The New England Patriots reaffirmed their status as Super Bowl favorites last week with a dominating win over the New Orleans Saints.
Oddsmakers took notice too, giving the Patriots a slight bump on the Super Bowl futures odds to +400. Expect the Patriots to hold steady, or possibly see their odds improve again next week. New England has drawn a cupcake matchup in Week 3 in the Houston Texans, which is why they are 13-point home favorites.
While New England remains atop the odds list, there’s a new No. 2 as the Pittsburgh Steelers have climbed the ladder this week. Pittsburgh jumped to the No. 2 slot at +700 following last week’s 26-9 drubbing of the Minnesota Vikings. The Steelers also appear to have a win in hand this week, on the road against the winless Chicago Bears.
Three teams share +900 odds next, with the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders and Atlanta Falcons all locked in together. Seattle held the same odds last week and despite a 2-0 record need their offense to wake up if they’re going to stay there. Seattle was a 13.5-point favorite last week, but barely held on in a 12-9 win over San Francisco after scoring only one touchdown.
The Raiders moved up from +1000 a week ago after they crushed the New York Jets 45-20 as a 13.5-point favorite. Oakland continues to prove they’re legitimate contenders and their odds should keep getting better if they can take care of the Washington Redskins on the road this weekend.
The Atlanta Falcons have also steadily been climbing the Super Bowl odds since the preseason. Last year’s Super Bowl runner-ups didn’t get much respect from the oddsmakers early on, but after pummeling the Green Bay Packers last week they’re up to +900 from +1400.
Speaking of the Packers, they took a hefty drop on the odds after occupying second place for quite a while. Green Bay’s loss to Atlanta and injuries to their receivers have bumped them down to +1000. They have a good chance to move back up the odds this week with a home game against the laughably bad Cincinnati Bengals.
Also down this week are the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas dropped slightly to +1200 after hitting +1000 last week. The Cowboys delivered a disappointing effort last week against Denver which accounts for the drop. They’re road favorites this week against the Arizona Cardinals, but their history against Arizona shows it might not be that easy and a push back up the odds isn’t guaranteed.
The biggest gain this week went to the Broncos, thanks to their impressive win over the Cowboys. Trevor Siemian delivered arguably the best game of his career in the win. Denver’s defense was expected to be among the league’s best, but if Denver’s offense can prove its early season performance isn’t a fluke, the Broncos could find themselves among the Super Bowl contenders.