Super Bowl squares strategy, picks: Tips for winning Seahawks vs. Patriots squares from NFL expert

Whether you're playing at home with friends or trying to cash in at some of the top online sportsbooks, Super Bowl Squares contests have become commonplace over the last 60 years and they're an easy way to give yourself some skin in the game as the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots on Sunday at Levi's Stadium. The premise is simple, you build a 10x10 grid and participants buy spots to match the final digit of each team's score at the end of each quarter. Popular variations include boosted payouts for halftime and the final score, and depending on the price of entry and the total prize pool, it can be incredibly lucrative and there is a Big Game squares strategy that you might find useful. 

Most at-home Seahawks vs. Patriots squares games will be randomized, but how you cluster your squares can have an impact. Meanwhile, several of the best sports betting apps are offering their own versions of Big Game squares pools that allow you to pick your numbers, with payouts determined by assigned odds. SportsLine NFL expert Mike Tierney is detailing his Patriots vs. Seahawks squares strategy here for CBS Sports and we're also breaking down some of the best sportsbook promos, which you can use to boost your bankroll while playing in Big Game squares contests.

Seahawks vs. Patriots odds, betting lines

Patriots vs. Seahawks squares strategy from NFL expert

A veteran sportswriter whose work appears periodically in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Mike Tierney has covered the NFL for decades and reported from seven Super Bowls. Mike is 235-189-13 on his NFL picks the past three seasons, returning $2,505 to $100 players. Anyone who has followed him could be way up. Here's his analysis:

For most years since the advent of the Super Bowl Squares contest, the most desirable numbers on a board for the final score were 0, 3 and 7. That's because touchdowns nearly always produced seven points, field goals happened frequently, and the sum of a TD and a FG is a digit ending in zero.

Scoring in the sport has evolved. Nowadays, teams more frequently miss the longer point-after kicks and try two-point conversions, which increasingly leads to a net of six or eight points on a touchdown. Analytics persuade coaches to eschew shorter field goals on fourth down, resulting in an uptick of TDs by nearly one per game since the turn of the century.

As a result, certain Squares numbers are not as coveted as in past eras. 

Let's look at final scores. In the last 10 Super Bowls, while four teams wound up with points totals that ended in zero, three landed on 4, three others on 8 and three more on 1. There was also a pair of 2s and a couple of 5s — and not a single 7.

So, if you engage in Squares, do not sweat out which number that the fates deliver. Any digit can generate a winner.

Now, if your contest also does quarter-by-quarter scores, that's a different matter. Because teams rarely score more than twice in a period, 0, 3 and 7 are good gets. Still, they do not come up as often as in old-school times.

As a reminder, here is a primer on Super Bowl Squares, which is done on a grid that contains 100 spaces (or squares) formed by 10 vertical and 10 horizontal rows.

Players acquire one or more squares for a designated cost, typically one or a few dollars each. They select which squares they want, usually by writing their initials in them.

After all squares are purchased, every number from zero to nine is selected at random. The numbers are written in order of the drawing next to the vertical rows. Repeat for the horizontal rows. That means each square will result in two corresponding single-digit numbers.

Then assign either the Patriots or the Seahawks to the vertical rows and the other squad to the horizontal rows.

Let's say Seattle beats New England 26-19. (As we indicated, any digit is possible.) The winner of the contest is the person whose initials are in a square with a 6 in the Seahawks' row and a 9 in the Pats' row.

As indicated, additional contests can be done for each quarter or half.

It's a fun way for folks to enjoy the game even if they have no expertise. Skills are not required.

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