While Super Bowl XLVII will be the first trip to the big game for the large majority of both rosters, it'll be a return after 12 years for Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. His last trip was to Super Bowl XXXV when the Ravens easily handled the New York Giants with a 34-7 victory after which Lewis was named Super Bowl MVP.
Super Bowl prop bets 2013: Can Ray Lewis best his MVP performance of 2001?
Lewis earned the Super Bowl MVP award, but his stat-line was underwhelming in Super Bowl XXXV.
Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
Follow Baltimore Beatdown and Niners Nation for more
The MVP award came after arguably the best season of Lewis’s illustrious career when he racked up 137 tackles, earned the AP Defensive Player of the Year Award and led the NFL’s top defense. However, his stat-line in the actual Super Bowl wasn’t overly impressive as he recorded just five tackles and didn’t record any other stat on the box score.
Fast forward 12 years later and Lewis is set to play in his last career game on the grandest stage of them all, but he has a much lesser role in a much lesser defense. On Bovada, a prop bet questions how the 2013 Lewis will fare against the 2001 version of himself.
However, the over/under gives six tackles to the 2001 Lewis meaning that Lewis would have to record more than 11 tackles for the over to be the winning bet.
Prior to suffering a torn triceps, Lewis recorded 57 tackles in the first six games of the season for a 9.5 tackle per game average. Since his return to the playoffs, though, Lewis has upped those numbers and has 44 in just three games for a 14.67 tackle per game average.
Also on Bovada, Lewis has 7/1 odds at becoming a two-time winner of a Super Bowl MVP award.
See More:
