Super Bowl 50 First Half Parlay Picks

Posted by Joe Solari on Friday,February 5, 2016 8:51, EDT in

Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers and the headquarters of several high-tech companies such as Intel, will be extending its iconic reputation by hosting the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers this Sunday, where both teams will be engaged in a do-or-die battle for the much-admired Super Bowl 50 crown. In our final preparations for this big event and the bevy of activities that come with it in the lines, we take a last-minute look at our select parlay picks worthy of adding to your SB50 bets. Duly note that Current NFL odds have Carolina favored as a 3.5-point favorite in the first half, and the posted OVER/UNDER total is 22.5.

Super Bowl 50 First Half Parlay Picks

• Carolina Panthers (-3.5)
• UNDER 22.5

Super Bowl 50 First Half Point Spread Betting

The Panthers, going by trends and the numbers posted in the season, have been indisputably the best team to bet on in first half lines. Counting their two playoff games against Seattle and Arizona, they have gone 14-4 ATS this year, including a stellar 13-2 ATS mark in their last fifteen games. In addition, they are 3-0 SU and 3-0 ATS in the first halves of their last three games, outscoring their opponents by a cumulative margin of 79-10 in those contests, including 31-0 over Seattle and 24-7 over Arizona. To affirm this dominance, betting trends have the Panthers trailing just twice at the half all year (10-7 at Seattle on 10/18/2015 and 16-13 at New Orleans on 12/6/2015. Added to the fact that Carolina finished the season averaging a league-leading 10.4 points during the second quarter, there are definitely many reasons to believe that they’ll be covering the spread against Denver in the Super Bowl.

On their part, the Broncos haven’t been as strong as Carolina in the first half, mainly because their offense tended to start slow. Even so, Denver’s defense ensured that the Broncos were close in most games by the end of the second quarter, a key reason they own a respectable 10-8 ATS mark in their first half lines this season. Worryingly, though, the Broncos have gone just 1-3 ATS in first half of their last four games, trailing at the break on two of those occasions. So, unless Peyton Manning help Denver to another strong start like they had against New England in the AFC Championship game, it won’t be easy for them to keep up with Cam Newton and the Panthers, who like their name suggests, are good sprint-starters in the game.

First Half ATS NFL Pick: Carolina (-3.5)

Super Bowl 50 First Half OVER/UNDER Total Betting

As you’d probably expect based on the numbers detailed above, the Panthers have been cash kings in recent first half OVER bets, with the total going OVER in their last three straight games, and 9 of their last 11 games. This, however, is not the whole story, as the Panthers went 6-1 UNDER in the first half total betting during their first seven games of the year. And in stark contrast to their recent high-scoring ways, the Panthers have been very mean defensively, allowing 7 or fewer points in the first half of each of their last six contests. In fact, Carolina has allowed a combined total of just 24 points in the first half of their previous six outing, showing the kind of mountain Denver will have to climb in its quest for a first start.

Conversely, the Broncos have equally been solid on the D in their recent first halves, allowing 14 or few points in the first half of their last 9 contests. In this 9-game stretch, Denver has allowed a measly average of just 8.3 points per game in the first half. And as far as betting trends are concerned, the Broncos are 8-2 UNDER in the first half betting of their last ten games, and 12-6 UNDER in all of the 18 eighteen games they have played this season.

Obviously, something will have to give in this game. It is tempting to trust Carolina’s high-octave offense to get a quick start here, but I am not buying into the idea that the Broncos will make it that easy to them, as they are good in both pass and rush defense—a balance that Carolina’s offense hasn’t faced in their recent games. I am therefore leaning more on both defenses coming up strong at the start here, as if often the case in most Super Bowls, thus leading to an UNDER total.

First Half Total NFL Pick: UNDER 22.5