Football expert Phil Steele is owner and publisher of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, regarded as the college football bible. Get in-depth coverage of football 24/7/365 at philsteele.com.
SUPER BOWL XLVI OVER/UNDER 54: The general consensus is both teams have had an “impressive” defensive performance in the playoffs. I’ve had great success being a contrarian, so I’ll do so again for the “Big Game.” The Giants held their three postseason opponents to a combined 39 points, but it was against a dome team outside in January, the rusty Packers who still had 25 1st downs and a 49er unit with the league’s No. 26 offense. The Patriots, meanwhile, held Denver and Baltimore to 30 points, but the Broncos had the league’s No. 23 offense and the Ravens finished with their third highest yardage total of the season.
The offenses finished ranked No. 2 (Patriots) and No. 8 (Giants) in yardage and No. 3 (Patriots) and No. 9 (Giants) in scoring. And don’t forget these teams finished No. 27 (Patriots) and No. 31 (Patriots) in total defense.
Over 54.
Season: 17-9-1 (65 percent)
