Not that you can fault Rodney Harrison. The Patriots' star safety, after all, played so well Sunday in the Super Bowl that he could have been named the game?s MVP instead of wide receiver Deion Branch.
But you just have to wonder, especially if you had laid the points with the Patriots -7 or bet the game to go over the tota of 48l. Here was Harrison intercepting Donovan McNabb with under a minute left in Eagles territory, ending any forlorn hope the Eagles might have had. Suddenly it looks like Harrison may have a clear path to the goal line. The dejected Philly players may not even bother trying to tackle him.
But after running just a few yards Harrison slides down on the ground, not wanting to take any chances on losing the ball. It?s understandable. But, oh, would that have changed the betting outcome if Harrison had run back the interception for a touchdown. If that happened you wouldn?t see such smiling bookmakers today.
Thanks to the Patriots winning 24-21 as seven-point favorites, the house won big as the Patriots failed to cover and the total went under.
?We had so many people come in and say, ?Pats and over,?? said Rich Dressler, sportsbook director at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.
At the Las Vegas Hilton sportsbook, Patriots and over parlays exceeded Eagles and under parlays by an 8-1 ratio, according to Jeff Sherman, assistant sportsbook director.
?Our biggest liability was on the Patriots and over,? Sherman said.
There were more moneyline wagers on the Eagles, because people wanted to take a plus price rather than lay around minus $2.70 on New England. Many books also took in more wagers on the Patriots laying the points even though late money did finally arrive on the Eagles.
?It was one of the best results we could have had,? Stardust Hotel race and sportsbook director Bob Scucci said on the Monday morning Stardust Line radio show. ?We didn?t have nearly as many Philly to under parlays as we did on Patriots and over parlays.?
Proposition wagers accounted for anywhere from 10-25 percent of a book?s Super Bowl handle. The Las Vegas Hilton, for instance, offered around 250 props. Sherman said the Hilton had action on every prop.
Some of the props the house did well on was that no safety would occur, Corey Dillon under on rushing yards, Eagles to score first since the Patriots had scored first in 25 of their past 26 games and Eagles tight end L.J. Smith to score the opening touchdown. Who would have thought that? My candidate was Daniel Graham at 20-1. Right position, wrong team.
There were no props on whether or not the Eagles would use sound clock management. If there were, the 'NO' side would have covered easily.
That?s one of the lingering, unanswered questions from Super Bowl XXXIV - why wasn?t there more urgency from Coach Andy Reid, McNabb and the rest of the Eagles' offense during the last few minutes when they were 10 points down and only had two time-outs.
The Eagles got their back-door cover when McNabb threw a 30-yard scoring strike to Greg Lewis with 1:48 left cutting the margin to three points. That brought smiles to bookmakers' faces because it took away the possibility of a 7-point Patriots victory. That was the bookie?s nightmare scenario because it would have meant massive refunds and a few places getting sided.
Philly desperately could have used more time when they got the ball back at the end at their own 4-yard line with 46 seconds left. Brian Westbrook didn?t help the Eagles? clock management when he did perhaps the stupidest thing of the entire game by hanging on to a 1-yard pass up the middle with a defender draped all over him and no chance of making a big gain or getting out of bounds.
Two plays later Harrison had his interception and the Patriots had their third Super Bowl victory in four years.
All of New England?s Super Bowl wins have come by three points. While the game might have been a little more lopsided in New England?s favor than the final may have indicated, you have to wonder about the legacy of the Patriots and their coach Bill Belichick.
Other dynasty teams such as the ?60s Packers, ?70s Steelers, ?80s 49ers and ?90s Cowboys had more talent. So that?s a plus for Belichick. No doubt he and his coaching staff are brilliant. But he?s narrowly won his three Super Bowls against mediocre, watered-down competition. The great Packers, Steelers, 49ers and Cowboys teams not only had better talent but they beat teams that had excellent talent, too.
I?m not sure you can say that about the Patriots.
But you just have to wonder, especially if you had laid the points with the Patriots -7 or bet the game to go over the tota of 48l. Here was Harrison intercepting Donovan McNabb with under a minute left in Eagles territory, ending any forlorn hope the Eagles might have had. Suddenly it looks like Harrison may have a clear path to the goal line. The dejected Philly players may not even bother trying to tackle him.
But after running just a few yards Harrison slides down on the ground, not wanting to take any chances on losing the ball. It?s understandable. But, oh, would that have changed the betting outcome if Harrison had run back the interception for a touchdown. If that happened you wouldn?t see such smiling bookmakers today.
Thanks to the Patriots winning 24-21 as seven-point favorites, the house won big as the Patriots failed to cover and the total went under.
?We had so many people come in and say, ?Pats and over,?? said Rich Dressler, sportsbook director at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.
At the Las Vegas Hilton sportsbook, Patriots and over parlays exceeded Eagles and under parlays by an 8-1 ratio, according to Jeff Sherman, assistant sportsbook director.
?Our biggest liability was on the Patriots and over,? Sherman said.
There were more moneyline wagers on the Eagles, because people wanted to take a plus price rather than lay around minus $2.70 on New England. Many books also took in more wagers on the Patriots laying the points even though late money did finally arrive on the Eagles.
?It was one of the best results we could have had,? Stardust Hotel race and sportsbook director Bob Scucci said on the Monday morning Stardust Line radio show. ?We didn?t have nearly as many Philly to under parlays as we did on Patriots and over parlays.?
Proposition wagers accounted for anywhere from 10-25 percent of a book?s Super Bowl handle. The Las Vegas Hilton, for instance, offered around 250 props. Sherman said the Hilton had action on every prop.
Some of the props the house did well on was that no safety would occur, Corey Dillon under on rushing yards, Eagles to score first since the Patriots had scored first in 25 of their past 26 games and Eagles tight end L.J. Smith to score the opening touchdown. Who would have thought that? My candidate was Daniel Graham at 20-1. Right position, wrong team.
There were no props on whether or not the Eagles would use sound clock management. If there were, the 'NO' side would have covered easily.
That?s one of the lingering, unanswered questions from Super Bowl XXXIV - why wasn?t there more urgency from Coach Andy Reid, McNabb and the rest of the Eagles' offense during the last few minutes when they were 10 points down and only had two time-outs.
The Eagles got their back-door cover when McNabb threw a 30-yard scoring strike to Greg Lewis with 1:48 left cutting the margin to three points. That brought smiles to bookmakers' faces because it took away the possibility of a 7-point Patriots victory. That was the bookie?s nightmare scenario because it would have meant massive refunds and a few places getting sided.
Philly desperately could have used more time when they got the ball back at the end at their own 4-yard line with 46 seconds left. Brian Westbrook didn?t help the Eagles? clock management when he did perhaps the stupidest thing of the entire game by hanging on to a 1-yard pass up the middle with a defender draped all over him and no chance of making a big gain or getting out of bounds.
Two plays later Harrison had his interception and the Patriots had their third Super Bowl victory in four years.
All of New England?s Super Bowl wins have come by three points. While the game might have been a little more lopsided in New England?s favor than the final may have indicated, you have to wonder about the legacy of the Patriots and their coach Bill Belichick.
Other dynasty teams such as the ?60s Packers, ?70s Steelers, ?80s 49ers and ?90s Cowboys had more talent. So that?s a plus for Belichick. No doubt he and his coaching staff are brilliant. But he?s narrowly won his three Super Bowls against mediocre, watered-down competition. The great Packers, Steelers, 49ers and Cowboys teams not only had better talent but they beat teams that had excellent talent, too.
I?m not sure you can say that about the Patriots.
