With the New England Patriots tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history on Sunday night with six, they have now set their sights on a seventh Vince Lombardi Trophy next February as small +650 favorites (bet $100 to win $650) on the Super Bowl 54 odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
And New England's top competition in the AFC is expected to come from the two teams the Super Bowl champions defeated on the way to winning the conference title for the 11th time.
The AFC West's Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers are both listed at +800 odds to win Super Bowl 54 behind only the Patriots and the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams (+700). Kansas City came extremely close to making it to the big game for the first time since Super Bowl IV but ultimately fell short in a 37-31 overtime loss to New England at home in the AFC Championship Game.
After firing defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, many believe the Chiefs can take the next step by becoming much better on that side of the ball, taking pressure off reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 5,097 passing yards and 50 touchdowns in his second year.
The Chargers are also hoping to cash in on what could be the final seasons of veteran quarterback Philip Rivers' career. They tied Kansas City for the best record in the AFC last year but lost the tiebreaker for the division title, so a better seeding could help. Meanwhile, the other Los Angeles team -- the Rams -- will try to recover from a disappointing showing in their first Super Bowl appearance since after the 2001 season.
The New Orleans Saints (+1000 odds to win Super Bowl 54) and Chicago Bears (+1200) should challenge the Rams in the NFC along with the Green Bay Packers (+1800), Minnesota Vikings (+2000), Dallas Cowboys (+2000) and Philadelphia Eagles (+2000).
Similarly to the Chargers with Rivers, the Saints may not have much time left with future Hall of Famer Drew Brees under center, so bettors should expect them to go all out to get him one more Super Bowl ring next year, especially with how things ended in the NFC Championship Game with a 26-23 OT loss at home to the Rams.
New England Patriots
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