15 bold predictions for Super Bowl 51
By John Buhler
2. Go with the under in this one
Las Vegas has the over/under in Super Bowl 51 at 58 combined points. Sportsbooks are expecting a good, old-fashioned shootout in a dome on Super Bowl Sunday. However, that is not going to be the case.
That’s because the winning team isn’t going to score 30 points. Look for the first quarter of Super Bowl LI to be strangely low-scoring. It wouldn’t be all that shocking if neither team gets into the end zone that first frame. The first quarter will be a feeling out period for the Falcons and Patriots.
While no lead is safe in a Super Bowl, both teams will be stout defensively on Sunday. Punts will be commonplace at Houston. We might even see a few three-and-outs from these two explosive offenses.
People want to be entertained in the Super Bowl, so picking the over for the sake of wanting to see more points makes sense. However, Belichick and Quinn will play a well-orchestrated game of chess on Sunday. In terms of the over/under, we’re not looking at a game in the upper 50s, probably settling for something in the high 40s to low 50s in combined points.