If you consider yourself a fairly lucky person, then you might want to try your hand at some Super Bowl prop bets. With less than a week before the big game, there's still all kinds of things you can bet on that come down to what is essentially luck.
Super Bowl prop bets 2013: Ed Reed or Ray Lewis to score first touchdown?
Do you feel confident that either Ed Reed or Ray Lewis will score the first touchdown of Super Bowl 47? Great, then we’ve got the prop bet for you!
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
For more on the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, check out Niners Nation and Baltimore Beatdown.
But there are some bets that can at least be looked at from a football point of view. Sure, you can spend your time betting on who will win the coin toss, which side the coin will be, which color of Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach and, of course, whether or not Jay-Z will join Beyonce for the halftime show.
Or, you can go with something like the bet that asks which player will be the first to score a touchdown in the game. The list has San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore up top at 13/2 odds, and that might be a solid bet.
Gore's hard running was considered the turning point when San Francisco was trailing the Atlanta Falcons by multiple scores in the NFC Championship game. Up next is 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree at 15/2, tied with Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.
In short, there's some fairly standard players up at the top end. 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick comes early on at 8/1 odds. That's significant because, presumably, that refers to him rushing for a touchdown and not just throwing one. To further cement this, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco comes in at 30/1 odds to score the first touchdown.
A glance at the stat sheet shows that Flacco had three rushing touchdowns in the regular season and none in the playoffs. It’s just not “his thing,” if you will. Kaepernick, on the other hand, rushed for 415 yards in seven starts this season, with five touchdowns. In the postseason, he added another two rushing touchdowns and 202 yards.
There are no San Francisco defensive players on the list. So there’s a couple factors here ... either the 49ers aren’t a high-scoring defense, Flacco doesn’t throw interceptions, or Reed is still just that good. Maybe Lewis’ high-emotion freight train allows him to pick off a pass and take it back for six points.
Well, Flacco doesn’t throw a ton of interceptions, as he threw just 10 this season, down from 12 a season ago. On the other hand, Kaepernick is making his 10th career start in the Super Bowl and only threw three interceptions in seven regular season starts, with one in the playoffs.
Reed has four interceptions on the season, and one touchdown. Lewis didn’t manage to pick off a pass this season, though he did have a forced fumble and a recovery. So do the Ravens just score more than San Francisco’s defense?
Nope, as it happens. San Francisco has two interceptions returned for touchdowns and one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown. Baltimore has two interceptions returned for TDs like San Francisco, but no fumble recovery touchdowns. So really, the stats are not there to back up this bet at all.
That being said, Reed has been a ballhawk his entire career and he’s always a threat to do that. Lewis is just an all-around great player, even if he’s dropped off in production in recent seasons. It’s likely that Vegas will get some play on these guys simply for their names, and that’s why you don’t see any 49ers defensive players on this list.
Nothing more, nothing less. It’s certainly one of the mellowest prop bets we’ve seen.
See More:
