Sunday February 6. 2011 will be a day remembered by all sports betting handicappers of the NFL, as that was the first time in the history of the league that the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers were able to battle over the Vince Lombardi Trophy. While the Packers walked away as an online betting legend, both teams emerged with elite status. Here is a recap of the game.

The 2010-11 NFL seasons, Championship Game was played at the new Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with over 100,000 spectators taking the game in person, while over 100 million spectators watched the game on television. Entering this year’s playoffs, the Green Bay Packers, were narrowly able to get in, with a 10 to three victory over the rival Chicago Bears. However, once getting into the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers under the guidance of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and defensive Captain Clay Matthews were able to elevate their game to a whole new level.

On the contrary, the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to get into the playoffs as one of two teams with a bye. However, in their first game against Baltimore they narrowly escaped with a come from behind win. Meanwhile in the Steelers second game of the playoffs the AFC Championship game against the New York Jets, the Steelers jumped out to a giant lead before almost losing the game in the final minute. Fans around the league speculated that this may be the year, that the Steelers failed to win the biggest prize of them all.

Entering the Super Bowl game, the Green Bay Packers had a ton of momentum on their side, and the Pittsburgh Steelers looked to be on their last legs. Before the game was half way old, the Steelers were down 21 to 10. By the time the game concluded, it was evident, that the Packers momentum was far too much for the Steelers to handle.

Super Bowl 45 betting online has become more popular than any other Championship game of the 2010 to 2011 seasons. In 2009 sports betting handicappers got to watch a baseball purists dream game when the Philadelphia Phillies battled the New York Yankees, now in 2011 it’s the football purists turn as Green Bay takes on Pittsburgh. Here is a preview of the upcoming Super Bowl Championship game.

Since 1970 when the AFL merged with the NFL, no two teams have been followed more closely than the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. For the Packers they were the bench mark setters for the rest of the NFL prior to the merger winning 12 Championship rings. However, it would take them 30 years to win ring number 13 as they did so in 1998. Now 13 years later, the Packers go for a franchise best 14^th Championship ring, despite only winning three Super Bowl titles.

Meanwhile, in the 41 year existence of the new NFL has there ever been a better team than the Pittsburgh Steelers? In the first decade of the new NFL alone, the Steelers won four of a possible 10 Championships. Then in 2005, when current quarterback Ben Roethlisberger arrived as a rookie in Pittsburgh, a new era of awesome started. Since Roethlisberger has been in the league the Steelers have either been Championship winning team or bust. For instance, over the last five years, the Steelers have won the Super Bowl title in both playoff appearances, while missing the three years there was new Champions.

For Ben Roethlisberger, this game has huge implications for his career and reputation. On the one hand, if Ben Roethlisberger can guide the Steelers to a third championship, it will tie him for most rings for a current NFL quarterback with New England Patriot Tom Brady. On the other hand, a Super Bowl win will make his offseason issues a distant memory, and finally cement him as an elite quarterback. Prediction: Pittsburgh 41 Green Bay 37

We are now down to the final two weeks of the NFL betting lines playoffs, and the AFC Conference Championship couldn’t be more appealing. As we saw this past weekend defense wins Super Bowl betting championships, and who better to play in the AFC Final then the conference’s two best defensive minded teams. Today we look at why the New York Jets will get the monkey off their backs and move on to the Super Bowl Championship.

Heading into the 2010-11 NFL regular season, the New York Jets ownership group did everything in its power to give itself, at least on paper, the best chance to win the Super Bowl. For instance, the Jets acquired Antonio Cromartie from the San Diego Chargers, to give Rex Ryan a competent dual cornerback threat alongside Darrelle Revis. Next, they acquired former Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes from the Pittsburgh Steelers in order to give Mark Sanchez a big time pass option in the playoffs. Finally, the Jets brought in LaDanian Tomlinson to provide veteran leadership for rookie Shone Green.

Now as the AFC Championship game approaches, the Jets remain as the only AFC East option of a Super Bowl ring. What’s more, this will be the first time that Santonio Holmes will be playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a playoff game. With wins already against AFC powerhouses the Indianapolis Colts and AFC East divisional rival the New England Patriots, the Jets appear to have the drive it takes to knock off the giants of the NFL.

To be blunt, we truly feel that if the New York Jets can stop Mike Wallace and Sanchez can overcome the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, going to the Super Bowl will just be a formality for the youngest team remaining in the playoffs.

This week’s Super Bowl betting lines see a jump for some times and a further slide down for others. From the increase in odds for football betting long shots, Seattle to the drop by the Jets, fans aren’t sure who to take this weekend in the divisional round playoffs. Today we look at the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens.

Prior to the start of the playoffs, many fans and experts from around the country were already banking on the Ravens and Steelers meeting in the playoffs. Ideally, this game shouldn’t have been taking place until the Championship round of the playoffs next weekend. As in theory, Baltimore would be facing off with the New England Patriots this year, in a rematch of the Wild Card round from 2010, while the Steelers would be facing the Indianapolis Colts in a battle of the league’s two most dominant teams over the last decade.

Instead, due to the Jets upset win over the Indianapolis Colts, the ranking worked so that the AFC divisional round would live up to its name as all four teams involved in the two games, are from the same division.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens have literally hated one another since the Ravens came into the league in the middle of the 1990s. For the most part over the last decade, the AFC North has been a two team battle between these two storied franchises. This year alone the two teams faced off and split their two game series against one another. What’s more, the winning team only won by a field goal.

On Saturday afternoon, when the Steelers and Ravens face off, fans should once again expect to see a highly defensive oriented matchup. Both teams have decent offenses, however we feel that like their first two matchups, this game will once again come down to a game winning field goal. Only similar to week four, this game will be won by Baltimore.

Super Bowl betting lines opened this week, as the final game of the regular season concluded Sunday night with a Seattle Seahawks NFC West clinching victory. This season has been marked by results that most NFL betting experts could not have anticipated.With that said here is our prediction for which two of the remaining 12 teams will play in the Super Bowl.

The 2010-11 Super Bowl game will feature the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. This season, the New England Patriots were expected be a part of the changing of the guard for the AFC East, by stepping aside and letting the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins qualify for the playoffs. While the Jets qualified in a wild card position, the Patriots made sure that it would be they and not the Dolphins to once again win the AFC East title.

Leading up to the regular season, the Patriots were being speculated to take a step back, as they would be using a relatively young defense, with a frail Tom Brady. Recall, a couple of seasons ago, Tom Brady blew out his knee, and over the years since the injury, Brady appeared to be a more fragile quarterback. This season, Brady proved that he is still the Brady we all loved during the early part of the decade, where he was leading the Patriots to Super Bowl titles and MVP trophies. Brady put together another MVP worthy season, while guiding his Pats to the league’s best record at 14 and two.We still feel they have another Super Bowl title left in the tank, and won’t be taking their foot off the gas pedal any time soon.

On the contrary, the Green Bay Packers got into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. Despite all of the injuries the Packers have suffered this season, we feel that this is the year they finally go all the way. Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings and Donald Driver have proven that they can run the offense, while Clay Matthews has helped the Packers defense become one of the fiercest in the entire NFL.

Entering week 13 of the NFL betting season and things are beginning to take shape as the contenders for the Super Bowl make appear more evident than they did a week or two ago. Here are three teams whose Super Bowl odds have football betting analysts licking their chops.

• New England Patriots Five to One - Going into the season, many fans stayed away from the Patriots on the Super Bowl Futures odds, as they felt the team was overrated. With a star studded line up of Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Randy Moss, who could blame them? Then New England got sick of Randy Moss and Wes Welker decided to have a lackluster year. The result? New England and Tom Brady along with Welker and several unknowns appear in the same way the 2008 Patriots did, a team with one star and a bunch of unknowns. Since the Moss trade, the team has won seven games and is an incredible nine and two through 12 weeks.

• Philadelphia Eagles Six to One - Going into 2010/2011, many Super Bowl betting sites had the Eagles finishing at the bottom of the league with odds of 20 to one or higher, however with the emergence of Michael Vick as an all world quarterback the odds have become more favorable. At six to one, the Eagles have the best odds of the NFC, and for the first time since 2002, the Eagles look poised to contend for a Super Bowl. Can the Eagles win the 2011 Super Bowl, and cap off Michael Vick’s dream season?

• Atlanta Falcons Seven to One - The Atlanta Falcons are the NFL’s hottest team. At 10 wins and two losses, Atlanta has come to play this season. The Falcons could be this year’s New Orleans Saints, in that nobody gave them a good shot, but now they are being considered as a real threat.

The 2010 NFL season has been one of the more difficult football betting seasons for handicappers, as there has been a multitude of surprises. Whether it has been historically awful teams overachieving, or Super Bowl championship jinxes, NFL betting lines have been all over the place this season. Here are some of the biggest surprises of the early season.

• What’s Up With New Orleans? – The 2010 defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, have been one of the biggest surprises of the early season. Who would have thought, returning with exactly the same roster as the one that went 13 and three in the regular season of 2009 and hoisted the 2010 Super Bowl, would go through such struggles.

This time last year, they were undefeated, and along with eventual Super Bowl runner up Indianapolis, looked pretty much untouchable. This year, the Saints are at four and two which isn’t exactly worrisome. However, when you lose by 10 points to a poor Arizona team in week four, people will be talking.

• Minnesota Is Terrible – Last season, the Vikings lost by a field goal with seconds remaining in their NFC finals matchup against the Saints. As a result, many speculated that was the last we would see of Brett Favre. Another missed training camp and possible sex scandal later, and we now have a Vikings team that looks more like the one before Favre arrived. What’s worse, although they are one and one with new old wide out Randy Moss in town, the Vikings offense has been atrocious.

• Never Fear The Steelers Are Here - Going into the 2010/2011 NFL season, many handicappers pretty much wrote off the Pittsburgh Steelers as a legitimate threat to challenge for the Super Bowl. Who could blame them? Last season, the Steelers struggled mightily and failed to reach the post season. Making matters worse, they traded former Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes to the Jets and Big Ben was suspended for four games.

Three quarterbacks in three weeks and a bye later and Big Ben returned last week to a three and one Steelers squad. With Big Ben looking like he hasn’t been gone all season, albeit against the Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers may be the best team in the NFL and win another Super Bowl this decade.

NFL betting cappers are looking to change their 2011 Super Bowl predictions only two weeks after the start of the regular season. Whether you took Minnesota or Dallas to win the 2011 Super Bowl, betting and predicting the right team has proven rather difficult. Here are six things to help you break down your Super Bowl prediction.

• The Lost Causes – Sure, it’s possible that one of these teams may in fact have all the pieces fall into place and go on to be this year’s Super Bowl Champions, but that is as likely as the Baltimore Orioles winning the 2010 World Series.

The lost causes are the longest of the long shots. You can find these teams as the bottom seven of the league each and every year for the last five years. The bottom three teams will be the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders. Getting rid of John Kitna, JaMarcus Russell and Mark Bulger are all steps in the right direction, but these teams are still a few years and pieces away. The latter group made up of the KC Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Bucs and Buffalo Bills are all teams used as punch lines for a joke, but still manage to be better than the previous three.

• The Underwhelming Teams – These are the teams that look like they could make a serious push at least on paper, but then make up the middle of the pack. Teams like Atlanta, Jacksonville, Seattle, New York Giants and Tennessee. They all have the makings of letting loose, but one injury and they are down to the bottom of the pack.

• The Overrated – Similar to underwhelming teams, these are teams that have that ‘it’ factor, yet they do nothing. Team’s such as the Baltimore Ravens, who have an all world defense, but find their offense letting them down, will be in this boat. Same as the San Francisco 49ers that have a lot of defensive tools, but tend to drop the ball because of their quarterback being more hyped than he deserves.

• The Sleeper – These are teams that could either go all the way and make a serious splash or be in the underwhelming teams section. This year, we feel that two teams in the AFC East fall into this group, the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. Both teams had an awesome offseason, so they could surprise some teams.

• Serious Contenders – These are teams that year in and year out, you just know will always make the playoffs, yet can’t go all the way for one reason or another. Teams like the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings come to mind.

• The Pick – Finally you’ve arrived at the pick, after going through all the requirements you are left with one team to win it all. For us that team is the Houston Texans. Critics for years have been saying they are one or two players away from going over the hump. In week one they finally defeated the Colts, a feat they’d yet to accomplish. What’s more, Arian Foster and Andre Johnson are the two pieces Matt Schaub has been waiting for. As well that Texan defense is amongst the league’s best. February 2011 will be the month of the Texans.

There is no worse feeling when NFL betting, than having your team get absolutely obliterated by their opponent. When betting on the Super Bowl, football betting handicappers have come to expect rather close games. A battle of offense verses defense in a low scoring affair. Yet occasionally, there will be a rather dull Super Bowl game in which one team makes the other look silly. Here are five of the worst Super Bowl games of all time.

• Chicago Bears vs. Indianapolis Colts 2007 Super Bowl XLI – As many fans will recall, this is when Colts future hall of famer Peyton Manning won his first championship. The overall final of the game was 17 – 29 for the Colts. But to be honest the Bears were never in control of this game.

Led by current Washington Redskin backup quarterback Rex Grossman, the Bears known more for their defense, became the latest victim to an all out Colts attack. The Colts defense made Grossman look incompetent. What’s more, the only offense the Bears had was from a pair of kick returns by Devin Hester. Manning made the Bears defense look foolish.

• Pittsburgh Steelers vs. LA Rams Super Bowl XIV 1980 – As we noted in the opening sentence, obliteration of your team is never a good feeling. Let’s just say, if you took the Rams in this game, you better not have wagered that much.

Going into the game, the Rams were a lousy nine and seven and squeaked through the playoffs to the final. On the other hand, the Steelers led by Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann, went into Super Bowl 14 and ate the Rams for dinner. Steelers would cap off the dynastic 70s with a 31 to 19 victory.

• San Francisco 49ers vs. San Diego Chargers Super Bowl XXIX 1995 – The final score in this game was an astounding 49 – 26 for the Steve Young led 49ers. Fans wagering on the game, were surly disappointed as the game was perhaps the most hyped of any Super Bowl.

The game was done by halftime, with Steve Young finally emerging out of Joe Montana’s shadows. Young threw six touchdowns, with three of those going to Montana’s former favorite target, Jerry Rice.

• Denver Broncos vs. Washington Redskins Super Bowl XXII 1988 – For hall of famer John Elway, it might be best if we never made this list of the five worst Super Bowls of all time. Elway was the only bright spot to a rather awful Broncos team.

The 2010 NFL betting season is getting underway, and it is unclear who will be the next Super Bowl Legend. Throughout the NFL’s 40 year history, there have been many greats to hoist Vince Lombardi’s trophy. Yet as many fans betting on the NFL know, becoming a legend in the game is far harder than many expect. One legend that became known as Mr. Super Bowl was San Francisco 49ers legend Joe Montana.

Joe Montana

From his first professional snap, fans and experts alike just knew there was something magical about Joe Montana. Today, Montana is known as Mr. Super Bowl, as no quarterback has ever taken it to another level during the big game, the way he has.

Montana won all four of the Super Bowls he participated in and had the highest passer rating of any Super Bowl quarterback. What’s more, he was the most valuable player in three of the four Super Bowls.

Perhaps the most impressive feats that make Joe Montana our Mr. Super Bowl King, is that in those four games, he set records for most passing completions and total yards. No quarterback has even come close to what Big Joe accomplished.

Montana’s two biggest Super Bowls were Super Bowl XXIII versus the Cincinnati Bengals and Super Bowl Super Bowl XXIV against the Denver Broncos. In the first game against the Bengals, Montana orchestrated one of the greatest drives in Super Bowl history. With just over three minutes to go, the Bengals led 16 to 13 and to say the tension was high in the 49ers offensive huddle would be an understatement. Montana was able to break the tension by moving the ball from the 49ers eight yard line all the way down to the Bengals end zone where he connected with John Taylor for the game winning pass.

Montana passed for a then record 357 yards, and two touchdowns while rushing for 15 yards. The next year in Super Bowl XXIV, the 49ers made quick work of the John Elway led Denver Broncos, cruising to a 55 to 10 beat down. Montana was named the MVP for the third time as he completed 22 of 29 pass attempts for 297 yards and five touchdowns.