Fresh off their first-round byes, the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots will be back in action this weekend. But despite being inactive, the developments of Wild Card weekend still had an impact on both teams’ odds to win the conference.
Let’s take a look at those updated odds for all four remaining AFC teams heading into the crucial Divisional Round and break down their chances of claiming the conference title. Meanwhile, don’t forget to check out our breakdown of the NFC’s futures odds, as well as the updated Super Bowl futures odds.[sc:NFL250 ]
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AFC Championship Odds Update
Pats Still in Pole Position
The New England Patriots didn’t end their regular season on a high note, as they lost their last two games to the Jets and Dolphins. However, there are a couple of big reasons why the Pats are installed as +170 favorites to repeat as AFC champions.
[sc:NFL240banner ]For one, their long injury list is getting much shorter. They got Danny Amendola, Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung back in Week 17, while Julian Edelman, Sebastian Vollmer and Dont’a Hightower should also make their return from injury against the Chiefs.
It also helps that the Pats have the best quarterback in the conference in Tom Brady. If they can get past Alex Smith and the Chiefs, who are priced at +275 to win an unlikely AFC championship, they will face either a limited Peyton Manning or a very banged up Ben Roethlisberger in the next round. Advantage New England.
Broncos Getting the Breaks
The Denver Broncos have been the recipients of a couple favorable breaks over the past couple weeks. First, they managed to snag the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which meant a first-round bye – and crucial rest for Peyton Manning – as well as home-field advantage through their first two playoff games.
And now, they’ve been matched up with a severely banged-up Steelers team that has major injury concerns over its starting quarterback (Ben Roethlisberger), top receiver (Antonio Brown) and top running back (DeAngelo Williams). The Denver defense is already pretty good and hardly needs the help, but they aren’t complaining.
The Broncos are currently priced at +210 to win the Super Bowl, odds that could easily pay out if they can get a couple more of the same breaks they’ve enjoyed recently.
Steelers on Life Support
As mentioned above, the Steelers are in big, big trouble. Their three main offensive weapons are all injured – four if you include the season-ending injury to Le’Veon Bell – which is the last thing they need ahead of their matchup with the league’s top defense.
It already took a series of highly improbable events for them to leave Cincinnati with a win. Needless to say, it’ll take another minor miracle for them to escape Mile High victorious if at least two of those stars – Big Ben and Brown, in particular – can’t go.
Even if they do somehow find a way to beat the Broncos, their chances of coming out of the AFC with Big Ben playing with a messed up shoulder are not good to say the least. The Steelers are currently priced at +500 to return to the Super Bowl.
