In today’s newsletter…

1. Leading Off: Super Bowl underdogs are on a roll

2. Seahawks vs. Patriots: Two of NFL’s best defenses face off in finale

3. Scouting Report: Three matchups to watch in the Super Bowl

4. Olympics: What’s on tap today before the Big Game begins

5. Overtime: Seattle and New England were big free agency spenders ahead of this season

1. Leading Off

In 2016 a 13-year-old, Drake Maye watched the Broncos beat his hometown Panthers in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Now the 23-year-old is returning to the same field and is set to become the second-youngest quarterback to ever start in the Big Game (behind Dan Marino). Maye faces his toughest challenge of the season in Super Bowl LX against the NFL’s best scoring defense in the Seahawks.

Seattle has won nine in a row and is a 4.5-point favorite after holding off the high-powered Rams’ offense in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship. New England is now up to 13-straight wins after a slog of a victory in snowy Denver. The line hasn’t budged and odds have been consistent across the board for nearly the entire two weeks since these teams last played.

The Super Bowl underdog has won straight up in four of five games, and the under has hit in five of seven matchups.

— Abe Rakov

P.S. You still have time to get our Super Bowl LX Betting Guide, with 17 bets to watch, here. And Novig’s free $25 offer for Sportspage subscribers is still available (use the code SPLaunch here).

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2. Game of the Day

Bettors Are Sticking With Seahawks (-4.5) As Super Bowl Spread, Odds Have Stayed Steady This Week

Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Seahawks vs. Patriots
6:30pm on NBC

The Odds

  • Spread: SEA (-4.5, -112), NE (+4.5, -108)

    • 65% of the money and 59% of the bets are with Seahawks

  • Moneyline: SEA -240, NE +198

  • Total (45.5): Over -108, Under -112

Head-to-Head

Seahawks

Patriots

Streak

W9

W13

Last 10 Games

9-1

10-0

Points per Game (Offense)

28.4

28.8

Points per Game (Defense)

17.2

18.8

Yards per Game (Offense)

351.4

379.4

Yards per Game (Defense)

258.6

295.2

Pass Yards per Game (Offense)

228.1

250.5

Pass Yards per Game (Defense)

193.9

193.5

Rush Yards per Game (Offense)

123.3

128.9

Rush Yards per Game (Defense)

91.9

101.7

Turnovers

28

16

Takeaways

25

19

Against the Spread

14-5

14-6

Over-Under

11-8

12-8

Players to Watch

  • QB Sam Darnold | Pass Yards: 227.5 (173.0 - 346, 124, 198, 147, 270), Pass Attempts: 29.5 (26.5 - 36, 17, 26, 27, 34), Pass TD: 1.5 (2.0 - 3, 1, 0, 1, 2)

  • WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Rec Yards: 93.5 (86.0 - 153, 19, 84, 72, 96), Receptions: 6.5 (6.5 - 10, 3, 6, 9, 8), Anytime TD: -110 (1.0 - 1, 1, 0, 0, 1)

  • QB Drake Maye | Pass Yards: 222.5 (177.7 - 86, 179, 268, 191, 256), Pass Attempts: 30.5 (25.7 - 21, 27, 29, 18, 21), Pass TD: 1.5 (1.3 - 0, 3, 1, 1, 5), Rush Yards: 36.5 (47.0 - 65, 10, 66, 41, 22)

  • RB Rhamondre Stevenson | Rush Yards: 50.5 (64.7 - 71, 70, 53, 131, 47), Carries: 14.5 (17.0 - 25, 16, 10, 7, 8), Anytime TD: +155 (0.0 - 0, 0, 0, 3, 2), Rec Yards: 21.5 (28.7 - 0, 11, 75, 22, 55)

*Player stats are shown as: Today’s total (Regular season average - Last 5 games from most recent to oldest)

3. Scouting Report

Three Matchups That Could Decide Super Bowl LX

Stefon Diggs | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

SEA RB Kenneth Walker III vs. NE Defensive Front

  • Rush Yards: 74.5 (89.0 - 62, 116, 97, 51, 100), Carries: 18.5 (19.0 - 19, 19, 16, 15, 11), Anytime TD: -185 (2.0 - 1, 3, 0, 0, 1), Rec Yards: 21.5 (39.0 - 49, 29, 36, 6, 64)

  • NE Rush Defense (Regular Season) | Rush Yards Allowed: 101.7 (6th), Rush TD Allowed: 11 (4th), Yards Per Carry Allowed: 4.2 (10th)

NE WR Stefon Diggs vs. SEA Secondary

  • Rec Yards: 43.5 (24.3 - 17, 40, 16, 43, 101), Receptions: 4.5 (3.7 - 5, 4, 2, 3, 6), Anytime TD: +240 (0.3 - 0, 1, 0, 0, 1)

  • SEA Pass Defense (Regular Season) | Pass Yards Allowed: 193.9 (10th), Pass TD Allowed: 20 (7th), Yards Per Catch Allowed: 9.6 (1st)

SEA WR Cooper Kupp vs. NE Secondary

  • Rec Yards: 30.5 (48.0 - 36, 60, 29, 6, 39), Receptions: 2.5 (4.5 - 4, 5, 2, 1, 3), Anytime TD: +250 (0.5 - 1, 0, 0, 0, 0)

  • NE Pass Defense | Pass Yards Allowed: 193.5 (9th), Pass TD Allowed: 25 (14th), Yards Per Catch Allowed: 10.0 (4th)

*Player stats are shown as: Today’s total (Regular season average - Last 5 games from most recent to oldest)

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4. Olympics

Bets to Watch in the Olympics + What’s On the Schedule for Today

Jordan Stoltz | Dave Kallmann-Imagn Images

  • Men’s 550m Gold: Jordan Stolz (USA): -220, Damien Zurek (POL): +175

  • Men’s Snowboard Cross Gold: Eliot Grondin (CAN): +200, Adam Lambert (AUS): +310, Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT): +470

  • Women’s Snowboard Cross Gold: Charlotte Bankes (GBR): +145, Michela Moioli (ITA): +240, Josie Baff (AUS): +650

  • Women’s Downhill Gold: Sofia Goggia (ITA): +185, Lindsey Vonn (USA): +200

  • Women’s Aerials Gold: Mengtao Xu (CHN): -105, Kaila Kuhn (USA): +240, Fanyu Kong (CHN): +500

  • Women’s Monobob Gold: Laura Nolte (GER): +105, Bree Walker (AUS): +290, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries (USA): +470, Kaysha Love (USA): +550

  • Jordan Stolz (USA) to Set a New World Record (Individual Event): +125

  • Steven Dubois (CAN) to Win 1+ Gold Medals: -110

What to Watch

  • 7:30am: Men’s and Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom Finals (NBC)

  • 7:30am: Men’s Snowboarding Big Air Final (Re-Air on USA)

  • 8:30am: USA vs. Estonia curling (USA)

  • 9:20am: Women’s Downhill (NBC)

  • 10:15am: Men’s 5000m Speed Skating (NBC)

  • 12:30pm: Men’s Singles Luge Final Run (USA)

  • 1pm: Men’s Ski Jumping (Peacock)

  • 1:15pm: Figure Skating Team Competition (through 5pm on USA)

  • 1:30pm: Snowboarding Big Air Qualifying (Peacock)

  • 6:30pm: Women’s Snowboarding Big Air Qualifying (USA)

5. Overtime

In the News

  • Whether a team feels it’s a player or two away or needs to retool an entire roster, every franchise in the NFL can look at how the Patriots and Seahawks handled free agency last year. As the Associated Press wrote, “The Patriots handed out the most money on the unrestricted free agent market, with more than $364 million in contracts — nearly $100 million more than the next-highest team — handed out to 19 free agents … The Seahawks came in fourth in free agency spending at more than $205 million, led by a three-year, $100.5 million deal for quarterback Sam Darnold.”

  • Even though Falcons starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. tore his left ACL in November, which means nine to 12 months of recovery, the new Atlanta regime is set to cut backup Kirk Cousins, according to ESPN. The new trio in charge of the Falcons, coach Kevin Stefanski, general manager Ian Cunningham, and president of football Matt Ryan, haven’t even committed to Penix Jr., with Ryan saying there will be “a lot of discussions for us about the entire roster” when asked about the quarterback situation.

  • No Americans won a medal on the first official day of the Winter Olympics, but the host country secured a gold, silver and bronze. Italy won its first ever gold medal in women’s speedskating, and the nation took sliver and bronze in the men’s downhill. American superstar figure skater Ilia Malinin was surprised by Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who finished a near-perfect routine in the team event to one-up the U.S.’s 21-year-old phenom early in the competition.

  • After being traded to the Wizards, Anthony Davis is expected to be out for the rest of the season. With Washington at 14-37 and just three teams in the NBA behind them, neither side sees a reason to rush back the oft-injured Davis. The Wizards traded for the also-injured Trae Young last month, so the franchise is content to wait until both stars are healthy for the 2026-2027 season.

  • According to CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn, the Lakers are trying to model themselves after the Dodgers and could see a leadership overhaul soon. “If this is a lame duck front office, either in part or in its entirety, then logic suggests you'd preserve your real assets for when the eventual, permanent front office infrastructure is firmly in place,” Quinn wrote.

What to Watch (times ET)

  • 7am: Olympics event coverage on NBC (studio coverage starts at 11:45am)

  • 11:30am: Liverpool vs. Manchester City on Peacock

  • 12:30pm: Knicks vs. Celtics on ABC

  • 1pm: No. 2 Michigan vs. Ohio State (MCBB) on CBS (or No. 13 Texas Tech vs. West Virginia (MCBB) on FOX)

  • 3pm: Clippers vs. Timberwolves on ESPN (or No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 8 Michigan (WCBB) on FOX)

  • 6:30pm: Seahawks vs. Patriots on NBC

  • 10:45pm: Primtime in Milan Olympics coverage on NBC

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