49ers among favorites to finish with NFL's best record

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The Kansas City Chiefs have been a dominant regular-season team since handing the keys over to superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and that’s very unlikely to change in 2021.

But that doesn’t mean Kansas City is guaranteed to walk away with the best regular-season record this fall.

Let’s take a look at the odds for the NFL’s best and worst records and see where the 49ers land.

Who is the favorite to finish with the NFL’s best record in 2021?

After finishing an NFL-best 14-2 last season, Mahomes and Co. are favored to secure the league’s top record once again at +400, according to our partner, PointsBet. Over the last three seasons, the Chiefs are 37-8 with Mahomes under center and have made two trips to the Super Bowl.

But the team that beat Kansas City in Super Bowl LV could be their biggest threat to repeating as the top regular-season team. The reigning champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers have +600 odds of claiming the best record. Tom Brady and the Bucs went 11-5 before going on to win the franchise’s second-ever Super Bowl. Tampa Bay is even returning all 22 players who started in the Super Bowl.

The Buffalo Bills, whose 13-3 record was second-best behind K.C. in 2020, have the third-best odds of finishing with the top record at +1000. Josh Allen made a huge leap in Year 3, establishing himself as one of the game’s best signal callers.

Right behind Buffalo are the San Francisco 49ers (+1100) and Baltimore Ravens (+1200) to round out the top five contenders. The 49ers are getting several top players back from injury, highlighted by Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Bosa, after a 6-10 finish last year. However, a quarterback change to No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance is looming. 

The Ravens, on the other hand, have no quarterback uncertainty entering 2021. Former MVP Lamar Jackson boasts an impressive 30-7 record as Baltimore’s starter, and was victorious in the final five 2020 regular-season games to go 11-5 overall.

Who is the favorite to finish with the NFL’s worst record in 2021?

On the other end of the spectrum, the Houston Texans are the favorite to finish with the league’s worst record at +225. Houston went 4-12 last season, and that was with Deshaun Watson suiting up for every game. Watson’s status for 2021 is up in the air, as he’s currently being investigated by the NFL due to the 22 civil lawsuits and 10 criminal complaints of alleged sexual misconduct that he’s facing. Veteran Tyrod Taylor is the top quarterback on Houston’s depth chart after Watson.

The Detroit Lions have the second-shortest odds to post the worst record at +300. Detroit, who won five games last season, swapped out longtime Lion Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff at quarterback and interim Darrell Bevell for Dan Campbell at the head coaching position.

While things might finally be looking up for the New York Jets with a potential quarterback of the future in Zach Wilson and a promising new head coach in Robert Saleh, this season could still be a rough one in the win-loss department. The Jets have recorded five or fewer wins in four of the past five seasons, and have +850 odds of finishing in the league’s basement this year.

Joe Burrow looks ready to return from his torn ACL injury by Week 1, but his Cincinnati Bengals may not be ready to take the next step just yet. The Bengals have +1000 odds to finish with the worst record for the second time in three years.

Best record

Kansas City Chiefs, +400

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, +600

Buffalo Bills, +1000

San Francisco 49ers, +1100

Baltimore Ravens, +1200

Green Bay Packers, +1500

Los Angeles Rams, +1600

Cleveland Browns, +1600

Seattle Seahawks, +1700

Dallas Cowboys, +2500

Indianapolis Colts, +2500

Los Angeles Chargers, +2700

New Orleans Saints, +3200

Miami Dolphins, +3200

Tennessee Titans, +3500

New England Patriots, +3800

Denver Broncos, +4500

Washington Football Team, +4500

Arizona Cardinals, +5000

Minnesota Vikings, +5000

Atlanta Falcons, +5000

Pittsburgh Steelers, +6500

Chicago Bears, +7000

New York Giants, +10000

Carolina Panthers, +12500

Philadelphia Eagles, +12500

Las Vegas Raiders, +15000

Jacksonville Jaguars, +15000

Cincinnati Bengals, +20000

Houston Texans, +20000

New York Jets, +25000

Detroit Lions, +25000

Worst record

Houston Texans, +225

Detroit Lions, +300

New York Jets, +850

Cincinnati Bengals, +1000

Philadelphia Eagles, +1300

Jacksonville Jaguars, +1300

Las Vegas Raiders, +1600

Carolina Panthers, +1800

Denver Broncos, +2200

New York Giants, +2200

Chicago Bears, +3200

Washington Football Team, +3700

Minnesota Vikings, +5000

Atlanta Falcons, +5000

Pittsburgh Steelers, +5500

Arizona Cardinals, +6000

Green Bay Packers, +7500

New England Patriots, +8500

New Orleans Saints, +8500

Miami Dolphins, +9000

Tennessee Titans, +9000

Indianapolis Colts, +10000

Los Angeles Chargers, +10000

Dallas Cowboys, +15000

Cleveland Browns, +20000

Seattle Seahawks, +20000

Los Angeles Rams, +22500

Kansas City Chiefs, +25000

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, +25000

Buffalo Bills, +25000

San Francisco 49ers, +25000

Baltimore Ravens, +25000

Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.

 

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