Seahawks Open as Super Bowl 50 Favorites at Sportsbooks

The New England Patriots may have come out on top in last Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIX matchup with Seattle, but it is the Seahawks who have opened as favorites to reclaim the hardware at Super Bowl 50 with odds of 11/2 in NFL futures betting at the sportsbooks.

The Seahawks posted SU wins in nine of their last 10 regular season games, including six straight ATS wins, to finish with a 12-4 record and the top seed in the NFC. But during the playoffs, the club struggled to find the defensive touch that made them so dominant during the regular season.

Seattle failed to cover as favorites in playoff wins over the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers and hit the gridiron at Super Bowl XLIX as one-point underdogs at some sportsbooks after opening as two-point favorites.

The Super Bowl champion Patriots closely follow the Seahawks in Super Bowl 2016 betting, with odds of 7/1. The Patriots got their season off to a sluggish 2-2 start, but rebounded to also finish 12-4, earning the top seed in the AFC.

Although the Pats were given all they could handle in a 35-31 Divisional Playoff win over the Baltimore Ravens, failing to cover as seven-point favorites, they were all business in their 45-7 demolition of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game before claiming their fourth Super Bowl title in 14 years.

The Packers join Seattle and New England as Super Bowl 50 betting favorites, with odds of 8/1. The Packers proved to be a solid bet throughout the 2014 NFL season, going 10-5 ATS in their past 15 games, including playoffs, while going undefeated SU at home, 6-2-1 ATS.

After recording a strong 12-4 regular season record, good for yet another AFC West division title, the Denver Broncos’ playoff drive came to a disappointing end with a demoralizing 24-13 Divisional Playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts as 9.5-point home favorites.

But despite their checkered 4-6 ATS record in their last 10 games and uncertainty surrounding QB Peyton Manning’s future, the Broncos maintain strong 12/1 odds to return to Super Bowl glory next season in NFL futures betting at the sportsbooks.

The Colts, led by emerging star QB Andrew Luck, topped the AFC South with an 11-5 record this season, and proved to be both an offensive juggernaut and defensively responsible this season. The signs of maturity have been rewarded at the sportsbooks, where the Colts join the top Super Bowl picks with odds of 14/1.

Following a surprisingly strong campaign that ended with their first NFC East title since 2009, the Dallas Cowboys open alongside the Colts with 14/1 odds to win Super Bowl 50.

Baltimore is deadlocked with three NFL teams on the early Super Bowl 50 odds menu. The Ravens are joined by the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers, each with odds of 20/1.

The Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions, two teams that struggled to earn oddsmaker respect throughout the 2014 NFL season, follow at 33/1, while 11 teams trail the betting pack with odds of 40/1.

The Buffalo Bills proved to be one of the strongest defensive teams in the NFL in 2014, but as question marks remain as to who will be their quarterback in 2015, the Bills join the Cleveland Browns with distant 66/1 Super Bowl odds.

The New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins all trail with 100/1 odds, followed by the Oakland Raiders at 150/1, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, who open as Super Bowl longshots for a second straight year, with distant odds of 200/1.