While many of us will be holding off for a moment before we place our bets on who will win Super Bowl 54, there are others who are going to be all over it now. If you are inclined to start thinking about placing NFL betting picks soon, then it might be an idea to start thinking about the chance that each team has of winning it all.
To do that, we can essentially split every NFL team into 3 tiers: favorites, dark horses, and underdogs. For the purposes of this piece, let’s take a close look at some of the teams in each category.
2019 NFL Season Betting Favorites, Dark Horses & Underdogs
Smartest 2019 NFL Season Betting Picks
2019 NFL Season Favorites
The defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots are always going to be among the favorites and will remain that way until Tom Brady hangs up his cleats.
I’m not so sure they will stay the overall favorite for long, though, as I think the New Orleans Saints will take over that position as the season progresses. Also sitting among the favorites are last season’s runner-up, the LA Rams. They are loaded again this year, but there is also the business of the Super Bowl loser very often tanking the following season.
Something to consider before you wager. Finally, the Kansas City Chiefs are up there among the favorites. Even if QB Patrick Mahomes fails to match his numbers from last season, this team is still more than strong enough to be a contender.
2019 NFL Season Dark Horses
We are going to look at 4 teams that fall into this category, with those teams being the ones most likely to hit the playoffs and make a meaningful run.
The LA Chargers need to be in that list, as they looked good last year and will probably be better in 2019. The Philadelphia Eagles are not that far removed from a Super Bowl win, although with Nick Foles now gone, they will need Carson Wentz to stay healthy all year. If he can do that, the Eagles have a shot. This may seem like a shocker, but the Cleveland Browns need to be in this dark horse list. They finally look serious about building a winning team and look like the favorites to win the AFC North this season.
Finally, a team that you really need to like as a dark horse is the Chicago Bears. They were close last season and should be a little better in 2019.
2019 NFL Season Underdogs
In this group, we are not going to focus on the teams that have no shot, but rather the 4 teams that fall outside of the favorites and dark horse category.
These are teams that have a decent amount of talent, but who would also need a lot of things to go right to make a deep run. Andrew Luck looks to be totally injury free and ready to roll, so the Indianapolis Colts have a legitimate shot at being in the playoffs. The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are in similar situations in that they both have great QB’s, but both are in a period of transition.
These are still two very dangerous teams, though. Rounding out this list is the Dallas Cowboys. It’s tough to know what to expect from them, but they have enough pieces to be a playoff contender.
