Just minutes after the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50, Vegas insider R.J. Bell shared the early odds for Super Bowl LI favorites.
Crazy to already start analyzing the favorites for a game that’s a full year from now, when we haven’t even had free agency, the draft, or know who is retiring? Of course. But, it’s still fun to examine how Vegas currently sees things, so let’s take a look at the early favorites:
Super Bowl 51 favs:
NE 9/1
Car 10/1
Sea 11/1
GB, Pit 12/1
Ari, Cin, Ind 15/1
Den 18/1
Dal 24/1
KC, Min 25/1
Phi 35/1
Bal 38/1
NYG, NYJ 42/1— RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) February 8, 2016
The New England Patriots are at the top with 9/1 odds, while the Panthers come in second at 10/1. The Patriots and Panthers were the favored Super Bowl 50 matchup entering the playoffs, so it’s no surprise Vegas currently sees the two teams as the early favorites for next year’s Super Bowl. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick figure to have one more run in them, while this year’s Super Bowl appearance just felt like the beginning for Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, and company.
Then we have the Seattle Seahawks with the third-best odds, and that seems fair. Russell Wilson played the best at quarterback of his already decorated career this year, and did so with shoddy offensive line play and off-the-street running backs late in the season.
The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers come in next at 12/1. The Packers are always in the mix when they have Aaron Rodgers, while the Steelers are especially intriguing given what they did this year despite so many key injuries (Le’Veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, DeAngelo Williams, etc). With better health, that Pittsburgh offense could be an absolute juggernaut.
At 15/1, we have the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, and Indianapolis Colts. Given how brutal the Colts looked this year, 15/1 odds would seem to be maybe a bit too kind, even with the assumption Andrew Luck is healthy this time around.
What may come as a bit of a surprise is the Broncos coming behind the Bengals and Colts, at 18/1 odds. Von Miller is a free-agent, but the Broncos will slap the franchise tag on him if they can’t reach an agreement on a new long-term contract. Peyton Manning is likely going to retire, but let’s keep in mind he had the worst passer rating in the NFL in 2015, and Brock Osweiler (we assume will be the QB) figures to not be a drop-off at the position for Denver. Most of the Broncos’ main pieces should be back, and we should expect that defense to be an elite unit again.
At the bottom of the list, the Eagles being 35/1 favorites seems fairly generous, especially compared to a Jets team that went 10-6 in 2015 sitting at 42/1 odds. Perhaps Vegas thinks Chip Kelly was that big of a problem in Philadelphia.
