Pats can't cover up following cold start
Patriots fans often have been treated to the daily double in the playoffs. Their team wins and covers.
After the Jacksonville Jaguars completely bungled the end of the first half of yesterday’s AFC title game at Gillette Stadium, the daily double was firmly in play. But the Pats toyed with the Jags a bit too long in the second half and only escaped with a 24-20 victory.
The Patriots did not cover as 71⁄2-point favorites, though a trip to their unprecedented 10th Super Bowl is a mighty nice consolation prize for anyone who lost money.
The Pats “suffered” just their second loss against the spread since Oct. 15. They are 12-6 this season with one big game to go.
A less-than-stellar first half took a turn in the champs’ direction when Blake Bortles somehow was called for delay of game coming out of a timeout. The Jags were having their way with the Pats defense and almost certainly would have extended their 14-3 lead. But a sack and punt later, Tom Brady marched down the field with incredible ease for a touchdown. Then, with 55 seconds and two timeouts at their disposal, the Jags saw no reason to continue carving up the Pats defense and took two knees. Game over.
Unfortunately for Pats bettors, the Jags didn’t completely fold after halftime.
If you played the total, the under was the correct call. Too many Pats punts in the first half and too much nervous offensive play by the Jags in the second kept the teams below the 46-point line. The under has cashed 10 times in 18 Pats games this season.
So now it’s on to Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, where you will not see the hometown Vikings, who feebly bowed out yesterday against the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the worst teams to ever reach the NFL’s grand finale. The “dangerous” opponents all seemed to step aside this year, leaving Nick Foles as the last quarterback standing in the way of the Pats’ sixth championship. You’re kidding, right? Patriots fans often talk about how they haven’t had a Super Bowl in which they could breathe easy because the outcome was decided before the final minutes.
Rest assured, fans, this is your year. The Pats are nearly touchdown favorites, and even if the line swells, take all your money out of savings and put it on your team.
The Eagles, with a below-average quarterback and ordinary defense, are lambs to the slaughter.
The Pats finally have it easy.