull out a win in the 4th quarter. payton gets the mvp, but cj anderson clearly deserved it.
denver (+5) 2 units
denver (ML) 2 units to win (3.8). if i had slightly bigger balls, all 4 units would be on the ML. if this game is close, i really think there's a big advantage for the broncos. carolina's schedule was incredibly easy, especially away from home. they lost their last game away from home. at atlanta. and the 4 road games before that were at ny, no, dallas, and tennessee. then we get to their only good road win on the year - at seattle. boy, that sure looked like an impressive win at the time, didn't it? well, turns out seattle went 5-3 at home this year, with wins over the bears, lions, 49ers, and browns. maybe that wasn't so impressive. their other 2 road wins were at tampa and jacksonville. my point is, carolina has faced game pressure one time away from home since mid-october. and they lost that game at atlanta. we really have no idea how the panthers will perform if this game is close. hell, maybe they will be awesome. or maybe they will blow out the broncos and it won't matter. but i see no reason not to take the league's best defense and a qb who's done it before, even if he is throwing with a noodle arm these days. on the bright side for payton manning, global warming has helped him in the playoffs. once again, he won't have to deal with sub-zero temperatures.
there is no doubt that denver's defense faces an entirely different challenge today than they did 2 weeks ago. and wade phillips' defenses have seen remarkably little read option. only 40 times in the last 4 seasons that phillips has been a defensive coordinator (3 of those seasons were at houston). but i trust him to come up with a solid plan with 2 weeks to prepare. and when newton drops back, he can be very indecisive, which will give those rushers time to get to him.
under (43.5) 2 units. i feel like i always get burned on unders in championship games. like today will be 13-6 going into the 4th and suddenly it will be an offensive explosion and the final score will be 27-23. i'll probably play the first half under, too. and really hope there are no defensive or special teams scores.
it will be interesting to see if denver double teams olson like they double teamed gronk 2 weeks ago. other than one play late, when the safety inexplicably let gronk get past him, that was pretty effective. if they can take away olsen, cam loses his security blanket.
ok, i could ramble on and on about this game, but i'll wrap it up. i think denver's defense keeps it close and the broncos pull out a win in the 4th quarter. payton gets the mvp, but cj anderson clearly deserved it.
