US tipsters and sportsbooks seem to be unanimous. Since their Super Bowl LIV triumph on Sunday, Kansas Chiefs are everybody’s favourite to win the NFL Championship in 2021.
Certainly the random New Jersey sportsbook odds we sampled (bottom of the page) all agreed with this forecast.
Most saw the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL’s best team until they were undone by the Tennessee Titans, as the No 2 at around +700. The William Hill sportsbook, however, had them joint top with the Chiefs and the Super Bowl losers San Francisco 49ers at +700.
Behind them, the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots were the most heavily favoured. But what do we think? Certainly the future is looking bright for the new champions, Kansas City.
Mahomes won the Super Bowl MVP Award
A 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium earned veteran Andy Reid his first ring as head coach. Their standout quarterback Patrick Mahomes, meanwhile, not only won the game for them with his final seven-minute heroics, but he earned the Super Bowls MVP award.
Mahomes is still just 24 and together with his regular season MVP award for 2018/19, he is the now the youngest player ever to own both MVPs. There seems to be no reason why he and the chiefs cannot replicate some of the Patriots greatest years. Those were the years when Patriots and iconic Tom Brady were winning six Lombardi Trophies across two decades.
In the meantime we know that winning the Super Bowls back-to-back is no mean feat. No team has done it since the Patriots 16 years ago. So let’s take a look at which teams could possibly prevent Kansas City from doing it all again in Tampa Bay next February.
San Francisco 49ers
They were one of the worst teams in the NFL in 2018/19. But a year later they were one of the very best. That’s was how quickly head coach Kyle Shanahan and his San Francisco 49ers were able to turn things around.
Indeed, at the end of it all, they got to within seven heart-breaking minutes of winning their 6th Super Bowl. So yes, they should certainly one of the better equipped outfits to look out for next season.
To start with, in Shanahan they have a head coach with all the right stuff to win a Super Bowl. In three seasons, he’s taken the 49ers from the FNL pits to the Championship final.
He started 2018 with eight straight losses. But he began 2019 with eight straight wins – and went all the way to the Super Bowl. That’s some turnaround.
He’s made the Bowl final twice with different teams, but missed out on both occasions. And this after holding substantial leads each time. But you can be sure he’ll learn from it, put it behind him and come back even stronger.
Meantime he’s built a solid, highly workable powerhouse team that is solid both in defence and on attack. Spear-headed by Raheed Mostert it has America’s best rushing offense. It totalled 2419 yards and 20 TDs this last season – and gave quarterback Jimmy Garaoppolo more room to move in
The big and aggressive Nick Bosa has helped make their defence one of toughest and best there is. And yes, on his day Garoppolo can be magnificent.
He may be the chink in their armour, though. Against the Kansas City Chiefs he made too many mistakes in those vital final seven minutes when he should have run down the clock.
Instead he opened up opportunities for the Chiefs’ masterful Mahones to turn a deficit of 20-10 into a 31-20 victory.
Baltimore Ravens
The best team in the NFL’s regular season fell at the first hurdle in the playoffs when the 14-2 Ravens were upset at home by the Tennessee Titans.
That was a deflating note to end on for the season’s standout quarterback Lamar Jackson. He was unanimously voted the NFL’s regular season MVP just 24 hours before Mahomes won his first ring.
Jackson is just 23, though and most of the Ravens’ star players are expected to return. Also coordinators Greg Roman and Wink Martindale will likely be back alongside Coach of the Year John Harbaugh.
If Jackson is able to replicate or even exceed what he did in his first full year as the starting quarterback, the Ravens could be bound for Tampa next year.
New England Patriots
Long live the kings? Don’t count on it. The 2019 season felt like the end of an era. Father Time seemed to have finally caught up with 42-year-old Tom Brady, the team’s legendary quarterback
Yet those who have written off New England in the past have often ended up looking incredibly foolish.
The Patriots have had 19 straight winning seasons and the best head coach in the game in Bill Belichick. They also had the NFL’s number one defense in 2019. Brady’s future remains uncertain but one final push for a Lombardi is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.
New Orleans Saints:
The nearly men of the past three seasons; Saints fans have been crushed by a trio of playoff defeats featuring walk-off plays.
New Orleans will believe they will be playing January football again after three straight seasons with double-digit wins.
Sean Payton remains one of the preeminent offensive minds, Michael Thomas broke the single-season record for receptions in 2019 and an underrated defense complements a free-scoring offense.
At 41, Drew Brees’ career is coming to an end, but, presuming he decides to return next season, the Saints will most likely be contending again.
Pittsburgh Steelers:
The Steelers only went 8-8 in 2019. However, San Francisco’s 49ers gave us clear evidence of how quickly the NFL can be turned on its head. They went from 4-12 in 2018 to 13-3 and a Super Bowl berth in one season.
What should give Steelers fans cause for optimism is that they then won eight games without their starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger was still playing at an elite level prior to his 2019 season-ending injury, leading the league in passing yardage with a career high 5,129 yards in 2018.
Combine that with an impressive young defense and a head coach who finished on top in the regular season and you have the recipe for another Super Bowl run.
Arizona Cardinals
it’s a left-field suggestion, sure. But why not? Look at the significant strides star quarterbacks Mahomes and Jackson both took in their second years in the league.
Offensive Rookie of the Year Kyler Murray believes he can make a similar leap in 2020 and, if he can, look out.
Arizona’s offense under rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury hummed at times in going 5-10-1 in 2019 and the addition of more weapons in free agency would significantly aid Murray’s development.
Arizona will need to fix a porous defense, to be sure. Beyond that it will be finding a way to win a division containing the NFC’s last two Super Bowl finalists. They are, of course, the 49ers (2020) and the Los Angeles Rams (2019). There is also the Seattle Seahawks to get past.
Futures Betting odds for 2021 NFL Championship
Here are some random sample odds we took from four New Jersey sportsbooks:
UNIBET
Kansas City Chiefs +600
Baltimore Ravens +800
San Francisco 49ers +1000
New Orleans Saints +1200
New England Patriots +1400
Philadelphia Eagles +1700
Green Bay Packers +1800
Dallas Cowboys +2000
WILLIAM HILL:
San Francisco 49ers +700
Kansas City Chiefs +700
Baltimore Ravens +700
New Orleans Saints +1O00
New England Patriots +1200
Green Bay Packers +1500
Philadelphia Eagles +1500
Seattle Seahawks +2000
FANDUEL
Kansas City Chiefs +650
Baltimore Ravens +700
San Francisco 49ers +900
New Orleans Saints +1200
New England Patriots +1400
Dallas Cowboys +1700
Philadelphia Eagles +1700
Minnesota Vikings +1800
Los Angeles Rams +2000
RESORTS DIGITAL:
Kansas City Chiefs +600
Baltimore Ravens +700
San Francisco 49ers +900
New Orleans Saints +1200
New England Patriots +1400
Philadelphia Eagles +1700
Green Bay Packers +1800
Dallas Cowboys +2000
