Bet on 2008 Super Bowl XLII Odds, Lines and Spreads

by Bodog Sportsbook | Jan 21 2008

Super Bowl XLII

The conference championship games are over, with the New York Giants and the New England Patriots advancing to Super Bowl XLII.  The Giants and Patriots will have to thaw out after defeating the Packers and Chargers respectively, in two of the coldest games in championship history.

Super Bowl XLII - New England Patriots vs. New York Giants. No matter who you ask, they will tell you they knew the Patriots would be going to Arizona soon after they made the trade for Randy Moss. But few people outside of New York would have predicted the Giants would be their Super Bowl opponents.

The New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl just like we all predicted. Starting the season as 5/2 favorites to win the Super Bowl, the Patriots crushed some NFL records along the way: most wins in a regular season (16-0), most points by a team (589), most passing touchdowns (Tom Brady with 50) and most receiving touchdowns (Randy Moss with 23). Brady and coach Bill Belichick received the MVP and Coach of the Year awards respectively.   

During the first game of the season, New York Jets coach Eric Mangini went to the league office with evidence of the Patriots recording the Jets defensive play-calling, a big no-no. The NFL punished the Patriots with three-quarters of million dollars in fines and stripped them of their first round draft pick. Instead of sticking their tails between their legs, the Patriots responded like a spurned lover and ripped the hearts out of their opponents, running up the score as if to say to the league: “So you think we need to cheat to win? Watch this.” The Patriots became the team you loved to hate. But no matter what other teams threw at them, the New England Patriots won every game they’ve played and are only one win in Super Bowl XLII away from absolute perfection.

The New York Giants came into this season having lost their starting running back to retirement and Tom Coughlin dealing with a fractured locker room, calls for his job and inconsistent quarterback Eli Manning, who had failed to live up to the great expectations placed on him. If you combine those factors with a defense with too many question marks, the Giants reaching the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl, would have been a huge surprise. Before the first game of the season, Bodog had set the Giants’ odds of winning Super Bowl XLII at 45/1.  

After being embarrassed by Dallas in the second game of the season, something happened. Eli Manning became a leader and started to display some of the pedigree that his name would suggest. Tom Coughlin’s team pulled together and showed camaraderie and respect for each other by playing team-first football. And then there was the defense, led by an aging Michael Strahan and youngsters Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, which began terrorizing quarterbacks to lead the league with 53 sacks.

New York finished the season on a 10-4 run, including seven wins on the road. The Giants have been road warriors all season long: After losing their first road game in Dallas, they won 10 straight road contests including three playoff wins versus Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay.

The New England Patriots vs. the New York Giants is going to be David versus Goliath, the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team versus the Russians, the Little Engine That Could versus the mountain. Who will win: Mountain or the Little Engine That Could?

Get all your 2008 Super Bowl XLII lines at Bodog Sportsbook.