Seven months after Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers side lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy, another season of the NFL begins this week with the 32 teams all dreaming of making it to Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI in February.
The Bucs will be the team looking to make a successful defence of their title but with crowds back and an extra game on the schedule they will defend in very different circumstances. Plenty of teams have strengthened too so Tampa Bay will need to play well to keep hold of their crown.
Recent Winners
2020 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2019 – Kansas City Chiefs
2018 – New England Patriots
2017 – Philadelphia Eagles
2016 – New England Patriots
2015 – Denver Broncos
2014 – New England Patriots
2013 – Seattle Seahawks
2012 – Baltimore Ravens
2011 – New York Giants
Changes
There doesn’t seem to be a season where there isn’t a change these days and this one is no different. The change this season is a pretty big one though as another game has been added to the regular season. That means each team will play 17 games rather than the traditional 16. Importantly matches that cannot take place due to Covid-19 issues with players who are not vaccinated will result in that team forfeiting the game unlike last season when all efforts were made to reschedule matches even if it put the schedule out of sync a little.
AFC
The Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC for the second straight season last year but they came up short at the Super Bowl so that will be all the motivation Patrick Mahomes and his men need to land the title as 5/1 shots. The thing which let the Chiefs down last season was a lack of protection for their elite quarterback but they have rectified that with a trade in the off season so you get the impression the Chiefs are going to be very hard to stop over the course of the campaign.
The Buffalo Bills are the second favourites for the Super Bowl at 12/1 as far as teams from the AFC are concerned. The Bills are a much improved unit these days and Josh Allen and co are forming a reputation for being hard to beat. The other three teams in their division getting weaker is another positive for the Bills, who shouldn’t really have to do a lot to make it into the postseason. Whether they have what it takes to overcome the Chiefs though is a different story.
The Baltimore Ravens are 14/1 to win the Super Bowl but they begin the season with a problem or two in their running game with injuries already biting them. They signed former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell in the week leading up to the season but he’ll need time in the practice squad to get up to speed. They do have Lamar Jackson pulling the strings though and any team with a quarterback of that quality and a defence as tough as the Ravens will be tough to beat but the price seems just a fair one and no more really.
The Cleveland Browns are 16/1 for the Super Bowl and of the sides aside from the Kansas City Chiefs they are probably the ones I like the most. They have a powerful offense of their own, which is absolutely huge in the NFL these days, but enough players to rush the passer and control the back field to be more than competitive. The biggest negative for the Browns is that they are in one of the hardest divisions in football but that didn’t stop them from playing postseason football last term and they might be the AFC value to the Chiefs.
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NFC
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the better of the Kansas City Chiefs on home soil at the Super Bowl last season but they won’t be playing the big game on their own patch this time around if they get there. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t retain the title but Tom Brady is getting no younger and at some power even his powers are going to fade. The positive is that they look miles clear of the rest in the NFC South so should be automatically in the play-offs. I’d like a bit more than 13/2 about them though because the NFC looks competitive this season.
Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers are both 14/1 for the Super Bowl. The obvious issue with both is that they are in the same division and even then they are not guaranteed to win the division because the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals are both competitive. The fact that there are three wildcards in the NFC should help both though. The Rams look huge contenders with the inspiration of the Super Bowl being at their home ground and with an experienced quarterback recruit in Matt Stafford. The 49ers will need a lot more luck with injuries than they had last term.
It was a bit of a turbulent off season for the Green Bay Packers with the question mark hanging around over whether the MVP from last term, Aaron Rodgers, would agree a deal to return for another season. He has and that gives them an excellent chance of a decent season to back up the run to the NFC Championship game last season. If the Packers have better fortune with injuries to offensive players then there is nothing to suggest they won’t be a factor come the end of the season.
Seattle Seahawks start off the season as a 25/1 shot and they should never be ruled out with stars such as Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Jamal Adams in their ranks. The obvious issue is the division that they are in and you wouldn’t think all three of them, the Rams and the 49ers will make it through. If the 49ers don’t get injuries both they and the Rams look slightly better than the Seahawks so they aren’t for me even at this price.
Super Bowl
Super Bowl LV was won by the team playing the match on their home ground and I’m backing Super Bowl LVI to continue that trend as I like the Los Angeles Rams. We know all about the quality of the Rams’ defence with the likes of Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald and others but where they have been found wanting in recent years is in the balance to their offense. They were forced to run the ball more than they wanted because Jared Goff wasn’t getting it done.
They have addressed that emphatically in the close season though with the addition of Matt Stafford and with the former Detroit Lions quarterback having some decent receivers to target and the quality to perform under pressure the Los Angeles Rams should go from strength to strength this season. This is a competitive campaign but I’m not sure there is as much improvement in the others as there could be in the Rams so they are my Super Bowl bet.
Tips
WON – Back Los Angeles Rams to win Super Bowl LVI (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfair
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