With the NFL season only a couple of months away, Las Vegas sports books have started putting up odds for the upcoming season. As the defending champions, the Denver Broncos were expected to have the best NFL odds of winning the Super Bowl, but since the team lost Peyton Manning to retirement, his backup Brock Osweiler to the Houston Texans, and Super Bowl MVP Von Miller still holding out for a better contract offer from the team, the Broncos odds of winning the Super Bowl is currently +1900, which is the eighth best odds in the league.
The team with the best odds of winning the Super Bowl didn’t play in the game last season, and likely won’t have their starting quarterback for the first four games of the season. The New England Patriots (+700) currently have the best odds of winning the Super Bowl, and they are followed by the Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Arizona Cardinals (+1200).
The Super Bowl will be played at NRG Stadium in Houston for the second time since the stadium was built in 2002. The stadium has a capacity of 72,000, and also has a retractable roof that can come in handy if the weather outside is bad.
The one thing the league had to worry about last year, but won’t have to this year, is the turf. Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara had some turf issues that the league won’t have to worry about in Houston because the field is artificial turf.
Houston is no stranger to hosting major events, in addition to hosting the Super Bowl in 2004, the NRG Stadium has also hosted two NCAA Final Four tournaments, and several international soccer events, including the recently concluded Copa America tournament.
The Packers (+1000), who were favored to make it to the Super Bowl last season, dealt with some injuries that affected their high-octane offense, and cost them during the playoffs. If the team stays healthy this season, they have a good chance of making it to the Super Bowl because they will have one of the best offenses in the league, as well as a good defense, after focusing on the defensive side of the ball during the NFL Draft.
In addition to the Packers, the Seahawks (+800), are also expected to be one of the best teams in the NFC. After making it to the Super Bowl for two consecutive seasons, the Seahawks failed to make it three consecutive years when they lost to the Carolina Panthers in the playoffs.
Seattle is going to miss the contribution the team has received from Marshawn Lynch in the past, but they are confident that the running backs that they have on their roster are more than capable of carrying the load.
The Panthers (+1100) are the defending NFC champions, but they aren’t receiving the respect they feel they deserve. Offensively, the Panthers will be better than they were last year because wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who missed all of last season with an injury, will be back in the lineup for an offense that was the top scoring in the league last year.