NFL 2014 Futures Odds Betting Report – Super Bowl Matchups
We are still waiting for all 32 NFL teams to play their first preseason game of the year, but it is not too early to start thinking about which two teams will battle their way through a 16-game regular season and two or three rounds of playoffs to meet in Super Bowl XLIX next February in Arizona.
BetAnySports has released its futures betting odds for a number of possible combinations and the pairing at the top of the list at +1100 is a rematch between Seattle and Denver from last season’s Super Bowl. Both teams are favored to win their respective conference in light of very few major changes from last year’s roster, but past betting trends of this rematch ever taking place on the game’s biggest stage are not in their favor. The last time there was a rematch from one Super Bowl to the next was the Dallas Cowboys’ back-to-back victories over Buffalo in the 1992 and 1993 seasons. This was also the last time that a team that lost the Super Bowl played in that game the following year.
The odds that the Broncos break this dry spell and face San Francisco in this season’s Super Bowl are +1200. The 49ers have been to three-straight NFC title games and one Super Bowl in the past three years so the hunger for a world title remains high. I still do not see the value in these odds given the strong trends against Denver making back this year.
The third-best odds on BetAnySports’ futures board are for a New England vs. Seattle matchup at +1650. I really like the Patriots’ chances to get back to the big game after posting 12 or more victories in their last four seasons. This team has been built to win championships and after making five appearances in the Super Bowl in the last 13 seasons they could be overdue for a return after a two-year hiatus. What I do not like is Seattle’s chances to win the NFC. Super Bowl hangovers are a legitimate reality in this league and the Seahawks will not be immune to its affects.
My top team from the NFC to get back to big game is Green Bay so I am jumping all over the longer +2800 odds on a Patriots vs. Packers rematch in this year’s Super Bowl after Green Bay posted a 35-21 victory in Super Bowl XXXI back in 1997. Both teams feature a future ‘Hall of Fame’ quarterback in New England’s Tom Brady and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers and both remain as motivated as ever to add another Vince Lombardi trophy to the mantle.
