It’s a tough question and there really isn’t a good NFL gambling answer. More than anything it really depends on the position. For example this year the 2010 NFL draft is rich in WRs and RBs. So if you’re a team looking upgrade at either skill position you’ve got a lot of options.

At WR the free agent class is pretty bare. Aside from Anquan Bolden, who went quickly to the Ravens, the rest of the class is pretty much washed up. And with so many top WRs in the NFL Draft this season a team is better off drafting a player from college rather even if it means waiting a year or two for the player to develop. At RB it’s a bit different because at that position a skilled player can step in on day one and make an impact as a rookie.

But there are also a handful of quality veteran backs available including Thomas Jones. Still when it comes to RBs, youth is always better and generally cheaper. Other positions where rookies can step in immediately and make a difference are linebacker, O-line and in some cases the D-line.

When you factor in the talent of the free agent market and the asking price of the players you’re often better off upgrading in the draft as you can immediate results. But the main advantage of free agency remains the fact that you’re getting a proven quantity where there is always some risk involved in drafting.

But when he finally won on sports betting’s biggest stage he was instantly vindicated for all his past failures not and for not having qualified for the Super Bowl stats in his previous nine seasons.

He emerged from Tom Brady’s shadow and that single win in the Super Bowl stats propelled him to saintly status. But just as quickly, after the loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium (formerly Land Shark Stadium, formerly Dolphins Stadium, formerly whatever, etc, etc) the whispers of ‘choke artist’ and ‘failure’ gained currency again on the fringe of sports betting fandom.

And with good reason. As a starter in the NFL no one has won more regular season games during Manning’s 12-year span. But in the post season Manning led teams are just 9-9; a meager .500. And nothing is more reflective of this mediocrity than the 1-1 record in the Super bowl stats. Manning is still likely the greatest QB ever. But it’s going to take some time, and possibly another Super Bowl trophy to rehab his big game image.

But the third most important player either Super Bowl lines roster will not likely even play in Sunday’s sports betting extravaganza. Colts DE Dwight Freeney is not only the best DE in the game but he’s revolutionized the position since coming into the league in 2002. He’s also currently the owner of one very severely sprained ankle with a torn ligament that will likely keep him out of the Super Bowl lines competition.

The Colts have known about the injury since it happened in the AFC Championship game but sports betting fans are just learning the extent of it. He hasn’t practiced since the injury occurred and even if he does get in Super Bowl lines contest he’s likely to be rusty. According to various reports by physicians familiar with this type of injury the most hopeful scenario would be Freeney seeing limited action on a few third downs or other obvious pass rush situations in the sports betting.

The loss of Freeney cannot be overstated. For the Colts defense to be effective against a white-hot Drew Brees and Co. in the Super Bowl lines they have to pressure him early and often. DE Robert Mathis is one of the best in the game at this and Raheem Brock is a worthy sub, but there is no replacing a player like Freeney, especially on a stage as large as the Super Bowl lines.

Super Bowl lines bettors figure that the Colts have the better defensive team and while they won’t remind sports betting fans of the 1985 Chicago Bears, the Colts do have some key performers and assets.

Linebacker Clint Session had 103 tackles to lead the Colts in the 2009 sports betting season. Sessions had 3 tackles for losses as well as 2 interceptions, 1 of which he returned for a touchdown.

Gary Brackett is another top linebacker on the Colts as he was second on the team with 99 tackles. Brackett has 11 career interceptions.

Safety Antoine Bethea led the Colts with 4 interceptions this year. In just 4 seasons Bethea has a total of 11 interceptions.

Rookie cornerback Jacob Lacey had 3 interceptions for the Colts this year and returned one of them for a score.

Defensive end Dwight Freeney was the sack master of the Colts for 2009 as he led the team with 13.5 sacks. Freeney, an 8 year pro out of Syracuse, has 84 career sacks. Although he has a torn ligament, Freeney has demonstrated the ability to play hurt in the past and cannot be counted out until game time.

Super Bowl lines have the Saints as a 5-point sports betting underdog against the Indianapolis Colts. The Saints were a sports betting underdog only once this season and that was in a meaningless regular season finale loss to the Carolina Panthers.

The Saints were an even 4-4 against the spread away from home this season. They were an even 9-9 split on over/under totals for 2009.

New Orleans got the money in their first six consecutive games before losing a lot of their board value. They covered the spread in just two out of their final ten regular season games before splitting in the playoffs. Overall the Saints have covered just three out of their last 12 games against the spread heading into Super Sunday including five failures in their last six games.

Although the Saints went over the total in both of their playoff games they went under the total in six out of the seven games prior to the playoffs.

New Orleans got a lot of media hype after their explosive start which attracted a lot of public money, driving down their overall value. As an underdog, however, they may reclaim some value for bettors.

Super Bowl lines bettors recall the right foot of Adam Vinatieri providing the sports betting difference in Super Bowl wins by the New England Patriots. Vinatieri proved to be one of the greatest clutch kickers in sports betting history and was figured to be an ace that the Indianapolis Colts could rely upon.

Unfortunately Vinatieri has an injured knee and cannot play in the Super Bowl. Matt Stover will continue to handle the kicking duties for the Colts in his place.

The 42-year old Stover is in his 20th season in the NFL after playing college ball at Louisiana Tech. Stover figured his career was over until he got the call from Indianapolis after Vinatieri went down.

Stover finished with 9 out of 11 field goals including a perfect 2-2 from 40-49 yards out. He was a perfect 5-5 in the playoffs. Stover has Super Bowl experience as he was the kicker on the Baltimore Ravens 2000 Super Bowl team. Stover was the only kicker the Ravens ever had until parting ways after the 2008 season. Baltimore’s loss looks to be the Colts gain!

Manning is one of the all-time greats and win or lose in sports betting’s biggest game this week his 4 NFL MVPs and stellar career have sealed his place in sports betting history. But in the NFL playoffs and the run up to the Super Bowl lines action, no QB has been better than Brees- Manning included.

Brees has been spectacular and about close to perfect as a QB can be. And that is why the Saints are playing in the Super Bowl lines contest. In the two post season games Brees has stepped it up a notch and his numbers are even better than his impressive stats in the regular season sports betting competition. He has 6 TDs and 0 INTs. His QB rating is an astronomical 116.

Granted his total passing yards have dipped a bit (225 ypg) and his completion percentage is below the sports betting record of nearly 71% he established in the regular season. But you also have to remember that one of those games was against the Vikings, arguably the best defense in the NFL. Brees will have his hands full against a very quick Colts team that gets a lot of pressure on the QB, but if stats are anything to go by Brees will be able to put points on the board in the Super Bowl lines contest.

It’s no secret the Colt’s offense begins and ends with Peyton Manning and it would be a major surprise id the Super Bowl odds game plan deviated much from that basic strategy. But just the idea of a team with no running game being favored in the Super Bowl odds would have been unfathomable to most betting on NFL experts a few years ago.

Consider that Indy averaged just 80.9 on the ground in the betting on NFL regular season. Never before has a team that bad at moving the ball on the ground been favored in the Super Bowl odds. Further, the team average just 3.5 yards a carry, the only team in the betting on NFL action was the Chargers (3.3 ypc).

And the Colts could care less. They didn’t even try and run the ball or make an attempt to balance out the attack. Indy ran the ball just 22.8 times a game, second lowest in the NFL slightly behind only the Cards (22.9). What’s more this will be the second year in a row that a pass heavy, run deficient offense will be in the Super Bowl odds (Cards in ’09).

Super Bowl lines handicappers will be evaluating an Indianapolis team that went 14-2 straight up and 10-5-1 against the spread during the regular season while capturing the imagination of the sports betting world by winning their first 14 games.

While many in sports betting were starting to think that the Colts could be the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to run the table and go undefeated Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell put an end to the suspense as he played reserves in the final two games that the Colts lost. The Colts had the best shot at an undefeated season since the 2008 New England Patriots, who made it all the way to Super Sunday before losing to the New York Giants in an epic and heartbreaking upset.

While Caldwell was ripped for “tanking” those final two games nobody in Indianapolis seems to be complaining now as the Colts are in the Super Bowl and healthy. If Peyton Manning or another key player would have gone down Caldwell and Colts fans would be sick to their stomachs while watching another team on Super Sunday.

Score points first and worry about playing defense second. That’s how both the Indy Colts and New Orleans Saints operate and on Super Bowl Sunday we should see quite a lot of points hung on the board, the only question is, how many? The early over/under in these Super Bowl odds seems to be somewhere around 56 points.

That seems like a pretty fair estimate when you consider that during the regular season two teams combined to score 57.9 ppg (Saints=31.9 ppg; Colts=26.0 ppg). However, if you look at the post season as a separate season, as many Super Bowl odds fans do, the story changes slightly with the teams have averaged 38 ppg (Saints) and 25 ppg (Colts), respectively.

If you’re among the Super Bowl odds fans that puts stock in the football theory that only post season games can be accurate indicators than the over/under should be at somewhere over 60 points. But fans should expect the teams to get off to somewhat slow starts as the hype of excitement of the Big Game set in.

Both of these teams will likely sore less than they averaged in the regular season and post season. And as porous as both of these defenses are, they will probably dominate in the first quarter or two. Everyone is expecting an offensive display in the Super Bowl odds this year but the 56 points might be just right.