The New England Patriots head into the NFL playoffs on top of the Super Bowl 51 odds.
The No. 1 seed in the AFC will start the postseason as a +190 favorite to claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy. As the top seed in their conference the Patriots get a bye in the first round and will await a winner from the wild card matchups.
Having home field advantage should help New England get back to the Super Bowl at least. In their last eight playoff games at home the Patriots are 7-1 straight up and 5-3 ATS. They were also a perfect 4-0 SU against AFC playoff teams during the regular season.
The top seed in the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys, follow the Patriots on the Super Bowl futures at +400. Dallas also gets a bye in the opening round and home field advantage throughout the playoffs up to the big game. Dallas was 7-1 SU and 5-2-1 ATS at home this season, but hasn’t had much playoff success in the last decade. In their last 10 playoff games the Cowboys are 2-8 SU and 3-7 ATS. During the regular season they had five games against opponents that made the playoffs, winning three of them.
Rounding out the Top 5 on the odds list are the Green Bay Packers (+700), Pittsburgh Steelers (+800) and Kansas City Chiefs (+900)
Both the Packers and Steelers take winning streaks into the playoffs. Green Bay has won six straight, while the Steelers are on a seven-game streak. Both play this weekend in the opening round and are favored in their matchups.
The Chiefs used a 10-2 SU record in their last 12 games to grab the No. 2 seed in the AFC. They’ll also get a bye this week. One interesting note for the Chiefs, they were 3-2 against playoff teams this season with two wins over the Oakland Raiders and one against the Atlanta Falcons, and losses to Pittsburgh and the Houston Texans.
Speaking of the Falcons they’re next on the list at +950. They’ll also start the playoffs on a bye as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. At home this season the Falcons were 5-3 SU and 3-5 ATS, compared to 6-2 SU and 7-1 ATS in the road.
The Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants both begin the postseason at +1400 on the Super Bowl 51 odds. Seattle was third on the list just a few weeks ago and begin their playoff run at home as an 8-point favorite against the Detroit Lions. Not having home field could hurt Seattle, as they were 3-4-1 on the road this season compared to 7-1 at home.
The Giants defeated the Cowboys twice this season, but also suffered losses to the Packers and Steelers. One thing New York does have is an 8-1 record SU in their last nine playoff games, with seven wins as the underdog.
The rest of the Super Bowl futures includes Oakland, Detroit, Houston and Miami, all at +6600.