It must has been a difficult Christmas for the Oakland Raiders. Santa did bring them exactly what they wanted after they punched their ticket back to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. It came with a big price though, as starting quarterback Derek Carr was lost for the season after breaking his leg in last week’s win over the Indianapolis Colts.
With Carr done for the season the Raiders’ odds on the Super Bowl 51 futures took a major hit. Entering Week 16 the Raiders were listed at +1200 to win the Super Bowl. Without Carr those odds plummeted to +2800. Matt McGloin takes over for Carr at QB. In six career starts he is 1-5 which doesn’t bode well for the Raiders.
The Super Bowl favorites once again this week are the New England Patriots at +175. That’s up from +220 last week after they completely destroyed the New York Jets in Week 16. The Patriots have already clinched a bye in the first round and may rest a number of starters in Week 17 with their matchup with the Dolphins meaningless.
Rounding out the Top 3 on the odds this week are the Dallas Cowboys at +425 and the Pittsburgh Steelers at +750. Dallas also has their division and a first-round bye locked up leaving them to rest their starters in Week 17 if they want.
The Steelers delivered a close win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16 to lock up the AFC North and win their sixth straight game. The Steelers could be peaking at just the right time and will be a tough matchup for whoever they come up against in the postseason. If that happens to be New England they’ll be looking for some revenge after losing to the Patriots back in Week 7.
One team that saw their stock on the odds list drop this week were the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle went from +550 down to +1000 after an upset loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Seattle also lost wide receiver Tyler Lockett for the season and they haven’t won back-to-back games in over a month.
Two teams bettors may want to keep an eye on this week are the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. The Packers moved up to +1000 on the odds list this week, while the Lions fell to +4000. They clash in a winner-takes-all battle for the NFC North title this weekend.
Green Bay enters the matchup having won five straight. The Lions have lost their last two games which could end up costing them a spot in the playoffs. The winner of this weekend’s matchup takes the division, while the loser could miss out of the postseason altogether if the Washington Redskins win.
Super Bowl odds on the rest of the teams bound for the playoffs include the Atlanta Falcons at +1000, Kansas City Chiefs at +1200, New York Giants at +2000, Houston Texans at +5000, and Miami Dolphins at +5000.