At the start of the NFL season, you could have fired away at a $100 futures bet on the Cincinnati Bengals to win Super Bowl 56 at +10000 odds, and it would pay out a juicy $10,000. The Los Angeles Rams were +1200 odds in the preseason, and a $100 wager would pay out $1,200 if they win the Super Bowl.
We compiled a special Super Bowl 56 odds tracker dating back to the preseason for every team, including the Rams and Bengals.
| Super Bowl 56 Odds Tracker |
| Rams | Bengals | |
| Super Bowl | -200 | +170 |
| Conference Championship | +750 | +1500 |
| Divisional Round | +750 | +1500 |
| Wild Card | +750 | +1500 |
| Week 18 | +800 | +2000 |
| Week 17 | +850 | +1800 |
| Week 16 | +850 | +2800 |
| Week 15 | +1100 | +5000 |
| Week 14 | +1100 | +5000 |
| Week 13 | +1200 | +3500 |
| Week 12 | +1200 | +2800 |
| Week 11 | +900 | +4000 |
| Week 10 | +800 | +5000 |
| Week 9 | +800 | +6500 |
| Week 8 | +650 | +5000 |
| Week 7 | +850 | +5000 |
| Week 6 | +850 | +10000 |
| Week 5 | +800 | +15000 |
| Week 4 | +800 | +15000 |
| Week 3 | +800 | +15000 |
| Week 2 | +1100 | +10000 |
| Week 1 | +1200 | +10000 |
The Rams are the betting favorite to win Super Bowl 56 at -200 odds, while the Bengals are +170 odds. The Bengals opened as a +4 underdog against the Rams, who get to play on their home turf at SoFi Stadium, even though the Super Bowl is technically a neutral field.
Bengals: moon shot to legit shot
During the preseason, no one gave the Bengals any chances to win the Super Bowl. Joe Burrow was fresh off ACL surgery and no one had yet to see what kind of damage rookie WR Ja’Marr Chase would inflict on NFL secondaries. The Cleveland Browns were one of the favorites to compete with the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC North title in the “smashmouth” division of the NFL.
The Bengals were +10000 odds in the preseason and clustered together with the Houston Texans and New York Giants. Only three teams had worse Super Bowl odds than the Bengals: the New York Jets (+15000), Detroit Lions (+25000), and Jacksonville Jaguars (+25000).
That’s what makes this season so magical for the Bengals. Bettors and bookies alike had little faith in Burrow and the Bengals. If you fired a futures bet on the Bengals, you were a true die-hard fan, but risking only a few bucks. Anyone who bet big on the Bengals in the preseason is a degenerate gambler and currently in rehab or Gamblers Anonymous meetings. That’s how preposterous a Super Bowl run sounded in September. Yet, five months later, Burrow and the Bengals are just one win away from Cincinnati’s first Super Bowl title.
Credit head coach Zac Taylor for turning around a team that went 4-11-1 in 2020 into a 10-7 squad that ran the table in the AFC playoffs to secure a spot in the Super Bowl. Taylor and the Bengals went on the road and defeated the top two seeds in the AFC playoffs, including the #1 Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional Round, and the #2 Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
Rams: peaking after 7-1 start
The Rams began the season at +1200 odds, making them the second-highest team from the NFC on the futures board and the fourth overall. All eyes were on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs after they won Super Bowl 56. The Bucs were +550 odds to repeat.
After a 7-1 start, the Rams saw their Super Bowl odds peak at +650 in Week 8. They would lose their next three games and bottom out at +1200 odds, or back to where they started in the preseason. Their loss to the Green Bay Packers in late November had the biggest effect on the futures market when oddsmakers adjusted them to +1200.
In December, the Packers emerged as the Super Bowl favorite at +400 odds. At that point, the Rams went on their own winning streak and improved to +850. The Rams made two key acquisitions with Von Miller and Odell Beckham, Jr., and unleashed a five-game winning streak to get their mojo back.
Heading into the postseason, the Rams were +800 odds to win the Super Bowl. After the wild card, they were +750 odds through the NFC Championship. After they knocked out the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, the Rams were installed as the Super Bowl 56 favorite at -200 odds.
The Rams upset the #2 Tampa Bay Bucs in the NFC Divisional Round when they thwarted a comeback by Tom Brady in what we now know was his final game in the NFL. The Rams finally exacted revenge on the 49ers in the NFC Championship after losing six games in a row to their NFC West divisional foes.