NFL ODDS ARE UP FOR SUPER BOWL LIV
Surprise, surprise! Everyone thinks that the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl again this year. Who would have guessed? The perennial favorites are once again leading the list with the shortest odds to win Super Bowl LIV, that’s the 54th edition of professional footballs’ premier event.
This season the big game will be played down in Miami Gardens at the Hard Rock Stadium on February the 2nd, 2020 when the winners of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference; better known as the NFC and the AFC, will go head to head in a winner take all game for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The Super Bowl became an almost instant American tradition since the very first game was played back on January 15th, 1967 when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt is generally credited with coming up with the term ‘Super Bowl’ way back then.
The dynamic duo of quarterback Tom Brady and venerable head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots won Super Bowl LIII once again when they defeated the Los Angeles Rams in the new dome stadium in Atlanta. As a matter of fact, the Patriots have made it to the Super Bowl 11 times, more than any other team.
Over the years New England has won the Super Bowl 6 times as has the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers have won 5 each. The Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants have each won 4 Super Bowls while the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins each have 3 wins in the NFL’s biggest event.
So much for history, it’s a whole new ball game for the 2019-2020 season. Yes, the Patriots are picked to win again, but what’s new there? This year’s odds on darlings are the Cleveland Browns, yep, the Browns. With the addition of Baker Mayfield and now Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland is suddenly a contender in the NFL, really.
In the AFC, the Pats are listed at +275, the Chiefs at +350 and the Cleveland Browns next at +400; ahead of the Colts +600, the Chargers +700 and falling off quickly to the Broncos at +1200. All other AFC teams are listed at +2000 and up. Young Patrick Mahomes, second year quarterback with the Chiefs, will be a key figure to watch in this race.
After their disappointing loss to the Vikings in the NFC championship game last year due to a missed PI call, the New Orleans Saints are primed and ready to make another run at the Super Bowl on February 2nd under fired-up head coach Sean Payton. Rumors abound that this could be the final season for quarterback Drew Brees ( don’t believe ‘em), making the Saint’s run for the Lombardi Trophy at +400 especially important to the team and for the City of New Orleans.
The Chicago Bears at +450 trail the Saints slightly, while the Philadelphia Eagles at +500 and the Los Angeles Rams at +550 follow close behind. The Dallas Cowboys are at +700, the Green Bay Packers at +750 and last year’s NFC Champs, the Minnesota Vikings, are listed at +800. All the rest of the NFC teams are at +1300 or above.
Other teams who may have been undervalued in these early lines include the Houston Texans at +2200 in the AFC and the NFC’s Seattle Seahawks at +1300.
The best news is that football is finally back! So do your homework and make your picks!
