Before the start of every NFL season, every sports website, whether it is ESPN.com or CBSSports.com, runs a grid featuring its respective self-proclaimed "experts" and their preseason Super Bowl predictions. While their insight is often valuable and sometimes correct, the most entertaining way to assess a team's chance at lifting the Lombardi Trophy is to look no further than its betting odds in Sin City. The Daily takes a look at how those odds, through two weeks, are matching up to reality.
New England Patriots: 13-to-2 odds
Green Bay Packers: 7-to-1 odds
The two odds-on-favorites to win this year's Super Bowl have had nearly identical starts to the season. Through just two games this season the Patriots and the defending-champion Packers have allowed 762 and 800 passing yards, respectively: the two highest figures in the league.
Green Bay and New England, however, boast arguably the two most potent offenses in football, an advantage that thus far has allowed them to mask their defensive shortcomings. Both teams have faced a weak conference foe and a second, stronger contender, and they produced identical 2-0 records.
Philadelphia Eagles: 15-to-2 odds
Just six-and-a-half quarters into the season and quarterback Michael Vick was sidelined due to injury. Vick may not miss much time, and nevertheless last season the Eagles showed they could insert a new quarterback and reformat their offense without missing a beat.
Transitioning its offense from one led by Kevin Kolb to one quarterbacked by Vick, however, is a very different case from the challenge head coach Andy Reid and his squad face now. Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg must now, at least temporarily, design an offensive scheme around third-string quarterback Mike Kafka — the Eagles' third quarterback while Vince Young is inactive due to a hamstring strain.
While Kafka looked serviceable against the Falcons, he lacks the field vision and experience Vick offers, he doesn't tout a 30-17 career record like Young.
With Vick in the lineup the Eagles are a top-five team, but without him, their fragility has already been exposed.
San Diego Chargers: 11-to-1 odds
One very trendy Super Bowl pick heading into the 2011 season, the San Diego Chargers have shown in two weeks of competition that they might not yet be ready for such a big stage. Kicker Nate Keading's season-opening kick-off was returned 103 yards for a touchdown by the Minnesota Vikings' Percy Harvin, demonstrating that even the NFL's new kickoff rules could not help the Chargers' historically bad special teams unit.
In Week Two, San Diego dropped a 35-21 game to the Patriots, and head coach Norv Turner's team looks unprepared to face road challenges from good teams. While the Chargers could easily go 6-0 in their division this year, their non-divisional schedule looks daunting — with home games versus the Packers and Ravens and road tests at the Jets, Bears and Lions.
The only way they'll get to the Super Bowl out of the AFC is by posting an outstanding divisional record to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
New York Jets 12-to-1 odds
Looking at the score of the Jets-Jaguars tilt from this past week is a bit misleading. The Jets won 32-3, a blowout by any means.
But at a closer look, New York's play was not that impressive. Quarterback Mark Sanchez threw some terrible passes that resulted in two interceptions, the Jets' rushing game was virtually nonexistent — rushing for just 101 yards — and Jacksonville's Luke McCown had one for the ages, going 6-for-19 with no touchdowns and four picks.
The Jets could have easily lost their first game of the season against the Dallas Cowboys, in which New York trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter. Barring the weaknesses of the opposing quarterbacks the Jets have faced, head coach Rex Ryan might not be smiling so smugly at a 2-0 record.
Indianapolis Colts: 18-to-1 odds
Ever wonder what would happen if a team had one player that was so incredibly gifted that their front office took a nap for five years and forgot to improve the team at all because that one player made up for every other shortcoming on the field? Yes, Patriots fans, we know the Pats dropped from 16-0 to 10-6 when Tom Brady was hurt in 2008. … But they still won 10 games. The Colts, meanwhile, are headed for first prize in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. The Colts would be the worst team in football if the entire Kansas City Chiefs team wasn't on injured reserve.
Detroit Lions: 30-to-1 odds
It never bodes well for a team when everyone jumps on the bandwagon in the preseason and proclaims that a team that has recently served as the NFL's perennial joke is ready to be a legitimate contender (see: Texans, Houston the past four seasons).
However, the Lions have handled all the offseason accolades and pressure well, and they have made a serious statement. On the road, Detroit handily defeated a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that went 10-6 last season, and the Lions did not even play to their potential.
In Week Two the Lions followed up that performance by doing what legitimate contenders do — beating up on bad teams. Detroit accomplished this to the tune of a 48-3 annihilation of the aforementioned Chiefs. With all their offensive pieces finally healthy, the Lions indeed have the makings of a playoff-caliber football team.
Any NFC West Team: Infinity-to-1 odds and the keys to God's Maserati
Admittedly, Vegas didn't actually list those odds. But doesn't someone deserve infinity dollars for actually being willing to bet on the 49ers, Cardinals, Rams or Seahawks, and then watch them actually win?
