Patriots lead Giants 10-9 after 1st half

Football Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Brady's four-yard touchdown pass to Danny Woodhead ended a 96-yard drive and gave the Patriots a 10-9 lead over the Giants at halftime of the Super Bowl.

Brady was 10-for-10 on the drive and completed his last 11 passes in the half. The 96-yard drive, coming after the Patriots were pinned in deep by a punt, tied a record for the longest in Super Bowl history.

Earlier, Eli Manning started the game 9-for-9 and threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz to give New York a 9-0 lead over New England after the first quarter.

New York also got two points on a safety when Brady was called for intentional grounding on New England's first play from scrimmage.

Brady's pass, under pressure, was thrown 45 yards downfield from the front of the end zone with no receiver in the vicinity and was the sixth safety in Super Bowl history.

Manning led the Giants on a 78-yard drive after that, which included a penalty on New England for too many men on the field that reversed a fumble by Cruz. The drive was capped by Manning's short pass to Cruz behind two defenders with 3:24 left in the quarter, making it 9-0.

The Giants ran 19 of the game's first 20 plays from scrimmage as New England had trouble getting out of its own way early.

But the Patriots started a 60-yard drive that spanned the first and second quarters and ended in Stephen Gostkowski's 29-yard field goal, pulling them within 9-3.

The game is a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl, which the Giants won, 17-14, on Plaxico Burress' 13-yard touchdown catch with 35 seconds remaining. The game- winning drive, led by MVP Manning, included David Tyree's famous helmet catch.

The game is also a rematch from Week 9 this past season. Manning threw a TD pass in the final minute of that one to give the Giants a 24-20 win over the Patriots.

Brady was 15-of-18 for 147 yards in the first half and Manning was 13-of-17 for 120 yards. New York's Ahmad Bradshaw led all rushers with 44 yards on nine carries, while New England's Aaron Hernandez had five catches for 40 yards.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, playing with a high ankle sprain, made his only catch of the first half on the 96-yard drive -- a 20-yard grab for a first down early on.

The Giants are 3-1 all-time in the Super Bowl and have seven titles overall.

The Patriots are 3-3 in the Super Bowl.

Brady is trying to win his fourth ring in the last 11 seasons and his first since winning back-to-back titles after the 2003 and '04 seasons. His idol, Joe Montana, and Terry Bradshaw also won four.

New England's Bill Belichick can tie Hall of Fame Steelers coach Chuck Noll for most Super Bowl wins by head coach in NFL history at four.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.