The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Sharp or Square - Super Bowl LX Betting Trends with Evan Abrams
Episode Date: January 30, 2026Super Bowl LX kicks off next Sunday in Santa Clara between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, and today betting expert Chad Millman and professional sports gambler Simon Hunter are joined ...by Action Network Director of Research Evan Abrams in an episode sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://zbiotics.com/SHARPORSQUARE and use code SHARPORSQUARE at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics. Together this trio provides a trove of betting trend data about this year's Super Bowl matchup, including intriguing angles involving quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Drake Maye, along with head coaches Mike Macdonald and Mike Vrabel.We also hear a round of Sharp Calls from Simon, courtesy of his cabal of fellow professional bettors, who have opinions about our picks and the recent revelation of Drake Maye's shoulder injury. And with former Patriots coaching legend Bill Belichick's Hall of Fame snub, Chad and Simon have strong feelings they're dying to share.So if you're looking to be the smartest guy at this year's Super Bowl party, listen in as Evan Abrams outlines some highlights from his Action Network Super Bowl LX Betting Primer, an annual tome beloved by gamblers and fans alike. And hear the betting picks and predictions you've come to expect! All the trends and betting picks, all in one fast-paced episode! #Volume 0:03:00 - START 0:05:30 - BILL BELICHICK HALL OF FAME SNUB 0:13:00 - SUPER BOWL SHARP CALLS 0:18:00 - EVAN ABRAMS BETTING TRENDS 0:55:00 - SUPER BOWL BETS -- All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet Subscribe to Sharp or Square for gambling advice, best bets, and predictions from sports betting experts Chad Millman and Simon Hunter. Follow on all platforms: https://www.instagram.com/sharporsquare/ https://x.com/SharporSquare_See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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This is an IHeart podcast.
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Hey guys, it's us.
The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.
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And I'm Nick.
And guess what?
We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.
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It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs.
We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.
And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.
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Welcome to Sharper Square presented by Hard Rock Bet.
We are part of the Volume Podcast Network.
This is the show that makes the squares.
Sharper it makes the wise guys pay attention.
I am Chad Milman.
I am joined as always by my co-host, my companion, my compadre, my BFF professional
better.
Simon Hunter.
Hello, Simon.
Chad, how we doing?
Brother, this is our Thursday Super Bowl preview episode, the first of two Thursday preview
episodes.
So next week, we will dig in a little bit more on where we stand with final bets and, you know,
any more of our named bets like Simon says, which we already did.
But we'll get into a Chad's choice and our brass balls, you know, rocking a heart place,
etc.
We do have a very special guest today, which I will get to in a minute.
since we last spoke, Joe Brady, the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills,
Todd Munkin, the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns,
where he gets to coach a Pro Bowl quarterback and Shador Sanders,
or a guy who hasn't thrown a vertical pass unless it was to a masseuse
in like a decade, Deshaun Watson,
we are also getting news out of New England
that Drake May has a vague shoulder injury
and was limited in practice.
A lot of shit going on, man.
Apparently it's in vogue
when you can't find a head coach
who wants to coach your team
to just grab a guy who's been a mediocre
offensive coordinator but had won a national championship
in college recently.
You didn't even bring up.
Are you the ultimate hater, Chad?
Are you a hater?
Should Bella Belichick been a first ballot Hall of Famer?
Of course.
That's so fucking stupid.
I completely forgot about that.
Fellas, I am sick of this shit, okay?
I can't stand much more of this.
It's a joke.
It's a joke.
It's so stupid.
These guys, you know, it's funny.
My kid texted me as soon as it happened.
And then Seth and Don Vanada, two close buddies of ours,
broke the story about Belichick not making it.
And, you know, at first they had the news.
was about Polian saying he had to wait a year.
And now Polian is saying, I couldn't remember who I voted for.
Now he's saying the Hall of Fame confirmed that I did vote for Belichick.
There was a reporter from the Kansas City Star who wrote that he decided to vote in,
Ken Anderson and Roger Craig and someone else.
I forgot who was on the Veterans Committee, who was on the Veterans list because he felt
that was their last chance.
And Belichick, he thought would get in.
Someone else would vote him in.
my sense is that's probably what happened is there were 11 dudes who just thought,
ah, someone else would do it, right?
They were just complacent and figured someone else is going to take care of this.
And then everyone thought that.
And Belichick didn't get in.
But how idiotic is this?
You want to talk about the game?
I'm not going to get in a post-game analysis here.
I mean, really, I've had enough of that.
I don't even like Bill Belichick, but the guy's got eight Super Bowls.
As a head coach and assistant coach, he built brilliant game.
plans. He changed the way people think about situational football. He was one of the first guys to
start going forward on fourth downs. He was one of the guys who would take safeties instead of
punting from the back of it, you know, from deep in his territory when they were up by a certain amount
of points. Like, how fucking dumb, Simon. Oh, yeah, we got him. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see who's got who.
Dumb. Sportswriters cannot get out of their own ways sometimes. Not that I saw it coming, but you knew
there was a possibility just because T.O.
To me, who's a top three receiver,
was not a first ballot hall of favor
because of how he treated members in the media.
They wanted to get back at him.
Bill Belichick was not
the best with the media, his whole entire career.
And some guys were going to hold that against them
at some point. But the cheating
stuff, as much as New England fans
want to push back against it, Chad,
in the 50-year history,
60-year history of the NFL,
you name me a team that was a cute,
and then prosecuted twice for cheating?
No,
this is very short.
It's only the Patriots.
It's only Bill Belichick run team.
So I get it.
Everyone's cheating in the NFL.
Everyone's trying.
If that's your reasoning for not voting him in,
you're bitter about it because you think he stole a couple of Super Bowls because he cheated.
All right.
Do what you got to do.
But I was in shock.
I could not believe it.
They didn't put Belichick who has the most Super Bowl rings as a head coach and all of it into
the Hall of Fame.
So yeah, we talk at a time.
The world is very petty.
It does not get any less petty when you head to the NFL
with these old guys voting in people.
So Bill Pollian speaking like that about Belichick,
just rub me the wrong way.
Like this guy, I don't know.
I'm glad he's probably going to lose his vote now.
I've seen the NFL sit in a letter.
They're about to take away a bunch of people's votes.
Hopefully Bill Pollin is one of them.
It's like, dude, get this guy out of the sport.
It's so fucking, you see this all the time with Hall of Vain votes.
You see it with baseball, too, where guys like Derek Jeter won't be unanimous entries into the Hall of Fame in their first year because there's some holier than now precious douchebag asshole who decides I'm going to be the one who's the steward of the hall.
Yeah.
It's so idiotic.
It's like there are things to take seriously about sports writing as someone.
who has been doing this for 30 years.
As someone who did it as Sports Illustrated at ESPN,
I ran the magazine, I ran ESPN digital,
we started action.
I have lived in the capital J trenches for a very long time.
There are things to take seriously about sports writing.
You don't want to lie.
You don't want to make shit up.
You want it to be good craftsmanship.
You want to do things that are fair.
you want to be of high quality.
Acting like you are the steward for some legacy is so fucking dumb.
I just, I can't get behind it.
It actually makes me so mad.
And stupidly so, because like who should get mad about this, right?
There's bigger things to get mad about.
It made me mad because it just, it's a bad look for something we take serious as football
fans, which is the Hall of Fame.
I take the Hall of Fame serious.
And this to me, it's a bad look.
This is a black mark on the Hall of Fame.
And I think NFL knows that.
That's why they put out that letter.
It's like, hey, we're going to look into the people who vote here because that's embarrassing.
The best coach in the 21st century should be your first ballot out of fame.
If he's not, what are we doing here?
So I knew that would have you fired up.
As soon as you broke it down, I was like, well, chat bringing up.
Now, for me, again, very quick, the Browns thing, I feel so bad for Browns fans.
my God.
Nobody wants that job.
No one wants that job.
Jim Schwartz now has left the building being like, I can't believe how disrespect that I was.
I'm leaving as well.
And yeah, it's my God.
I just, again, I feel so bad for the Browns fans.
You fire a head coach and you downgraded somehow.
It's crazy.
Nobody wants that job.
There were stories about the interview process and being data driven and how onerous it was.
and they just seem like an organization where I don't know if the GM is conducting some kind of experiment
where he has the owners in some kind of Stockholm syndrome.
But Jesus fucking Christ, the only thing that was working in that building was the defense.
The only thing that made any sense was keeping Miles Garrett happy.
You have no quarterback.
So what does it matter if you get an offensive genius or a defensive genius?
You're not going to do anything on that side of the ball because they are completely
incapable of being effective offensively.
So what do they do that hire a mediocre offensive coordinator who the other team's
owner that they stole him from had been trying to fire for years and the only blocker was the
head coach.
That's the main reason why Harbaugh left.
He wouldn't want to fire Monk it.
now he doesn't get Monkin at the Giants and Monk's going to the Browns.
If I'm the Ravens, I'm like, fuck yeah.
It's one less team we've got to worry about in the division.
This is amazing.
I think this is the most fired up I've ever had Chad.
This is the most Chad's ever cursed to start a podcast in our history,
and no doubt about it.
I was, this has blown me away.
You've been hanging out of sailors, Chad?
You were just dropping F-bombs left and right this morning.
I'm so sick of incompetence, man.
I'm so sick of public incompetence.
That's the world we live in now, brother.
It just drives me nuts.
it really does.
We got to get into it.
Because we got a huge guest.
Huge, huge guest.
You want to talk about
pettiness in the Hall of Fame?
We're the opposite of that.
We don't do petty here on Sharper Square.
We don't burn bridges, chat.
We love all of our friends.
You're going to subscribe to Sharper Square on YouTube,
Apopods, Spotify.
Before we get to our guests,
let's get into this thing.
Every week, we're going to give out our picks.
We started doing it for the Super Bowl
every week. The wise guys are going to give Simon and earfill about what we are saying. Let's get to
sharp calls.
I have to answer this phone.
I wish I could have more exciting news, but I think Chad started the top of the show with the big news, right?
It's the Drake May is he got a bump shoulder injury. And it would explain a lot if he did, right?
Because the throwing didn't make sense. And you look back and it's like, well, he did take huge hits.
Like that there's no doubt about it.
He got popped and he could have injured that shoulder.
Sure.
They are being very hush-ush about it.
So I would say most pros I talked about for our Tuesday show before the news had really broke
were like, I'm really going to lean into heavily this New England side.
They were, I feel like that was starting to become the professional side.
Now it's what it was we talked on Tuesday, right?
It's a very split side.
But you have seen more money coming on the under from professional.
Even though the public has just been hammering the over.
Yeah.
Professional money has come.
and once again on the under.
Down to 45 and a half.
Yeah.
So I think most guys are like me
where it's like, all right,
I'll take that position right early here.
I'm not rushing a bet big amounts yet
just because I want to have more facts,
but it's someone that
was leaning towards the under and leading towards Seattle.
I really like both those positions now.
And I would say that the pros I do know
that are hammering the Seahawks now,
they're just doing it just in case it does come out,
that he does have a bumshoulder, right?
I think the injury reports,
it's really wonky with Super Bowl week.
Like they don't really have to put anything official.
They can just put limited at practice or, you know,
whatever they want to do.
It's really going to be about breaking down,
getting news from sources inside the media.
So that's what's going to be really fun to watch
and follow these next couple weeks.
And every little thing, you know, media day,
if Drake doesn't lift his arm above his head,
everyone's going to be going wild.
That's what we're about to be dealing with here next week.
So this week is always the calm before the storm, right?
This is before media gets the Super Bowl
row. This is really, this is like I said, coming in this week, it's a week where people are just
talking about the quarterbacks and the coaching staff. So the other team that didn't make the playoffs
where most pros I talked to betting this week, it's like, yeah, I like this side, but I'm in no
rush, right? I really am, I'm being patient to take a position. So once again, it might, it could
change next week of my early liens like most professionals right now are the Seahawks and the
under. And I would say the professional side, once again, before the Drake May news came out,
it was looking like it was really going to be the Patriots.
Again, we're going to talk so much about this game.
I'll get more into that.
But it's really about the defense in Sam Donald,
which is a lot of pros I've talked to hanging on that kind of trend
where it's like you're putting too much faith in a Sam Donald after one great game,
which is fair.
So like I said,
it's going to be a fun game to keep breaking down this week.
But I know I wish you come here in sharp calls and be like,
no, the pros are saying hammer the Patriots.
None of that.
None of that talk.
None of that.
Even guys who are confident in the Seahawks are not telling me to the bank roll them heavily.
It's really just about taking that position now because you might get a better number than later on.
So yeah, pretty, pretty timid week here.
Maybe we'll do sharp calls again next week.
See what's changed.
Yeah, I think we will.
I'm like you.
I took a position on the Patriots at three and a half.
I did, I mean, on the Seahawks at three and a half.
I bet the Seahawks again at four and a half just because.
because the juice was still at minus 110 at one book,
and it was moving at minus 112, minus 15 at other books.
So I just wanted to get minus 110,
because it looked like it was going up.
Now it's pretty much minus 115 everywhere.
And heading to that five,
it's really been moving since the last 24 hours
from the Drake Me news.
Surprise it hasn't moved more,
but also it just could be,
this is the week off.
and you know we'll get more activity next week when the bets start coming in and we start to get
more intel on Drake May.
All right.
Listen, every year in the lead up to the Super Bowl, we record a very popular episode.
We're going to dive into the betting trends and data of the Super Bowl to see what the past can tell us about this year's match up.
Lots of listeners asked if we do it again this year.
And thanks to today's guest, we can and we are.
Let's bring them in.
He's the original betting researcher, my original betting researcher,
our longtime friend, collaborator, colleague,
the only person name-checked on this show
more than Bryce Young from our old podcast home Action Network,
director of research and media,
Evan Abrams.
Who says?
Who says we're petty?
Not us.
Not us, brother.
Evan Abrams.
Finally, we get to see the face with the name.
Honestly, I'm shocked that we're not,
we're just not going to talk Belichick and Stefansky more.
Like, that's not what we're doing here.
I figured we would just go into that more
because I had a lot to say, but we have a big game.
So let's get into the nuts and bolts of it.
But I mean, that Belichick,
thing. The thing that kills me the most, and I'll just, I'll just leave it here. I'll say one thing.
It hurts the coaches next year, too, because you've got like Mike and all these other people
kind of slated to be in there. And now it's Belichick's time a year later. It's just a Mets.
All right. Super Bowl 6th. Hold on. Hold on. Let me ask you a question. By the way,
yeah. Evan also at Indiana University alumnus, congratulations to you, my friend.
Congratulations to us.
Congratulations to us for living it, breathing it, being it, having the greatest week of our lives.
I don't know if I even said this to Simon.
Did I say this on Tuesday's show?
Like, I was at a party on Saturday night and constantly, the whole, it was the greatest night in my life because I don't really like to go to parties.
and the whole night, all anybody wanted to talk to me about was Indiana.
So I got to relive the experience over and over and over again.
The only guy who didn't want to talk to me about Indiana happens to be a dude who just
coincidentally grew up in my hometown in Highland Park and lives around the corner from me.
He's older than I am, but I graduated from high school with his sister.
So I know him a little bit.
He's a massive Cubs fan and a massive Bears fan.
So I turned around, I was talking to a guy about Indiana, and he's a little bit.
as soon as I turned around, I saw this guy and he's like, dude, Alex Bregman. And so then we just
spent 35 minutes talking about the Bears and the Cubs. And then I got to talk about Indiana some
more. And someone said to me, and I said to someone, I think it might be the happiest week of my
life. And they're like, that's saying something like professional accomplishments, you know,
family, whatever. Here was my comment. Those other things, you know,
We sold action.
That was amazing, right?
But it also comes with so much relief because you work so hard, you're nervous, you don't know what's going to happen.
You get married.
Evan, you know this.
Simon, one day you will know this.
Like, it comes with a lot of joy.
You're so happy.
But there's also like anxiety and fear.
Same with kids.
Like, oh my God, this is amazing.
But you're also like, holy fuck.
This was just unfettered joy.
I had no expectations.
I didn't have to do anything.
I just had to receive the happiness, and that's it.
And it is, I'm still coming down from it.
Like, I'm still texting with Matt and Andy about things we've been buying since, since the,
since Indiana won the title.
Evan, congrats to you as well.
I mean, I've had people reach out to me wanting to go to, like, the game next year.
Like, people are trying to buy tickets to go to Bloomington.
Like, this is just next level.
So, I can't wait.
All right.
Here's my question for you.
Yeah.
We talk about trends all the time.
I love the trends, but I give Simon a hard time about this sometimes.
Trends without telling me which ones are more important and I should lean into,
just feel like they can be confusing and too much and I can find a trend to back anything
and just have a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I need you to tell me why I should believe some trends and which ones are more important to me.
Personally, in my opinion, I am the best storyteller, I say.
Like, I can really push you any direction you want to go.
I don't want to go a direction.
I want to go in the way of the trends I need to follow.
Whoa, I'm trying to set up here.
Okay.
So if you want to deal with Evan, this guy is brutal.
He's just on top.
I mean, okay, so listen, listen, I think the setup is, is the more on-field trends.
Like the one about young quarterbacks versus Mike McDonald, I feel like that has more
sustenance, more substance, than maybe some of the others. Like the underdog stuff of the past,
which we can go into a second, I think that's somewhat intriguing. Like maybe the favorites are getting
inflated, et cetera, et cetera. But those are previous games. Like, it's fun to talk about, but I do feel
like the on-field stuff. Like, there's something fun about the total when you look at how fast these
teams play. Like, there's certain trends like that on-field that I think you would call like level one. And
then a lot of the other stuff, level two, level three.
But to me, if you're going to focus on anything, it's all of the stats that are like the,
well, I think it's the Seahawks who haven't allowed like a hundred yard rusher in like 25 games.
Those are the things.
Yeah, 27 games.
So those are the stats to me you hold in level one.
And then all the other stuff kind of gets mixed in below.
Like I can, the one in 17 stat when a team has a better win percentage entering the Super Bowl than their opponent, pretty damn.
shocking, except for the fact that this year it's the Patriots, because they've played an extra
game. So it's like, okay, that's a stat, but who really cares about that? So it's not really
one I've used when talking about this game, because I think you need to be a little educated and
find out what's important and just weed out the rest. So you're right, but that's why I also
feed you goddamn everything. I love it. That is such a good answer. I miss Evan, Simon.
Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers.
And guess what?
We have some big news.
What's the news, name?
Huge news.
We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.
We invented a podcast?
Well, we didn't invent it.
We just contributed to it.
We're the first people to do podcasts.
Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts.
We're starting a trend.
But this one's extra special.
So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, Jonas, guys?
I honestly don't remember.
I think it was on a call about what we should call it.
And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.
This is how you guys remember it going down?
Yes.
I have a very different memory of this.
We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.
And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.
But thanks for remembering that, guys.
Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.
Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel
and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you
funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an
a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some
retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and
friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubb's tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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You need to tell me what you know.
Is somebody coming after me?
Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life.
Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Trends and stats, Chad, they're literally no different.
When you give out stats, you're doing the exact same thing.
You're saying, well, these are meaningful stats.
No, they're not.
you're just trying to paint your pitcher the best way you can.
So the same thing with trends.
As much as I get where you're coming from with trends,
I try to give them out because it's an easier way
for the general public to break down and comprehend different things
than it is if I just hit you with get-off speed stats of delinement
or block rates of offensive alignment.
That just goes one year out the other.
But if I can tell someone, hey, this team here,
the Patriots in this spot are one in eight historically
over the last 60 years, that's just so much easier to do.
digest. That's why, again, I'm not saying I'm dumbing it down for the audience, but I'm
dumbing it down for myself where it's like, it kind of pulls you back in where it's like, stop
overthinking this stuff. Look at the historical trends. So that's why I love what Evan does,
right? He finds little nuggets that you would never think of and it kind of changes your mindset.
It's like, well, I didn't think of that way. I didn't look at the game that way. So that's
the thing. I'm like huge. I don't live and die with trends. Are they 20% of the equation for me?
Maybe a little less, but it's just something for me that if I already like a side and
multiple trends lean to that side as well, that's going to send off alarm bells where it's like,
okay, there is something to this historically. So that's why I love what Evan does. Again, Evan
puts in some tough work because I've tried to dive into the trends, Evan since we lost you,
buddy. And it's a lot of digging through a lot of bullshit, right? There's a lot of dumb trends out
there and try to find the ones that are meaningful and actually have some good data behind it. It's,
it's not easy. So once again, add tip to you, buddy. I really love what you do.
I'm like Bob Ross. That's what I said. I'm just painting you a picture.
I like Simon, I like the way you just framed it, though.
That is a good way to consolidate a shitload of information.
And if people are coming to the show and they already trust what we're saying,
then the trend just sort of puts it in a neat package that people can share that data.
They can do it in a conversation, but also is a little bit of a good summary of why we're leaning one way or the other.
Okay.
I'm more accepting now.
Evan, make us smarter, make me feel good about the Seahawks right now.
Or, or tell me it's not too late and I got to go to the Patriots, but give me something.
I mean, from this top, I feel like, so I guess the biggest point of conversation when you talk to the top of the spear would be the success of underdogs in the Super Bowl recently.
But to me, that's not going to make you feel good about Seattle.
but to me it's again, it's just the past.
It hasn't very little to do most likely with this game,
aside from the fact that the line, if you think it's inflated, right?
Like if you think the Super Bowl should be three,
but it's sitting at four and a half,
Seattle winning the game by three and you covering the spread
has been something that's happened historically, right?
So if you go back 30 years, going back to Super Bowl 30,
we've only seen 16 games that have closed four and a half or more.
The underdog is 12, 2.2.
and 12, 2 and 2, ATS in those games.
But I believe the underdog, but I believe the underdog is only won seven of those games
outright.
So what tends to happen is like what happened in that Rams Bengals Super Bowl, right?
Line four and a half, game ends on three.
So I think if you're betting New England, I think it's not even about can we win the
game because basically in that scenario, it's happening 45, 40% of the time.
What it's saying is, is how close can we be in the game and can you get inside that zone?
So I think a lot of people out there are even looking at Seattle to win the game by one to six points.
You're getting a much better line.
And if you think it's going to be a tight one and Seattle comes away with it, I've heard that bet out there before.
I like that. Seattle, one to six points.
And Simon, we talked the other day, taking some outlines on Seattle.
Because, you know, you said you have this game power rated closer to six and a half or seven.
So that feels like the 1 to 6 kind of feels like a good middle ground.
And we get that opportunity with the Super Bowl that we don't normally get
with some of these regular season games.
Yeah, that's, I mean, pretty much know my point of,
if you're going to be betting this one on the Seahawks especially,
you're betting on a blowout, honestly.
Like if you do think they're going to win this game,
it's just these type of big spreads,
it's either going to be a really close one, like Evan just said,
or what I think, the Seahawks would be.
can actually roll this team just across the board,
offensively, defensively.
So that's something I'm going to keep talking about,
betting the alt lines, right, the minus six and a half.
If you don't want to bet the minus 150 and the four and a half,
there really is no, like the odds of this lining on four,
on five are so small.
Like, it just is not half the NFL historically,
like even going to the regular season.
So to me, that's why I talked about that,
the minus six and a half,
eat down some of that juice if you want.
But like I said,
I got no issue betting the minus four and a half.
But I just,
I like betting the alt lines like,
Chad said.
Evan, you have an interesting stat, and I would encourage everybody if they want to be the
smartest people at this year's Super Bowl party, check out Evan's annual article, the Action
Super Bowl 60 betting primer.
You've probably seen all the stats all over Twitter because it gets stolen from, but, and never credited.
but we're crediting it here.
You know why?
You're the best.
You're the best.
Not the best, classiest.
The New England Patriots did not cover in the conference championship game.
The Seattle Seahawks did cover in the conference championship game.
What is the trend we need to be looking out for in that scenario?
Yeah, I found this kind of intriguing.
So since the NFL merger in 1970, teams to fail to cover the spread in the conference,
conference championship game are four in ten straight up, two, eleven and one against the spread
in the Super Bowl.
That is the New England Patriots since Seattle did cover against the Rams.
I was worried there in those final few minutes looking at the math of that Ram,
Seahawking being like, Seattle really going to win this game by two points and now both
aren't going to cover, but that, of course, did not happen.
So I find it just intriguing because it's probably a little bit of a predictive element in just
the fact that the team that didn't cover the conference championship, maybe not power rated as high,
maybe not playing as well. But I would also say they are usually probably a little bit of a bigger
favorite, right? I would have assumed the teams in that spot had been favored by six or seven
points and won by three or four versus three and a half and win by three. So I think this year,
it's a little cherry picky, but I also think there is a tiny bit of a predictive element to it.
So I found that kind of intriguing. Yeah, a little bit of it.
It's the line swung seven points because of a quarterback injury,
which is also incredibly rare.
And immediately, like I said, every pro I know is like that,
that moved way too much.
And the books are about to get crushed if people sharpened up
and took that Denver side.
Lucky for them, they kept hammering the Patriots, right?
They're like, well, it's a backup quarterback.
Why would I not hammered Drake Meij?
So it's, I'll look more into that second because that industry stat where it's like,
what were the circumstances leading up to that?
where did the one team become overrated?
Like me and Chad talked about the Rams,
they went 0 and 3 in the playoffs against the spread.
That also has never happened before, right?
So it was like they did become too heavily inflated,
overrated, as we ended towards the end of the season.
You know, are we saying that's the same here with this Patriots team?
No, right?
They covered their first two games,
but that last game, it fell right on the number.
And me and Chad joke,
they easily because it lost that game as well.
So we have at a point where the Patriots have started to become a little overrated
at this point.
So to me, like I talked about, you're getting out these stats.
You just blindly bet the dog of the Super Bowl, like Evan said, you're going to do pretty well,
but you don't want to do that here, right?
You really want to dive into this week because this is a different dog than dogs of the past.
This is not some dog that nobody believes in or, you know, they're totally left for dead, right?
This is a little different circumstance.
You guys have both brought up something really interesting.
Could a team be overvalued?
Could a team be undervalued when it gets to this point in the season?
and it's hard to imagine that they could be because we've now got, what, 20 games, 21 games that these teams have played.
But the season changes so much.
Simon, we've talked about have we reached peak Patriots.
I don't know that we've reached peak Seahawks.
Break it down a little bit more about the power ratings.
You said you have this game six and a half seven like,
Is that based on the Seahawks improving their power rating as we got to the end of the year in their defense?
Forget about Darnold.
Their defense just started to get much better?
That and downgrade in other teams, right?
Like moving the Rams down.
Like I talked about coming into playoffs.
And the biggest thing for me what I look for in the playoffs is is a team just simply rolling teams.
Like are they just literally dominant teams?
Like the Eagles last year, right?
The Eagles, you could say, well, they had a slow game a little bit against Green Bay or the Rams.
But then Washington, they really took off.
And then you saw that carry into the game.
against the Chiefs, obviously.
This Seahawks team has just been
on an absolute role, especially in the playoffs, right?
They dominated the 49ers.
That Rams game, yeah, you can't say they dominated,
their defense had some laps,
but offensively, they rolled.
They were great offensively.
So those are things I'm looking for.
And I'm betting a big number this big.
I want to see a team that's rolling,
not just offensively, defensively, special teams,
and they fit all that criteria right now.
Like, honestly, you could say
the biggest question is Sam Darnold,
and he's coming off his best game we've seen in his career.
So that to me, it's like, that's giving me more confidence
because we talk at a time.
These guys all have the talent.
Do they have the right headspace, right?
Is he in the right headspace?
And he seems like he's in it.
Like, I don't know if you saw clips from the game,
but do you watch the NFL like Mike Dupchat at all or no?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
I was going to mention one.
So cool right now.
Like his swag, his coolness, I mean, he is waving to fans during the game.
Like Sam Darno just seems like he is very comfortable
in this offense on that team,
believing in himself.
And that just gives me a ton of confidence
because we haven't talked much about it,
but like the nerds who have dove into this matchup,
the Patriots have played like four good quarterbacks.
One of them being, you know, two of them being, I should say, Josh Allen,
one of them grade-wise was Gino Smith.
Geno Smith had an above-average grade.
I mean, again, this was week one.
You just go through it.
They played so much trash of the quarterback position.
It's really hard to figure out.
Is the Patriot defense legit?
Are they at top five, top 10 defense?
Or is this because of their path, right?
Because they did have two outdoor games at home against banged up
offensive lines and they went on the road and played a backup quarterback in the elements.
Like that to me is why I think this number has been overrated.
Like I think the public betters and everyone,
they're overrated in this Patriot defense way too much,
giving them a point in a half to two points here.
So that's what I'm hoping.
Evan has more trends here that keeps giving me more confidence to see.
I keep finding little things like that where it's like, my God, the numbers just show,
yes, the Patriots have been good against bad quarterbacks.
They get rolled offensively against good quarterbacks.
Go, Chad.
No, no.
Evan, you're our guest.
Yeah, cut us off any time you want to.
Yeah.
No, the one thing I think is kind of interesting is obviously everywhere you look,
you hear Patriot strength the schedule.
I think Seahawks strength the schedule is also just as important in this game.
I look this up.
Only 11 of 120 Super Bowl teams had a harder strength
that scheduled than the Seahawks.
Those 11 teams went 8 and 3 in the Super Bowl.
So I also kind of believe.
I like that stat.
That's a good stat.
Love that.
Yeah, because I do think like the Patriots side of this
is getting all the attention.
And believe me, I could feed you Patriot stuff right now
that would show they would win the game.
But I do feel like it's the Seahawks stuff
and who they've had to go through
and how well Darnold's played, right?
If you look at the single postseason,
I believe Donald has the fourth highest
pass a rating of any quarterback all time.
You look on the other side,
Drake May, 113 pass rating
during the regular season, down to 84 in the playoffs.
I don't really care why that's happened,
but I also think that's baked into why the line maybe isn't three,
and it's even four and a half and five
and getting juiced up at the moment.
So I think the differences between what you're seeing
from both sides of the field on offense
is the reason this game has kind of progressed
the way it has as well.
That, that, that,
is a great, great stat.
Speaking of the NFL films, I saw this.
You know, the Seahawks, their offensive line last year was terrible.
And it was one of the reasons why people had them in last place in the NFC West this year.
It's why their Super Bowl odds were longer than the Arizona Cardinals this year.
Then they drafted Gray's Abel.
And Gray's Abel has been a brilliant offensive lineman for them this year.
And one of my favorite things that I saw from the NFL films clips was Gray's Able and Leonard Williams sitting on the bench during the game.
And Gray's able saying to Leonard Williams, you've got to stop using your spin move because they're bringing help to you when you are using your spin move.
If you just use your power move and slide into the B gap, you've got a straight line to the quarterback.
And Leonard Williams, like no one had noticed it.
And Gray's Abel is just sitting there and says it to him.
Leonard Williams does that on the next drive and get and sacks the quarterback.
And it was so cool to see that in-game communication and then see from a rookie to a veteran
and then see the veteran actually execute on it and then go over and just shake his hand.
Thank you very much for that.
I don't know if you guys saw that, but it was amazing.
No, I love that.
I mean, the coolest to me, as much I'm giving Drake May.
It was Drake May and Josh McDaniels had in a very human moment on the bend.
It was basically Drake May was talking about how hard the game was.
Josh Grimman was just like, bro, like, you got six minutes from like being a hero forever.
Like this is the exact moment we live for.
Hey, it's hard.
I know.
Hey, listen to me.
It's going to be hard.
But look, this will be the most rewarding six and a half minutes of our lives if we can get it done.
You know what I mean?
And like, I don't know about you.
I got like shows watching because it's like, dude, that got me fired up where it's, you, your whole life leads up to these moments.
can you keep your composure in that final six minutes?
And the Drake May, it'll be legendary if they win the Super Bowl.
The Drake May bootleg on, took it on his own call.
That will live in infamy for the Patriots if they do win the Super Bowl.
Him making his own call there and getting that first down.
So that was, again, NFL films.
They just, they're the best.
They do it the best every year.
And that was some really cool moments like Chad said,
between all the stuff of the Seahawks.
And the big thing for them was Demarcus Lawrence.
And pretty saw that, Chad, dropping into coverage against Kerry and Williams
and shutting down the play in McVeague.
couldn't go over how insane that play was.
And yeah, both these matches, like we said, it's going to be really tough to make a pick.
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All right, Evan, give us some more
where are you digging deep?
What should we be looking out for?
Whether it's MVP odds.
I know there's a little joke going around with you
and Matt Mitchell like you're,
you know,
two old buddies laughing at me.
What are we missing here?
All right.
So I've got a bunch of pro-Seattle stuff,
but we're going to hold that off for a second
because I do want to talk about Super Bowl MVP.
I had heard through the grapevines
you were interested in Rashid Shahid.
You know what?
Fuck you and fuck Matt.
Mitchell. I just, to me, it's a little bit of an overvalued situation. I think his odds are kind of baked into
what he brings to the table. Obviously rushing, obviously receiving the returning. Like, there's different
ways for him to impact this game. And Seattle's special teams, like if you were to rank the six units in
this game, Seattle special teams very much near the top. So especially compared to maybe what New England
has brought to the table, even though they haven't been as bad as like, say, the Rams. So from just a Super Bowl MVP standpoint,
I feel like one of the interesting ones when you just look at the board is Jackson Smith, Nijigba.
Like, usually we're not seeing, at least it's happened more recently, a wide receiver that low in the odds.
If you go back to 2003, I have him around 5 to 1 Najibba right now in the market consensus.
It'd be the second lowest price for a wide receiver behind just Larry Fitzgerald at 4 to 1 in 2008.
So really in terms of the success that he's had this season, the 1,700 plus yards.
And it was just really, it was either going to be him or Puka that was probably going to be priced in this range, no matter who won that other game.
So I found that one intriguing.
And here's one more for you in terms of Super Bowl MVP.
The thing that I found interesting was so the Patriots are plus four and a half in the game.
But you look at the market and Drake May is just plus 240.
So a bit of a short price for a quarterback who is already like two to one to win the game.
So since 2003, we've had 12 quarterbacks at plus three and a half or higher in the Super Bowl.
only three had been listed below three to one to win the award.
Drake May this year, Joe Burrow in 2021, and Joe Flacco in 2012.
That's it.
Obviously, one did it and one didn't.
But I feel like in terms of the price and what you're getting,
me and Raybon talked about this.
Like I think Darnold and Nijigba, good value on the Super Bowl MVP.
I don't think it's so with Drake May.
I could see a lot of scenarios where someone else wins the award in that game,
but that's my opinion.
Yeah, it's, it's been skewed.
Like, even last year, as much as I love saying,
Gellon Hurts Super Bowl MVP,
should they have they given it to a defensive player on the Eagles?
I mean, that argument is very heavy.
The reason I feel like it gets is because it's a QB league.
And at the end of the day,
that's the hardest part with making these Super Bowl future bets,
especially MVP's.
It's like, shouldn't we just blindly bet Sam Darnold?
Like, isn't that just the move?
Like, instead of, if you're thinking about taking the Seahawks money line,
I would suppose, like I said last year,
I guess just take the money and just put it on Sam Darlin,
and be P-Oads.
But it's been tough.
Like every year for the defensive player where a wide receiver
or running back to win it, they have to go so far above and beyond.
And that's the toughest part.
And I'm shocked by that's that.
I can't believe Cooper Cup in 2021 was a lot.
Plus 650.
Okay.
Because I just remember that was like the greatest receiver season we've ever seen.
But that means sense, right?
Because you got the staff for Joe Burrow effect that's going to bump that number down.
I also think there's one thing with Najibah is his flare, like the one-handed catch he had in the NFC title game.
He is going to most likely bring a play like that to the game that you're going to remember.
That plus 100 yards, even if, say he scores one touchdown, that actually might be enough if Darnold throws a pick, which he's like minus 142.
So it really depends on how the game plays out, but it was interesting to kind of think about what Darnold would have to do to not win the award and yet have one of his receivers win the award.
Like even if Cooper Cup caught two touchdowns, he's not in a situation where he's going to go for 100 yards.
It's not his game.
So does 80 yards, 60 yards and two touchdowns win cup the award?
Still probably not.
It's an interesting scenario to kind of walk yourself through.
I think to be a receiver and win the award, you need multiple touchdowns and you need probably 120 yards receiving.
I don't know what.
Do you last one?
Is it Randall L?
No, Cooper Cumber.
Edelman too. Edelman
one of like 10 receptions.
I don't think he scored in the game. I think he had
10 receptions like 100 yards and that
was just enough. You said he had the catch, right?
The catch you all remember. He got hit by three different
guys. That's true.
The ball and kept it. And that was the defining play
right. That was what people really bring up
why they won that game. Yeah, like if you're going to win
MVP as a
non-quarterback, you kind of need
that God moment.
Yeah. Yeah. And
And, you know, JSN wouldn't have gotten it out of the conference championship game.
If that had been the Super Bowl, it would have been Sam Darnold.
As great as JSN was, it still would have been Sam Darnold because, to your point earlier, Simon, even on that play where JSN caught the touchdown at the end of the first half, Donald had guys in his face.
He rolled out.
He's got an injured oblique, and he threw a perfect pass to a guy who had schemed wide open.
And that's not what we've seen from Sam Darnold.
And if that's what he's going to be, Sam Darnold.
by the way, I think he opened it plus 135.
He's down to about plus 125 now.
So not crazy movement yet.
Like still going to be better on the money line than betting the Seahawks at, you know,
2 to 1 or whatever, or 1 to 2 right now.
So like Chad saying last year the chiefs were minus 1 1 1⁄2 right, Chad at the Super Bowl.
Mahomes was like minus 120 minus 115 MVP odds.
Right.
Donald also has a story.
I mean, the story behind.
what Sam Darnold's done to get here.
I mean, it's Disney World written all over it
unless he throws a bunch of interceptions
or fumbles the ball.
Look, we all know how fucking stupid
these sports writers are
and falling for a narrative
and deciding they're the ones
who determine what history and fate is.
So God only knows
where they're going to fall for
with Sam Darnold.
You know what we're going to do?
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All right, F, you've given us some Seahawks trends.
Anything you're leaving on the table
that might make us feel really good
before we get to the Patriots?
Yeah, so first of all,
I feel like I'm coming off of a purple elevator to hard rock casino after that ad.
That was fantastic, Chad.
I will say this is the one that-
hasn't complimented my hard rock reads once all season.
No, elevator music.
It was just beautiful.
I was dancing over here.
I think Seattle being somewhat dominant entering this game is a good conversation.
I look at it, obviously, from a gambling standpoint.
But they've won nine straight.
They've covered four straight.
Only four other teams have even done that.
Nine straight and four straight.
nine straight wins, four straight covers,
entering a Super Bowl.
2016, 17 Patriots,
barely survivors, the Falcons,
but won the gaming covered.
2000 Ravens blew out the Giants.
1986, giants blew out the Broncos.
71 Cowboys, blew out the Dolphins.
So those teams,
nine straight wins, four straight covers,
four and O, straight up,
four and O against a spread in the Super Bowl.
But look, if you think Seattle's dominant,
that's the stat you want to hear.
Like, they're just going to roll away with this one.
That also speaks to what science.
was just talking about.
Yeah.
That was,
I had that stat.
I didn't give it out
because I just wanted to look very smart,
but that was the stat I found
very early on where it's like,
okay,
there's some historic data back up
this run,
the Sealks teams on.
Because that right away popped on my head.
It's like how we had a team
going this type of run,
but they've just been steamrolling teams.
And like Evan said,
once I start peeling back to curtains,
it's like,
oh my God,
every team like this just dominates the super.
It doesn't matter if their team
they played against is they even just as good.
They've just,
every time they got there,
they're just been that much better.
So great, great stat, Evan.
Evan, what is that stat?
Just hold on a second.
What was that, what was that stat that were, there was eight and three against the spread?
Was that the one where there have the strength of schedule advantage?
Yeah.
So the 11 team strength of schedule more difficult than Seattle's were eight and three in the game.
Got it.
Got it.
Okay.
Yeah.
Well, I'll give you one more.
I talked about the one and nine stat earlier.
To me, this is the on-field stat I thought was interesting.
There's a bunch of data out there on what Mike McDonald's defense, even with his last year in the Ravens, have done against these young quarterbacks.
But even if you look last two seasons with the Seahawks, he's faced 10 QBs under the age of 25.
What does that tell you?
That's inexperienced.
That's showing you maybe a defense pre-snap that changes post-snap.
Well, in those games, the inexperienced quarterback is one and nine straight up, 12 interceptions, and 30 sacks.
and those quarterbacks have lost eight straight games.
So understanding that there is a two-week period here for Drake May to study what Seattle does,
but I think on the other side, maybe more important,
it's what Seattle's defense is going to prepare to do against Drake May.
So that's a little alarming to me from a New England standpoint.
These are great on-field trends, not steeped in history, that I think we can activate against.
But give us the other side.
I mean, from New England's standpoint, I feel like the thing that would give you just some sort of, just some sort of pause would be the fact that this game is a, and it's tough because you look at the odds, right?
New England entered the season at 80 to 1. Seattle entered the season at 60 to 1.
But to me, those aren't indicative of what those teams are currently bringing to the table right now.
So I think those can kind of be tossed out the window a little bit.
But in this scenario, Drake May as an underdog hasn't played bad.
And the thing that really gets me is in the games that he's played as a dog,
New England's averaging 26 points per game.
That to me is a large, large number in games that New England shouldn't be winning.
And this season, they're four and two straight up and against a spread in those games.
So basically, being able to plan and scheme.
especially now you're getting an extra week to do that when mostly they're doing it week to week in that basis.
So to me, that's the interesting one, which is you're not supposed to win this game.
You've got extra time to prepare for it.
And you know, you're getting over, let's say two hooks here, three and four.
So to me, that's one that's interesting from New England standpoint.
And also, again, you don't have to dive into the games.
One of those games, they were a three and a half or four point dog going to Bolton.
Baltimore. Lamar got, Lamar got banged up, knocked out of that game. And a game in which the
Ravens were dominating, Drake, man, once again, give him props. He scored 18 in the second half of
that game and stole that game. They won 28 to 24. So that's just, like, Evan's got these stats.
They do, he does seem to show up, but it's also like you do, you dive a little bit into
him. Before we get out of here. Evan, we know we've taught, Simon and I have talked about sort of
our bets so far. Do you have any bets that you've made? You always have like interesting bets that are
a little bit off the beaten path. What bets have you made on the Super Bowl so far? Sure. So my first
bet I made, which turns out to get some great CLV and you love to see that. I took Drake May over 29
and a half rushing yards. It is now at like 38 and a half I see in the market somewhere. So that
bet long gone. I'll give you a few more that actually might be actionable at the moment. I took
Stefan Diggs under 18 and a half longest reception.
I believe that's only down to 17 and a half on the market.
He has been a short yardage king for New England.
And I see that not changing in this game.
They're going to go long to booty.
They're going to try long to Kyle Williams.
Like there's going to be other options down the field.
He's going to be the short yardage reception guy.
So I felt like 18 and a half was a little long.
And here's the anti one that I went with.
So the Patriots have historically this year been very good
first half. I believe, let's see if I'm looking at this right now. Last 21 starts, Drake May is
18, 1 and 2 on the first half money line and 15.0 and 2 first half money line last 17. They've been
really good to start games. I'm going to flip it. I think that changes. I'll take Seattle first half
and full game. You're getting like plus 130, plus 140 range depending on the book, which is a lot
different than that minus 230 on the money line. And you're basically just asking them to start fast.
Evan, and that huge booker, he wouldn't happen to have anything on the first quarter stats.
I gave them one of my favorite bets first quarter under seven and a half.
Oh, well, I actually looked fantastic.
I took under nine and a half.
I'm asking you to shop out there.
I took first quarter under nine and a half, so I'm completely on the same page with you.
I don't have anything in front of me right now.
I actually have to look into it, but I believe first quarter unders in the Super Bowl
are something like 58 to 60% when you look over the last decade or two.
So completely on the same page.
And I like getting over those key numbers, even in eight,
depending on what happens in the game.
Dude, it was so great to have Evan on the show today, Simon.
You can say yes.
The best.
I didn't know with you.
I always think you're about to go on another little silhouette about how great Evan is.
He was pausing.
He was all right.
Evan's the best.
Evan, thanks for coming on.
Everyone go check out, action, Super Bowl, 60, Primer.
It's great.
And it's by our friend Evan Abrams.
This has been Sharper Square, part of the volume and podcast network.
We will be back next week for more Super Bowl talk.
We've got another special guest.
We're going to talk about props.
We're going to talk about it all because there's so much to unpack.
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We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.
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Where does your group perform?
We do some retirement homes.
Those people are starving for banter.
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What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas.
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It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs.
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If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.
You just understood.
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Wow.
Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to.
He's like, you know, I love you, dog.
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This was just playoffs.
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So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This week on Crimeless, Rory and I welcome
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When I did podcasts, I wear my sleep masks.
I like where this is going.
So, if you guys will indulge me.
That's right.
The incredibly talented and hilarious Will Ferrell on an episode dedicated to crimes
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You're good for 300 crimes?
Yeah.
We got two.
I'm ready to go right up to present day.
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