Super Bowl 57 was incredibly fun to watch for at least the first 58 minutes. We were robbed of a classic ending, but I don't want that questionable call to completely ruin what was a very well played game by both sides. I wrote about my biggest takeaways from last night's game in the "NFL" section of this site, which can be read here: https://www.bucketsquadsportsreports.com/nfl/super-bowl-57-takeaways I was spot on with my standard bets that I gave out for the Super Bowl. The Chiefs covered the 1.5 points they were given and the Over 51 was never in doubt. However, the player props I gave out were nothing short of disastrous, with only one of the eight props I gave out actually hitting. And many of the ones that failed to hit did so in comedically unfortunate fashion... The lone player prop that hit was Boston Scott Over 7.5 rushing yards. And despite rushing for eight yards on his first touch on the opening drive, he was barely able to hang on to that, finishing with just those eight yards for the entirety of the game. Sadly, that's where my good fortune ran out.
My first bet was for the opening kickoff to not result in a touchback - a result that has been the case in 28 of the last 31 Super Bowls. I think Harrison Butker knew that, however, because he launched a wobbly line drive missile in such a way that Philadelphia's returner wasn't going to bother attempting to catch it. I had Travis Kelce as the first touchdown scorer. Too bad the Eagles got the ball first, because Kelce did score Kansas City's opening TD. Just one different coin flip outcome and we would've at least had that one. I thought for sure that JuJu Smith-Schuster would stay under his receiving yards total of 37.5. But after amassing just three total targets in the first two rounds of the postseason, JuJu collected a team-high nine targets and gained 38 yards on one drive alone in the second half en route to his 53-yard game total. Patrick Mahomes played a great game overall, but let me down in terms of yardage. I was expecting a huge game from him and took his Over 295.5 pass yards. With a surprisingly effective run game, the Chiefs only passed 27 times for 182 yards. Speaking of surprise, I was shocked that the Eagles didn't get a single sack on Mahomes. That spelled bad news for my bet of Over 0.25 sacks for Haason Reddick, who tallied three sacks and appeared unstoppable in his first two games this postseason. But by far the worst beat was my Jerick McKinnon as an anytime TD scorer. He was tackled at the one-yard line on the Chiefs' opening drive in the second half before Isaiah Pacheco was given the ball on the ensuing play. And he had a wide open lane on Kansas City's final drive before sliding to give himself at the one again in the game's final minutes. A smart play and the right play, but incredibly frustrating for me. Regardless, it was fun to root for these specific props during the game, even though nearly all of them didn't go my way. Still, I'll take my two wins from the standard bets and accept my 7-7 playoff betting run to break even for the postseason. I didn't perform great in the playoffs, but that brings my total record for the 2022-23 NFL season to a very solid 76-56. I had a blast picking and writing about my favorite plays for each week throughout this season and am pleased at my improvement from last year. I'll definitely be back next season with the goal of improving yet again, perhaps on the back of my Excel model that I've been building for the past few seasons. Thanks to anyone who has been following along with my articles this season and be sure to check back once the countdown to football gets closer again in the late summer and early fall. In the meantime, be checking the college basketball section of this site when the NCAA Tournament field is announced for a chance to win money in the 2nd Annual Bucket Squad Sports Reports (Your #1 Source for All Things Sports) Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity. Written by Nick Swatson
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |