As the New England Patriots get set to make their 2017 postseason debut this weekend they remain a huge overall favorite on the odds to win Super Bowl 51.
The latest Super Bowl 51 futures have the Patriots on top as a +180 favorite. That’s up slightly from last week when they were +190, despite the fact they didn’t even take the field.
New England’s first playoff opponent, the Houston Texans, look like a cakewalk, and the oddsmakers agree after listing New England as a 16-point favorite in the game. The Patriots already handled the Texans once back in Week 3 in a 27-0 shutout. That win looks even more impressive when you factor in New England was missing Tom Brady, who was still serving his suspension.
With New England on top of the odds list, naturally the Texans are on the bottom. Houston is a +5000 longshot to claim their first Super Bowl title in franchise history. Placing a bet on Houston may be akin to setting your money on fire right now.
The rest of the top three teams on the Super Bowl odds this week face off this weekend. The Dallas Cowboys are behind New England at +475, and they’re followed by the Green Bay Packers at +550.
Green Bay continued to look impressive last week with a 38-13 win over the New York Giants as a 5-point favorite. That win, their seventh straight, moved them up from the +700 odds they held a week earlier. Dallas saw their odds drop from +400 during their bye week. Dallas is a 4-point home favorite versus Green Bay and already defeated them once this season, 30-16 as a 5.5-point road underdog in Week 6.
Super Bowl odds for the other two matchups coming up this weekend include the Pittsburgh Steelers at +725 and the Kansas City Chiefs at +900, while the Atlanta Falcons are at +800 and the Seattle Seahawks are at +900.
The Steelers moved up to +725 from +800 after posting their eighth straight win over the Miami Dolphins last week. They’re a 1-point underdog this week against the Chiefs, which doesn’t bode well, as they are 1-4 SU in their last five games as the underdog.
The Chiefs are stuck at +900 for the second straight week despite being a small favorite versus Pittsburgh. Part of that might have to do with the 43-14 beatdown they suffered at the hands of the Steelers in Week 4.
The Falcons are slightly ahead of the Seahawks on the futures list and they’re a 4.5-point home favorite in their second-round matchup. They also met during the regular season in Week 6 when Seattle edged Atlanta 26-24 as a 6.5-point home favorite. The Falcons have some playoff demons to exorcise after going 1-5 in their last six postseason games, while Seattle has road troubles to deal with after going 3-6-1 SU in their last 10 as a road underdog.