Poor officiating cost the New Orleans Saints a berth in Super Bowl LIII last year, but heading into the 2019 NFL season, the New Orleans Saints have 10/1 Super Bowl odds. Meanwhile, the LA Rams are the highest NFC team on the board at 8/1 odds to win Super Bowl LIV.
The NFL season is approximately 40 days away. Oddsmakers favored a pair of AFC teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and defending champions New England Patriots, as the favorites to win the next Super Bowl. According to William Hill, Tom Brady and the Patriots are 7/1 odds to win Super Bowl LIV.
SUPER BOWL ODDS
New England Patriots 7/1
Kansas City Chiefs 8/1
LA Rams 8/1
New Orleans Saints 10/1
Cleveland Browns 14/1
The KC Chiefs lost to the Patriots in overtime in the AFC Championship game. They seem like the consensus pick across the board (excluding denizens of the greater New England area) to win the Super Bowl this year.
But if Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl, who will they face? The bookies think it will most likely be the LA Rams. Last year’s runner up is 8/1 odds, which is similar to the Chiefs.
Who Dat?
The New Orleans Saints exceeded expectations last year with a 13-3 record. They were projected to win anywhere between 9-10 games and not even win their division. The Carolina Panthers struggled and the Saints dominated almost everyone they faced in the regular season.
Even the holier-than-thou NFL admitted they blew the PI call late in the NFC Championship against the Rams. But don’t think an admission of guilt changes the dreadful offseason for the Saints. It’s one thing to take your shot and miss. It’s an whole other bag of tricks when you give your best shot and get hosed by incompetence.
Will the bad call inspire the Saints to unleash another balls-to-the-wall season? Drew Brees isn’t getting any younger and turned 40. But, he had an amazing season in 2018. Brees posted the league’s second best passer rating. Old Man Brees was the most efficient passer in the NFL on first downs over the last three seasons. The Saints were unstoppable in the Red Zone thanks to Brees and Alvin Kamara.
The Saints suffered key losses to center Max Unger, who retired in the offseason. Unger won a Super Bowl ring with the Seahawks and started for the Saints for four seasons. However, Brees now has to break in a new center.
The Saints also let Mark Ingram walk, but they added Javorius Allen and Latavius Murray. They also swapped out tight ends. Ben Watson bounced, but the Saints signed Jared Cook.
The New Orleans Saints start the preseason at 10/1 odds to win the Super Bowl.
Rams Reprise
The LA Rams come into the preseason as 8/1 odds to win the Super Bowl. The Rams advanced to the last Super Bowl on a fortuitous no-call from the zebras. After that, everything else bottomed out after the Rams lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.
In the Super Bowl, the Rams unstoppable offense looked like they were playing in quick sand after Bill Belichick installed air-tight plans to disrupt Jared Goff. At the same time, the running back drama flared up. To this day, will we every find out what really happened with Todd Gurley?
Meanwhile, Wade Phillips’ tired defense couldn’t stop a big drive from Tom Brady and company. The Patriots won and everyone outside of New England hopes this is the last time the rest of the world gets to witness another Brady/Belichick Super Bowl victory.
The Rams like to save their starters for the regular season, which is why you do not see lot of stars in action during the preseason. On top of that harm reduction philosophy, Sean McVay decided to limit Todd Gurley’s touches in training camp. The Rams are opting for rest over touches. Maybe Gurley’s knee got more shredded than they’re telling us?
Meanwhile, CJ Anderson is no longer a safety net. Anderson signed with the Detroit Lions. The Rams also lost Ndamukong Suh to the Tampa Bucs.
The Rams are projected to win 11 games this season. They kick off the new year with three tough games including at Carolina against the Panthers, at home in LA against Drew Brees and the Saints, and at Cleveland to take on Baker Mayfield and the upstart Browns.