An upset loss last week still wasn’t enough to knock the New England Patriots off the top of the Super Bowl 52 futures odds.
The Patriots’ odds did go down following their upset loss to the Carolina Panthers. Last week New England was a +350 favorite, but after the loss they’ve been knocked down to +500. To maintain their grip on the top spot on the Super Bowl futures, the Patriots will need a bounce-back win when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a 5.5-point road favorite on Thursday night.
While their loss last week didn’t hurt the Patriots’ overall position on the odds list, the same can’t be said for the Atlanta Falcons. Last week the Falcons were No. 2 on the list at +750. An upset loss to the Buffalo Bills changed that, knocking them down to No. 5 on the list at +1000. The Falcons get a week to recover with their bye week coming up in Week 5.
Jammed in between the Patriots and Falcons on the Super Bowl futures are the Green Bay Packers at +750, and Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, both at +800.
The Packers appear to be back on track after back-to-back wins vaulted them back up to the No. 2 spot on the odds list. Wins over Cincinnati and Chicago aren’t the best gauge, though, but that should change this week when Green Bay gets a big test on the road in Dallas.
The Chiefs are the last undefeated team in the league, and luckily for any bettors who’ve jumped on board they’re also undefeated against the spread. If the Chiefs keep winning, they may earn the top spot on the Super Bowl futures with Houston, Pittsburgh, Oakland and Denver all coming up.
The Steelers were down last week after their upset loss to Chicago, but moved right back up after taking down Baltimore. With the rest of the division stumbling, Pittsburgh could have a clear road to an AFC North title, but does that mean another trip to the Super Bowl?
One team to watch on the futures are the Los Angeles Rams. After an upset win over Dallas last week, the Rams are 3-1 and in first place in the NFC West. They’ve also taken a huge leap on the Super Bowl futures, up to +4000 after sitting at +7500 only a week ago. The Rams get the chance to prove they’re for real and take down a division rival this week when they face the Seattle Seahawks.
Also moving up this week are the Buffalo Bills. The Bills are currently listed at +5000 on the Super Bowl futures, up from +10,000 last week. Buffalo has taken advantage of the Patriots’ early season troubles to take over first place in the AFC East. It hasn’t been cakewalk wins for Buffalo either as they upset Denver and Atlanta in back-to-back weeks. After more than a decade of futility, could this finally be the season Buffalo makes it back to the playoffs?