The 47th edition, Super Bowl XLVII, will be played February 3rd, 2013 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. And because it’s annually the biggest single sports day in North America, the 2013 Mardis Gras calendar in Orleans Parish will be changed. This will be the 10th time the city of New Orleans has hosted the Super Bowl, the most of any host city in Super Bowl history.

It will be the first Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans since the Superdome sustained damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The game will be carried by CBS, which plans on charging a record high US$4,000,000 for each thirty-second advertisement. CTV will be the Canadian carrier.

Even after coming up on the short end of the score in last year’s National Football League championship game, the New England Patriots are the oddsmakers’ early favorite to win next season’s Super Bowl. The Patriots are 5-1 to win the 2013 Super Bowl by oddsmakers.

The Green Bay Packers, who had a 15-1 record during the regular season before losing to the Giants in the NFC playoffs, are listed as the second favorite at 11-2, according to offshore sportsbooks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles are both listed at 6-1, followed by the Giants at 8-1. The Giants finished ahead of the Eagles this season to make the playoffs as the National Football Conference’s East division winner.

The New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers have 10-1 odds, with the San Diego Chargers and Houston Texans at 12-1. The other New York team, the Jets, are tied for the 13th-best odds among 32 NFL teams at 20-1.

The Giants’ odds of winning the Super Bowl at the start of the 2011 season were 25-1, while the the Patriots were the pre-season favorites at 9-2.

ODDS TO WIN 2013 SUPER BOWL

• New England Patriots 5-1
• Green Bay Packers 11-2
• Pittsburgh Steelers 6-1
• Philadelphia Eagles 6-1
• New York Giants 8-1
• New Orleans Saints 10-1
• San Francisco 49ers 10-1
• San Diego Chargers 12-1
• Houston Texans 12-1
• Chicago Bears 17-1
• Detroit Lions 18-1
• Atlanta Falcons 18-1
• Dallas Cowboys 20-1
• Baltimore Ravens 20-1
• New York Jets 20-1
• Indianapolis Colts 25-1
• Tennessee Titans 30-1
• Cincinnati Bengals 30-1
• Buffalo Bills 50-1
• Kansas City Chiefs 50-1
• Seattle Seahawks 50-1
• Denver Broncos 50-1
• Carolina Panthers 50-1
• Miami Dolphins 50-1
• St. Louis Rams 50-1
• Oakland Raiders 60-1
• Minnesota Vikings 60-1
• Arizona Cardinals 60-1
• Cleveland Browns 75-1
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers 100-1
• Washington Redskins 125-1
• Jacksonville Jaguars 150-1

The New York Giants and the New England Patriots will pick up where they left off in 2008, playing for NFL supremacy, playing Sunday, Feb 5th in Indianapolis, kickoff at 6:30pm ET.

The Giants won that first Super Bowl encounter with New England and the Patriots are looking for revenge four years later. Tom Brady has lost in the Super Bowl only once and this is the game he wants to prove that he and Bill Belichik are the greatest head coach/quarterback combination of all time.

The Patriots have opened as a 3-point favorite and the line has moved up and down several times since it was posted. The line currently sits at 3.5 and the money is tipping in favor of the Patriots at a 51% clip. Brady and the Patriots can dominate the game if Rob Gronkowski turns up healthy and stays healthy throughout the game.

The Moneyline is a small number for bettors looking for an outright Giants win. The Giants are +145 on the Moneyline and the public is eating it up. The bettors are hammering the Moneyline with 75% of the action coming down on the Giants. The Over/Under on the game is settled at 54 after opening at 56 with 53% of the public hitting the Under.

The New England Patriots enter the game 10-8 Against the Spread for the season and Belichik has never been a coach to concern himself with the point spread or Superbowl betting numbers. The Patriots failed to cover their first playoff game before blowing out an inferior Denver Broncos team.

The New York Giants are 11-7-1 Against the Spread and they have a history of playing better against a favorite. This is the reason the public initially jumped on the Giants but once Gronkowski is announced as a starter, the betting patterns will trend towards the Patriots.

The NFC Wildcard games didn’t leave much to be desired by the typical NFL fan but there were some solid betting opportunities that knowledgeable sports bettors exploited in the two games.

The New Orleans Saints looked like they would destroy the Detroit Lions on paper and the Sportsbooks agreed. The Sportsbooks posted the Saints’ Pointspread as a 10.5 favorite at home and the Saints turned it on in the second half to destroy the large spread, defeating the Lions by a score of 45-28.

The Over was another number that looked unreachable in the Saints/Lions game. The Saints indoors with Drew Brees can play on another level and they did just that against the Lions. The Over made history as the highest Over/Under ever posted on an NFL post season game with a number of 69.5 in some places. The daunting number encouraged action on the Under but the Saints combined with the Lions to score 73 points.

The New York Giants hosted the Atlanta Falcons in the second NFL Wildcard game and there was never a doubt the Giants would cover the 3.5 Pointspread. Eli Manning and the Giants have been inconsistent all season but when the team is on they are one of the best in the NFL.

The Over of 47 was never in jeopardy for the game with the Giants defense handling the Falcons and Matt Ryan. The Falcons have a history of imploding in the post season and this game was no different. Ryan struggled and Mike Smith gambled at the wrong times.

Now the Saints take on the San Francisco 49ers on a slow track in Candlestick Park and the Giants travel to the frozen tundra of Green Bay to take on Aaron Rodgers and the defending champions, the Green Bay Packers.

Prepare for another week of  Denver Broncos  quarterback Tim Tebow and Tebow mania. Tebow did it again against the Pittsburgh Steelers, finishing the AFC North Wildcard representatives in Denver, 29-23. Tebow did it in spectacular fashion, hitting Demaryious Thomas over the middle on the first play of overtime to seal the win.

Ben Roethlisberger never looked comfortable in the pocket and the Denver Broncos defense, despite giving up 23 points, kept him on the ropes all game. The Steelers, favored on the road by 8.5 points, never looked like the best team on the field and they never covered the Pointspread during the game.

Tebow turned in his best performance of his career by the numbers and the Steelers defense helped him do it. The Steelers focused on making Tebow pass by stuffing the run and the strategy backfired. Tebow made big pass after big pass to keep the Steelers on their heels and the Over of 34 points got covered early in the fourth quarter.

The first AFC Wildcard game between the Houston Texans and the Cincinnati Bengals was a battle of the rookies. Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates led the Texans over the Bengals and their rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. The Texans, received the nod from the sportsbooks, getting posted as a 3 point favorite based on the Texans hosting the game.

The real story of the Texans and Bengals battle was defense. The Texans effectively brought the heat on Bengals quarterback Dalton and forced mistakes including an incredible interception by Texans defensive lineman, J.J. Watts.

The Texans nearly covered the 38 point Over total by themselves. Yates turned in a workman like performance to give the Texans their first NFL playoff victory and now they get the honor of traveling to play the Baltimore Ravens.

Prop bets have become a big part of Super Bowl betting, and all you have to do is check out the props available for Super Bowl XLV on Sunday in Dallas at sportsbooks to see for yourself.

There are the crazy, wacky props that have nothing to do with the game itself, which tend to attract non-football fans, and there are the individual player and team props that NFL bettors usually prefer.

One of the most popular are quarterback props, like what will happen first for each QB. For Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, throwing a TD pass pays -200 while tossing an interception is at +160.

For Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, throwing a touchdown is at -230 and throwing an interception is at +190

You can also wager on the over/under for total passing yards for the two pivots, with Roethlisberger’s total at 247.5, and the over at +105 odds and the under at -135. For Rodgers, the over/under is 272.5, with over at -135 and under at +105.

There are also plenty of running back prop bets for Super Bowl XLV, like total rushing yards. For the Packers’ Brandon Jackson, the over/under is 11.5 yards, with over at +125 and under at -155.

For the Steelers’ Rashard Mendenhall, the over/under is 81.5 rushing yards, with the over at +105 and the under at -135.

Of course, some sportsbooks offer so many wacky bets, it’s hard not resist, like how long Christina Aguilera’s version of the Star Spangled Banner will last.

Any NFL Betting fan knows that one of the biggest contributing factors to a team’s performance is health – specifically which players are out of the lineup with injuries, and which players are playing hurt.

And at no time, in no game, are injuries a bigger factor than the Super Bowl.

Heading into Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, both the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers have some injury concerns.

For the Packers, wide receiver Donald Driver is nursing a quadriceps injury, but the team said Friday he will play in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday against the Steelers.

Driver has been battling the injury all week. He was put on the Packers’ injury report Thursday, leading to speculation he wouldn’t play in Dallas. But Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Friday that while Driver was being held out of Friday’s practice as a precaution, he expects the veteran receiver to play Sunday.

For the Steelers, there has been a lot of speculation about starting center Maurkice Pouncey’s availability for the Super Bowl.

Pouncey suffered a high left ankle sprain in the Steelers’ 24-19 win over the New York Jets in the AFC championship, and has been seen on crutches and wearing a walking boot on his left foot.

But Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Friday he expects Pouncey back at center on Sunday. Pouncey’s ankle sprain is a Grade II+, in other words, almost a complete tear of at least one of the major ligaments in the ankle. If this was a regular season game and not Super Sunday, there’s little doubt he would be out.

Most people don’t know this, but the “G” on the Packers helmet does NOT stand for Green Bay. It stands for Greatness.

Come this Sunday in Dallas, Texas in the House-that-Jerry-built, The Pack and its legion of Cheeseheads are going to be able to stand proud with their storied franchises’ fourth Super Bowl victory, this time over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here are five reasons why:

Aaron Rodgers: the Green Bay quarterback is simply the hottest pivot in the NFL since the mid-way point of the season, and no defense can handle the fast balls that Rodgers has been throwing into the smallest of holes. Add to that the fact that Rodgers is deadly indoors, and I just can’t see the Pack scoring less than 30 points, which Big Ben Roethlisberger will not be able to match against the blitzkrieg that is the Packers defense.

Going Deep: Troy Polamalu and weak side safety Bryant McFadden will struggle at handling the deep balls that will be coming their way. Polamalu may be the defensive player of the year in the National Football League, but that is based on the first 14 weeks. Since he re-injured his Achilles tendon, he’s not been the same player, and you can see he’s just not been the impact player in both games vs the New York Jets and the Baltimore Ravens. McFadden is also banged up and will be seeing a lot of the big weak-side receiver James Jones.

Four and Five Wideout sets: With Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Jones and Jordy Nelson, the Packers have the ability to really stretch the Steelers defense, and take away their strength: stopping the run. You will see Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy go to the pass early and often, and forsake trying to run into the brick wall that is the Pittsburgh run D.

Steelers struggle against Elite QBs: twice this year, the Steelers have played elite quarterbacks: Tom Brady of the Patriots, and Drew Brees of New Orleans. They are 0-2 in those two games. Make no mistake about it, Rodgers is an elite pivot and will be able to read, and react, firing off bullets when the Steelers come blitzing with their two outstanding linebackers, James Harrison and Lemarr Woodley.

Steelers O-Line Struggles: starting center Mike Pouncey will not be playing, and both tackles are backups, with the Steelers losing its left tackle at the start of the year, and the other in November. The Packers will be able to get pressure without having to send more than five players, allowing them to take away many of the deep seam patterns that Roethisberger like to throw at, getting big chunks. The key is to bring down Big Ben when they can, as the 6’5”, 245lb quarterback is a load, and buys more time for his receivers to get open.

Final Score: Green Bay 30 Pittsburgh 24

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made the NFL playoffs a total of 26 times in the history of their franchise.

The Steelers have not only appeared in the playoffs a bunch of times over their history. They have also managed to advance through the playoffs many times in their history. The Steelers have managed to advance to the Super Bowl 7 times in their team’s history.

The most impressive thing about the Steelers is that they seem to win the big game every time that they advance to the Super Bowl. In their 7 Super Bowl appearances the Steelers have managed to win the Super Bowl 6 times.

Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC. Pittsburgh has won more Super Bowl titles (six), won more AFC Championship Games (eight) and played in (fifteen) and hosted more (eleven) conference championship games than any other AFC or NFC team. The Steelers won their most recent championship, Super Bowl XLIII, on February 1, 2009.

The Steelers are six-time Super Bowl champions, having won Super Bowl IX, X, XIII, XIV, XL and XLIII. Pittsburgh has defeated Minnesota, Dallas (on two occasions), the-then Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks (thanks, Zebras) and Arizona Cardinals in their Super Bowl victories.

This team’s winning tradition should bring a lot of confidence to the field during the playoffs. This team’s roster may have more postseason success and confidence than any team other than the Patriots in the playoffs. They have won the Super Bowl twice in the last decade and their roster still has many of the same players.

The other Super Bowls that have been won by this franchise happened in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979 and 1995. The Steelers have a chance in this postseason to level things out with the Patriots as the Patriots have won the big game three times since the start of the new century.

Going back to the team’s first season in 1919, the Green Bay Packers have won 12 NFL championships (more than any other team in the NFL). Those championships include nine titles before the Super Bowl era and three Super Bowl wins.

Green Bay won the first three championships simply by finishing first in the league, in 1929, 1930 and 1931, and has won six since the NFL’s playoff system was established in 1933, but before the first Super Bowl in 1967 – in 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961, 1962, and 1965.

When Green Bay faces the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6 in Dallas, it will be the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl appearance. The Packers have won three of the four Super Bowls they’ve appeared in.

Fittingly, Green Bay won the first-ever Super Bowl when the legendary Vince Lombardi’s Packers beat Hank Stram’s Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 on Jan. 15, 1967. Interestingly, the game was played before a far-from sellout crowd, as 61,946 fans turned up at Los Angeles’ 100,000-seat Memorial Coliseum.

Green Bay’s next two Super Bowl wins came over the Oakland Raiders the next season in 1967, a 33-14 win, and against the New England Patriots in 1996, with Brett Favre leading the Packers to a 35-21 victory.

The AFC Championship Game is going to be a take-no-prisoners affairs, as two hard-hitting teams go head-to-head when the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers meet on Sunday at Heinz Field (6:30 pm ET, CBS).

Besides a trip to the Super Bowl being up for grabs, what makes this matchup even more intriguing is the fact that over the last half of the season, the Steelers lost one game – that being to these same Jets last month, a 22-17 New York win as a 4-point road underdog in Pittsburgh.

And they’re pretty even over the past seven head-to-head, the Steelers at 4-3 SU and the Jets at 4-3 against the spread.

New York beat AFC East division rival New England Patriots 28-21 in their AFC divisional matchup on the road last Sunday, covering as a 9-point underdog.

Pittsburgh beat AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens 31-24 in the other AFC divisional game Saturday, cashing as a 3.5–point home favorites. Pittsburgh trailed 21-7 in the second quarter of that tilt before mounting a furious comeback.

The Jets are 13-3 SU in their last 16 games on the road, and the Steelers are 4-1 SU in their last five games at home.