Underdog Masks dot com

Just like the last Super Bowl, the early game went almost exactly as Bokolis had envisioned it.  The Jaguars roughed up the Patriots.  Nonetheless, some friendly officiating and the Patriots' efficiency delivered the game to the Patriots.  It sort of helped that they knew the way home a little better. When a team loses but covers for you, it's always a fond farewell.

Bokolis believed that people were sleeping on Foles, that they forgot that he once tore up the league for a season.  After I posted the predictions, I surfed around long enough to find the NFL network lineup of talking ex-jocks (mostly) pick the Vikings.  It gave Bokolis more confidence.  When I then heard that dome teams were 0-12 when playing the conference championship outdoors, I had a hearty chuckle to myself and remembered what the Giants did to the Vikings years back...but I still didn't expect a train-run like this.

Bokolis sweeps the conference championship round and brings the playoff performance back into the black at 5-4-1.  More pointedly, the underdogs are 9-1 in the playoffs.

The Eagles performance has brought the early line down to 5.5 after early indications at 7.5 and eventually opening at 6.  Predicting where it will end up (7?) is likely a fruitless endeavor.  It might be a better idea to corner the market for Underdog masks.

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UPDATE: As of 1210 (UTC, that's 0710 on the east coast), the line has dropped to Patriots giving 5.  It's almost obligatory to buy the Patriots down to -3 and wait/hope for the line to move back up during the two weeks.

For the uninitiated, "buying" points involves laying odds to get a more amenable point spread.  On a standard play, the odds are typically such that you have to lay 110 to win 100.  Each 1/2 point you buy will increase those odds by 10, and you'll typically be allowed to buy up to two points.  To use the present example, buying the Patriots down to -3 would mean laying 150 to win 100 (or 3/2).

While this strategy is available for most point spreads, it is most often used when the line is at an awkward number, like anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 and from 4.5 to 5.5.  Some people will also buy a -3 down to -2.5.  As they say, your mileage may vary.