If you’ve got your ‘eyes on the prize’ and you’re looking to cash in with a potentially big-time bankroll-boosting wager on one of the dark horse betting picks to win Super Bowl 50, then you’re in luck as I highlight my top three dark horse betting selections that could potentially upset the entire apple cart and bring home the Super Bowl trophy.
Now, let’s get started with the definition of exactly what a dark horse is.
dark horse n.
One who achieves unexpected support and success as a political candidate, typically during a party’s convention.
Super Bowl 50 Betting Dark Horse #1: Kansas City Chiefs 25-1
With a stingy defense that ranked a stellar third in points allowed (17.9 ppg) and a vastly under-appreciated offense that ranked ninth in scoring (25.3 ppg), the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) are my top dark horse pick to win Super Bowl 50, even if I don’t think they’re getting the respect they deserve.
After facing – and beating – the Houston Texans in their wild card opener, I believe it’s quite possible that Kansas City could go into Denver for their divisional round date against their AFC West division rivals and beat the Broncos, thereby, landing in the AFC Championship game opposite Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or New England.
Personally, I don’t think any of the three are infinitely better than Kansas City, making it more than possible for the Chiefs to somehow find their way into Super Bowl 50. Make no mistake about it NFL gridiron gaming aficionados, putting anything past the incendiary could be a huge mistake!
Super Bowl 50 Betting Dark Horse #2: Cincinnati Bengals 20-1
Go ahead and laugh all you want, but if the Bengals somehow manage to get past Pittsburgh in its wild card contest this coming weekend and get Andy Dalton back under center for any remaining postseason games, I believe it’s quite possible that the Bengals could vanquish all of their postseason ghosts of the past to bring home the Super Bowl 50 cheddar!
While the Bengals have struggled with backup A.J. McCarron taking the snaps in place of Dalton for the past three-plus games, the Bengals also have a stout defense that ranked a stupendous second in points allowed (17.4 ppg) and that is the kind of defense that wins championships.
Andy Dalton will miss the Bengals Wild Card game and will be listed as backup.
Super Bowl 50 Betting Dark Horse #3: Minnesota Vikings 30-1
I guess I could have gone with either Green Bay, Washington or Houston as my third and final dark horse pick to win Super Bowl 50, but I think the chances of that happening for those three teams is a bit slimmer than Minnesota’s.
The Vikings are very good defensively and finished fifth in points allowed (18.9 ppg) and they have a game-changing future Hall of Fame running back in the incomparable Adrian Peterson. Sure the Vikes open with a wild card date against two-time defending NFC champion Seattle and they have a mediocre offense that ranked a modest 16th in scoring during the regular season (22.8 ppg), but the Vikings also have a great head coach in Mike Zimmer and what I believe is the third best chance of actually cashing in as a dark horse Super Bowl 50 pick.
