Super Bowl 56 odds and preview: 5 best bets
By John Buhler
4. Lowest scoring quarter: First quarter +140
On the contrary to the previous best bet, this one isn’t as fun. Picking out what quarter will see the fewest points scored is like picking what day of the week you’re going to pay your bills on. It’s not fun, but again, you can win money if you use your brain. Because this is untrodden territory for Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and the entire Bengals team, it has to be the first quarter.
These are two quarterbacks making their Super Bowl debuts. Players playing in this marquee game for the first time tend to “black out” under the bright lights before coming back to earth after a few series. Not only that, but the first quarter will be a bit of a feeling it out period. Expect for both offensive-minded head coaches to go conservative and run the ball a lot in the first frame.
While a special teams touchdown or a defensive score could completely ruin this prop bet, again, you are getting +140 for the first quarter to have the fewest points. The second and fourth quarters tend to have more points due to aggressive clock conservation. While the third quarter can get off to a slow start like the first, there may be more urgency out of the team that is trailing.
If Joe Burrow and Stafford had ample Super Bowl experience, this prop bet may not be as obvious.