Vegas bookmakers may be rooting heavily for the New England Patriots in the upcoming Super Bowl, according to the New York Times Fifth Down blog. Not because of action on the game line (even though early money did come in heavily on the Giants when the game line opened at between 3 and 3.5 points for New England), but because of futures action during the season.

New York lost four in a row at mid-season to drop to 6-6, which included losses to playoff bound San Francisco, New Orleans and Green Bay. They also lost to Washington for a second time on December 18, dropping to 7-7. No team that has lost 7 regular season games has ever won a Super Bowl, with only the 1979 Rams and the 2008 Cardinals reaching the Super Bowl.

According to the story, during that stretch, the Giants’ odds of winning the Super Bowl had moved from the 20-1 from before the season, to 80-1. According to Jimmy Vaccaro, bettors hit the Giants pretty hard at the high number, and “[i]f the Giants win this game, it could do some damage out here, no doubt.”

Of course, the bigger long shot who put a scare into Vegas were the Denver Broncos, whose popularity soared with the Tim Tebow factor and the improbable run to the Divisional Round. The Broncos odds on winning the Super Bowl were as high as 5,000 to 1, and received action.

Let’s not exactly cry for Vegas, though. Woe is Vegas for having to potentially pay out on a longshot bet they took action on. I suspect they aren’t giving money back to the Broncos bettors this year, or every Chargers, Jets, or Cowboys bettor who threw money down when things looked a little bleak, hoping for a big score. Sometimes you pay out on these, but I’m guessing the take in has been pretty good over time.

[photo via Getty]