When most pundits were still writing their season previews for the 2019 NFL campaign, the Cleveland Browns were on the minds for many for a solid long shot, even an outright pick for a few who were star-struck by their talent. Well, just three weeks into the season and the party is over, with the Browns dropping down the oddsboard dramatically.
In their most recent contest on Monday Night Football, the Cleveland Browns would take a 20-13 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams to see them fall to 1-2 on the season. As a result, Cleveland is now sitting at +3500 odds to claim Super Bowl 54, which now puts them smack-dab in the middle of the pack in the No. 15 ranking over at online sportsbook Bovada. To put into perspective how far they’ve fallen, when the season began, they would open at +1500 to win the championship. Last week, they were bounced down to +2000, and now they’re at the previousy-mentioned +3500 after their slow start.
As far as the rest of the odds are concerned, the New England Patriots (shocker) still sit atop the board at +333, while the Kansas City Chiefs unsurprisingly place in the second spot at +550. In the No. 3 position, we have the Los Angeles Rams set at +800, while the Dallas Cowboys are +1000 to put them in fourth place. Rounding out the top five are the Green Bay Packers in fifth at +1200 odds. To take us outside of the top five at +1400, we have the Chicago Bears in the No. 6 spot, while the New Orleans Saints are in seventh at +1600. In eight place, the San Francisco 49ers are at +2000, and to take us to the end of the top 10, the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings are in a tie at +2200 odds.
Antonio Brown’s career with the New England Patriots would only last one game and a matter of just days, this coming after New England would release Brown after the controversy surrounding his sexual assault allegations. However, despite the Patriots being forced to drop the star wide receiver, it has had no impact on their play whatsoever. In their last contest against the New York Jets, they would hammer them for a 30-14 victory.
With the wide receiving corps in particular, it would show in flying colors that Antonio Brown won’t be missed too much. In the game against the Jets, Josh Gordon would rack up 83 yards, while Julian Edelman would tally 62 — Phillip Dorsett would add 53 to the stat sheet. Let’s be honest here though: As long as the New England Patriots have Tom Brady at the quarterback position, they’ll always be in a position to be a championship team. That man could throw to a potato sack and turn it into a Super Bowl MVP. Expect the Patriots to be strong throughout the entire season, and that’s why they’re your favorite at +333 odds to win a seventh title in the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era.
We have to take a brief look at the Pittsburgh Steelers who have collapsed in the odds at +8000 after losing to the San Francisco 49ers, 24-20 — they originally started out at +5000. The Steelers are currently winless with an 0-3 record and have also lost their franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the entire 2019 campaign due to his elbow injury. I understand they may still be the Pittsburgh Steelers, but at the moment, their chances of making the playoffs this year are evaporating fast — and their figure in the odds are going to suffer as a result.
Let’s go over the current top favorites to win Super Bowl 54 and review their betting odds, and afterwards, I’ll be giving you my prediction (and long shot pick) to win the championship at the end of the year. In my season preview, I would take the New England Patriots. Am I still riding with Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and company? What about my long shot? Am I still going with Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks? Let’s roll!
The New England Patriots have been absolutely incredible this season, hammering competition left and right, and it’s been historic getting off to their greatest start in franchise history — that’s pretty crazy considering they’ve have six Super Bowl-winning seasons. To put it even more into perspective, check out the numbers: In the first three weeks of the campaign, they’ve outscored their opponents by a total combined score of 106-17.
In Week 1, New England would get off to things squaring off against their “rival” Pittsburgh Steelers, and it would once again prove to not be a rivalry with the Patriots getting the flashy 33-3 blowout win. The next week, Bill Belichick’s guys would take their talents down to South Beach to play the tanking Miami Dolphins, and there would be no “Miami Miracle” this go around. Not only would New England put 40 on them, but they shut them out as well in a 43-0 win. Last week against the New York Jets, they would once again go to town, taking advantage of the Jets not having their quarterback Sam Darnold in a 30-14 smashing.
How on earth do you bet against this team to win yet another Super Bowl at this point? I’m not. I’ve heard critics in the media try to nitpick them, but I find it unbelievably annoying and ridiculous. Again, they’ve outscored their opponents, 106-17, but continue to doubt this team and give them even more of a chip on their shoulder. It’ll just result in another trophy.
If you want to have a 3-0 team to nitpick, the Kansas City Chiefs can provide you a little bit of ammo to assist with that, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. They’ve done their usual thing with the potency on offense, but they’ve just allowed too many points against them. The Chiefs would go out in the offseason to improve their defense, but it looks like that problems still remain.
In their Week 1 contest, they were walking in a tricky environment on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars, as many pundits (including myself) had put Kansas City on upset alert. However, the Chiefs would do their thing, putting up a 40 spot on Jacksonville. With that being said, they would allow 26 points against them, this despite Nick Foles getting injured. At the same time though, Gardner Minshew II isn’t too shabby, but still, an alleged improved defense shouldn’t allow a near perfect 22 of 25 passes completed for 275 years — just 25 from the 300 mark, obviously. It just wasn’t a good showing from the Kansas City defense.
The next week to their credit, the Chiefs would have a better showing against the Oakland Raiders in a distant 28-10 victory, but defense would once again get exploited in Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens. Patrick Mahomes and the potent Kansas City offense would secure the win hitting over the 30 mark, but their nervous system would take a bit of a hit with their defense in a 33-28 victory. All I’m saying is this: If the Kansas City Chiefs hope to get past a New England Patriots team who has scored 106 points in three games, they’re going to need to step up the defense. If not, it’ll be another exit in the AFC Championship game.
The defending NFC champions have kept business going as usual, starting out the campaign with a 3-0 start. And with the undefeated record comes along with an offense that’s been putting up points, and other than the game against the Carolina Panthers, the defense hasn’t been too bad themselves. And why not? Both sides are stacked with talent.
In their first game of the season, they would have to pull out a victory in a thriller against the Panthers, but the offense would score their way to the win in a 30-27 decision. The next week, that’s when Los Angeles’ defense would get involved, only allowing nine points from the potent New Orleans Saints in a 27-9 win and also being the team to take out their franchise quarterback Drew Brees for the season. In Week 3, it wouldn’t be the most flashy of offensive performances from the Rams, but their defense would be absolutely lock-down against the Cleveland Browns in a 20-13 victory.
The Los Angeles Rams just need to keep doing what their doing. Yeah, their offense could be a bit better compared to last season, but just three weeks in, you can expect more potency as time goes along. And honestly, it hasn’t been that bad to start things out. The only reason we think so is because of 2018. So again, they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. The defense, same thing, just keep doing they’re thing shutting down opposition. If they do so, they may very well end up back in another Super Bowl. And with the loaded roster that they have, there’s no reason to think that they won’t.
The competition may not have been the best so far this season, but the Dallas Cowboys have certainly been playing an excellent brand of football in the new campaign. With that being said, we’ll truly find out what kind of team they are in the next couple of weeks when they take on the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers.
As far as their past performances are concerned, like I said, it’s been some solid football. In their first contest of the season, they would destroy the New York Giants by a 35-17 score, and then in Week 2 would beat another division rival in the Washington Redskins, 31-21. Last weekend, they would play the dismal Miami Dolphins, and they would take advantage by taking a 31-6 victory.
I love the Dallas Cowboys this season, and I feel like their play has been productive. But I can’t stress this enough: We still don’t truly know what kind of team Dallas is, and like I said, we’ll find out in the next coming weeks against the Saints and Packers. At least for right now though, you have to give them their kudos. They’ve been ballin’.
Absolutely I’m sticking with the Seattle Seahawks as my long shot, I love this team to always be in contention for the Super Bowl 54 as long as Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson are at the helm. I hope you took them at the beginning of the season though when they were at +3000 odds, because they’ve creeped up to +2500 since then with starting the season 2-1, and may go even higher.
In Week 1, Seattle would face off against the Cincinnati Bengals, and though the win wasn’t as easy for them as most thought, they would still grab a 21-20 victory to start out the season right. Up next, they would play the Pittsburgh Steelers, and would once again have to pull out a W, 28-26, but it would be a little more impressive being on the road. Last weekend, the Seahawks would be completely thrown off guard, losing to the New Orleans Saints, 33-27. It was a good showing, at least offensively, but not good enough to pull off the undefeated 3-0 start.
Now I admit, the Seattle Seahawks defense hasn’t exactly been the best this season, and they’ll need to clean it up if they hope to make a deep run in the postseason. With that being said, I do trust Carroll and staff to get everything in order before we get to that point — after all, we’re only in Week 4. The Seahawks are only going to get better, folks. Great long shot pick right here.
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