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NFL Lines
Football has always been a game of lines - the offensive line; the defensive line; the line of scrimmage; the first-down line; the goal line; laying it all on the line. And yet, while players and coaches focus on winning the game, there is one more line that NFL football fans ponder. That is the Super Bowl Betting Line.
As Feb. 3 inches closer, what better time to reflect on the first 41 years of the Super Bowl Betting Line? Here's a look back at how the AFC and the NFC have fared.
Today's NFL is known for its parity: the idea that on any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team. And while for the most part that theory holds true, the history of the Super Bowl makes it clear that league-wide competitiveness is nothing new to the NFL. During the 41 years of Super Bowl history, the NFC has covered 20 times, the AFC 18, and there have been three pushes.
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Although for the past few years the AFC has been considered the much more talented and dominating conference, the NFC has actually covered three of the last four Super Bowl point spreads. Three of the last five games were decided by a field goal (all three kicks were made by New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri).
Looking way back to Super Bowl I, Green Bay got the NFC on the board quickly by winning and covering the point spread in the first two Super Bowls, as Vince Lombardi's Packers throttled the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in Super Bowl I and the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II, thus covering the 14- and 13-point spreads, respectively. But Super Bowl III saw the New York Jets get the AFC off the schneid as they pulled off a huge upset win over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. Going into Super Bowl III, the Colts were 17-point favorites, but Broadway Joe Namath led his show-stopping Jets to a surprising 16-7 win, thus making the Jets the first underdog to win the Super Bowl outright.
The AFC seemed to use that victory to springboard itself into prominence as it covered seven of the next 10 Super Bowl Betting Lines. That run ended in 1979, when history was made as we witnessed the first push on a Super Bowl Sunday. In a rematch of Super Bowl X - which Pittsburgh won 21-17, but failed to cover the seven-point spread - the Steelers were again the favorite. And again, the Steelers beat the Cowboys by four, 35-31. However, because the Steelers were favored by just four points, the Super Bowl Betting Line saw a push. Since then, there have been two more Super Bowl pushes - Green Bay (-14) beating New England 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI; and St. Louis (-7) beating Tennessee 23-16 in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The NFC used streaks to regain the series lead as it covered four Super Bowl point spreads in a row from 1985-89, then dominated the early 1990s by covering six in a row from 1990-95. The AFC began to equalize matters as it covered five of the next seven Super Bowls, with the other two games being pushes.
The NFC stopped that streak and covered three Super Bowl Betting Lines until the AFC covered the last two games, which brings us up to date heading into Super Bowl XLII in Arizona.
So as we creep closer to Feb. 3, what does this look back at the conference rivalry tell us about Super Bowl Betting Lines? Only one thing for certain: that parity in the NFL was born 41 years ago, and does not seem to be dying anytime soon.
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