Pats-Bucs would be Super ending

When the Patriots lost, 19-17, to the Buccaneers in Week 4 to fall to 1-3, a rematch in the Super Bowl seemed inconceivable.

Eight weeks later, a Bill Belichick-Tom Brady showdown in Super Bowl LVI appears very possible.

In fact, according to Football Outsiders, a data analytics website, New England vs. Tampa Bay was the most likely Super Bowl matchup heading into Week 12, with a 9.9 percent chance of happening.

Based on a parlay of each team’s conference futures at BetMGM — where the Bucs are +210 favorites to win the NFC and the Pats are the +450 third pick to win the AFC — the odds are 16-1 that the rematch takes place.

“That would be a monster matchup for the league, for TV and for our industry,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said.

MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback agrees. “You couldn’t write a story like that,” he said. “That would be like one of those Hollywood movies, and it has a good possibility of happening.”

Golden Nugget sportsbook director Tony Miller said he’d make Tampa Bay a 1-point favorite on a neutral field.

BOOKS WIN AGAIN

New England (8-4) and Tampa Bay (8-3) delivered two of the biggest wins for bettors on an NFL Sunday in which Las Vegas sportsbooks reported being small winners. The biggest favorites on the board at -7, the Pats won and covered their sixth straight game in a 36-13 rout of the Titans.

BAD BEAT

The Bucs covered as 3-point road favorites over the Colts in a 38-31 comeback victory that ended with a bad beat for Indianapolis bettors.

Tampa Bay rallied from a 24-14 halftime deficit to take a 31-24 lead in the fourth quarter. After the Colts tied it with 3:29 left, Brady drove the Bucs into range for a winning field goal, which would’ve resulted in a push and a refund for most bettors on the game. But with 20 seconds left, Leonard Fournette broke free for a 28-yard TD run to lift Tampa Bay to a 38-31 victory and cover.