The Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers came away with very convincing wins during Wild Card weekend. Their reward? A Divisional Round date with the respective No. 2 seeds – the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals – who are the top two favorites to win Super Bowl 50.
[sc:NFL250 ]Let’s take a look at all the updated Super Bowl odds before Round 2 begins, and check out the chances of the teams below the favored Pats and Cards to win it all. And while you’re at it, check out our breakdown of the AFC and NFC championship futures odds.
[sc:Football ]Super Bowl 50 Futures Update
Favorites
Arizona Cardinals
After a first-round bye, the Arizona Cardinals are back in action for the first time since their disappointing 30-point Week 17 loss to Seattle. They’ll face a familiar foe in the Green Bay Packers, whom they comprehensively beat by 30 in Week 16.
[sc:NFL240banner ]The Cards have the lowest price to win the Super Bowl (+375) and are the biggest favorites in the Divisional Round (-7), so the odds point to them being able to find a way past Green Bay. And with their terrific balance on both offense and defense, they will be a dangerous matchup for anyone they meet in the succeeding rounds.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots might have put some people off their scent after they lost their last two regular season games. But their odds of repeating as Super Bowl champions remain pretty low at +400, and with good reason.
Their two most important players, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, are both healthy and rested. They’ll also get some other key pieces in Julian Edelman, Sebastian Vollmer and Dont’a Hightower back in time for their date with the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs.
Carolina Panthers/Seattle Seahawks
Despite the Panthers being the No. 1 seed and the Seahawks the No. 6 seed, both are identically priced at +450 to win the Super Bowl. Is that a matter of the top-seeded Panthers getting no respect, or the two-time defending NFC champion Seahawks – who needed a missed field goal to beat the Vikings – getting too much?
The two will get to settle that debate on the field as they meet in Carolina on Sunday, and whoever is left standing will be a worthwhile bet to go all the way in Santa Clara.
Sleepers
Denver Broncos
Peyton Manning doesn’t strike fear into opposing defenses’ hearts like he once did, but the Broncos still have a couple things going for them: 1) They’re set to face a very banged up opponent in the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are sweating on the health of their three most important offensive players, and 2) they’ll have home-field advantage should they reach the conference title game.
They also have quite a good defense – the best in the league per DVOA – which, in case you haven’t heard, wins championships. By that measure alone, Denver definitely shouldn’t be disregarded at +525 to win it all.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs have now won an incredible 11 straight games after their 30-0 dismantling of the Texans. And as farfetched as it seems, don’t completely sleep on their ability to eventually extend that streak to 14, which is what it’ll take for their +700 championship odds to pay out.
Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, while unspectacular, doesn’t make costly mistakes; they can run the ball pretty consistently; they have a solid secondary; and they can rush the passer. That ability to pressure the quarterback turned out to be pretty crucial the last time they played the Patriots, and they can give most of the remaining contenders those same problems.
Long Shot
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers may have the highest odds of winning the Super Bowl at +1,500, but they also have arguably the best quarterback left in these playoffs, which is quite the advantage to have. The defense also looked pretty good against Washington, as it sacked Kirk Cousins six times.
Consistency remains the issue for the Packers, who have simply been unable to get all facets of their game working at the same time for most of this season. But they certainly have enough upside, especially at quarterback, to make one of the more unexpected runs to the title.
Complete Super Bowl 50 Odds
| TEAM | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Arizona Cardinals | +375 |
| New England Patriots | +400 |
| Carolina Panthers | +450 |
| Seattle Seahawks | +450 |
| Denver Broncos | +525 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | +700 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | +1,000 |
| Green Bay Packers | +1,500 |
Create a betting account now and cash in on some Super Bowl futures.
[sc:NFL620 ]
