Why are the Green Bay Packers the new NFL betting favorites to win Super Bowl 51? Did Tom Brady get suspended or something? Oh, right. Nevertheless, the New England Patriots had remained the favorites of people betting on NFL to lift the Vince Lombardi trophy for most of the offseason, Brady or no Brady. And now, all of a sudden, the Packers have the best odds of the 32 teams that comprise the professional league, as we can see below:
Odds to win Super Bowl LI
Green Bay Packers +755
Seattle Seahawks +805
New England Patriots +830
Carolina Panthers +955
Pittsburgh Steelers +955
And so on and so forth. There may be many reasons for this state of affairs. According to Fox Sports’ Chris Chase, it is a simple process of elimination. For example, no team has made a Super Bowl debut in 2010s, so there go the Browns, Lions, Jaguars, and Texans; just three teams have won after finishing a season below .500, so the Ravens, Bears, Cowboys, Saints, Giants, Raiders, Rams, Chargers, Buccaneers, and Titans are out; no team has ever repeated with a different starting QB – especially if the previous QB was a Hall of Famer as Peyton Manning is bound to be –, so long Broncos; the only surprise team to win – that is one not coming off a postseason appearance the previous year or a Super Bowl title in the last five years – were the 2009 Saints, which does not bode well for the NFL betting chances of the Bills and the Eagles; a team hasn’t lost the Super Bowl and won it the next year since the 70s, bye-bye Panthers; no team has won a Super Bowl the year after it hosted the game, see ya wouldn’t wanna be ya 49ers; a QB named Ryan has never won, so Falcons, Dolphins, and Jets by any other name…; one team that went on the road Thanksgiving day has won the Super Bowl, and that was more than 40 years ago, so adieu Vikings, Steelers, and Redskins; the Bengals just because; and no team that’s lost a conference championship game by more than four TDs has ever made the Super Bowl the next year, sayonara Cardinals. And that leaves the Packers.
CBS Sports writer Pete Prisco, who has covered the NFL for three decades, is also sweet on the Packers. According to Prisco, the GB Packers will be the NE Patriots in the Super Bowl. Then again, that was his prediction last year and, save for a potential alternative reality, it did not come to fruition. “I think this is a big-time, bounce-back year for Aaron Rodgers,” Prisco said. “So let’s put to rest the misguided notion that he was off last season.” NFL betting fans might wonder how exactly he could bounce back if he was not off to begin with; regardless, Rodgers “will show why he’s the best in the NFL this season as he leads the Packers to his second Super Bowl title.”
