The big game is over. No, I’m not talking about the New Hampshire primary; I’m talking about the Super Bowl. What we need is a little postmortem, a little rehash.

A game of offensive artistry it was not. Not remotely close. The Denver Broncos are the first team to ever gain less than 200 yards in a Super Bowl and actually win. Peyton Manning looked to be every one of his 39 years of age and then some. I like Peyton, but he really needs to retire before he sullies a Hall of Fame worthy career. Many people retire a year after they’ve lost “it”. Here’s hoping it doesn’t happen to him. Go out on top, Peyton, like Elway and Bettis did.

Superman Cam Newton was exposed for what he truly is; a truly gifted athlete who is a mediocre QB when pressured by his opponents. This shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to football analysts, and yet it did. Newton ranked as the third best QB in the league when he was not under pressure from opposing linemen. That’s excellent. However, he was only the 19th best when under pressure. That’s not even average. And Denver sure brought some pressure, hitting him 13 times, sacking him 6, causing him to lose 2 fumbles, and forcing all manner of inaccurate throws.

No one should’ve been surprised by the result and, yet, most bettors were. Huge inflows of money on Carolina and the “Over” pushed the original line of Carolina by 3 ½ all the way up to 6, until a little sanity prevailed and the line settled at 5 by game time. This is the 15th time in the last 21 Super Bowls that the underdog has covered, going 15-5-1. Nearly three quarters of all bets on the “Total” were on the “Over”, making Las Vegas happy, indeed.

And, finally, we told you so. I know. That’s not humble, one shouldn’t brag. But if you’ve been following this blog during the football playoffs you know that it has consistently steered you in the right direction. While you can’t count on this streak lasting forever, it has been a remarkable run. I prefer to think of this paragraph as celebrating rather than bragging!

“If you done it, it ain't bragging.” (Walt Whitman)