Super Bowl Odds: Why the Seahawks Will Win and Cover the Spread

Last February, the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl by trouncing what was thought to be an offensively superior team, the Denver Broncos, as an underdog.

This year, Seattle is again a Super Bowl underdog going against another team thought to outclass the Seahawks offensively, the New England Patriots.

Some folks never learn, either about the Seahawks (who are 19-4-1 against the spread as underdogs since Sept 25, 2011) or Super Bowl underdogs in general.

Underdogs have won outright the past three Super Bowls and are 10-3 ATS in the past 13 games. The NFC is also riding a 6-1 ATS run in the title game.

It doesn't matter how it got there—Seattle is back in the Super Bowl to defend its title. With one more victory, the Seahawks will become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the Patriots of 10 years ago.

Seattle has won 11 of its last 12 games, going 7-4-1 ATS in the process. It opened these playoffs with a 31-17 victory over a hot Carolina team and outlasted Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game, 28-22 in overtime.

The Seahawks turned the ball over five times and basically got outplayed by the Packers but stiffened in key spots, hung around, came up with a couple of big plays and stole a victory from the jaws of defeat.

After going scoreless through two-and-a-half quarters, Seattle broke the ice against the Packers with a brilliant fake field goal. And after getting stymied by the Green Bay defense all day, the Seahawks offense awoke at just the right time and scored on its last three drives.

Good teams win games they're supposed to, but great teams also win games on off-days.

Just before that, Seattle disposed of the Panthers in the divisional round, breaking loose late as a 14-point favorite.

On the season, the Seahawks ranked ninth in the league in total offense, first in rushing and No. 1 in total defense. In fact, over the last six games of the regular season, Seattle held opponents to a total of 39 points.

The Seahawks, for whatever reason, came out very flat against in the NFC title game against the Packers, and it's very rare a Pete Carroll-coached team does that. Now, what are the chances Seattle comes out flat twice in a row?

The Seahawks will try to do in Super Bowl XLIX what they usually do—shove the ball down their opponent's throat with the running game, get quarterback Russell Wilson loose on the edge a few times and throw a few deep balls to keep the opposing defense guessing while playing ball control, tough defense and field position.

There isn't any secret to what Seattle does; it just does it very well.

Finally, when it comes to the Seahawks' Super Bowl opponents, one has to wonder whether the case of the deflated balls might play on the Patriots' minds—or, at least, their conscience.

Super Bowl odds, betting stats and trends courtesy of Odds Shark.