It is seven months since the Los Angeles Rams won an epic Super Bowl LVI which means that it is time for their title defence to begin as the NFL 2022 season begins on Thursday evening. As ever when a season starts a lot of teams harbour the dream of lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of it.
That is exactly what the Rams did when they got the better of the Cincinnati Bengals in a wonderful Super Bowl. Successive Super Bowl wins are few and far between so it will be interesting to see if the Rams are good enough to deliver it.
Recent Winners
2021 – Los Angeles Rams
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
AFC
The Buffalo Bills will be involved on the opening night of the NFL 2022 season and they will start it as the 6/1 favourite to win the final game of the campaign too. That is understandable for a couple of reasons. The first of those is that in Josh Allen they have one of the best quarterbacks in the league but they are also pretty proficient defensively as well. The Bills have a nice schedule and unlike a lot of the teams high up in the betting they are in a favourable division. Only Kansas City have stopped the Bills in the last two seasons but Buffalo look in better shape and a trip to the Super Bowl wouldn’t be a surprise.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been regulars in the postseason in recent times but they head into the new season with a few questions over them. The first one is the AFC West continuing to improve and be the toughest looking division in football. The second will be how the offense goes without Tyreeq Hill. The Chiefs haven’t impressed anyone defensively for a while now so they will need to ride their offense again but there are no guarantees that it will be as potent without the man who stretches teams. In saying that, you are getting 10/1 on Patrick Mahomes to do his thing and they are fair odds.
Los Angeles Chargers will be a popular pick for the Super Bowl at 14/1. They were one of the most offensively powerful teams in the league last season and what was a rookie head coach is now a year on in the job. The real reason why the Chargers will be popular is the work they have done on defence in the off season. The signing of Khalil Mack is a particularly impressive one and if they can stop the run much better than they could last season then a deep run in the postseason should come naturally even allowing for them being in that strong AFC West.
The Baltimore Ravens are 20/1 on the best prices. They are in a fairly tough division themselves and you sense this is a big season for the Ravens. They will hope they have much better luck with injuries than they did last season where both sides of the ball were decimated and if they do then all eyes will be on Lamar Jackson, who is pushing for a record breaking contract. If the Ravens give it to him the attention will be on him to see if his standards drop and if they don’t then a fallout could ensue. They’re not for me.
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NFC
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the shortest priced team from the NFC to win the Super Bowl. They can be backed at 9/1 but even with Tom Brady lacing them up for another season the Bucs don’t look anywhere near as strong as they did when they triumphed at the big dance on home soil two seasons ago. The one thing they do have going for them is the NFC South still doesn’t look like much of a division this season so you would imagine they’ll make the play-offs but you would expect others to be too good for them.
Green Bay Packers are in a similar position to the Buccaneers in that they have kept hold of their elite quarterback for another season and are in a fairly comfortable looking division but who at the same time don’t look close to being as strong as they have been in previous seasons. You could argue that the Packers’ defence is stronger than it has been for a while but there is no hiding from the trade that saw Devante Adams heading to Las Vegas leaving them weak at wide receiver even allowing for a couple of promising rookies.
Los Angeles Rams are also 12/1 to win the Super Bowl. There is a reason why Super Bowl titles are rarely defended and the Rams have already had to cut Odell Beckham Jr and Von Miller. They have kept the trio of Matt Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald though so they are not completely weak but they will have a task on their hands to keep hold of the crown. They do look the best in the NFC West though and once they are in the postseason they have the defensive capacity and gun slinging nature to go well.
The San Francisco 49ers are the next NFC team in the betting at around the 16/1 mark. They certainly look like they continue to be strong in the defence and running back department but the question mark over them is whether Trey Lance is ready to be a starting quarterback. He should be because it was obvious that the 49ers relationship with Jimmy G was coming to a close last season but the signs haven’t been quite as promising as they would like.
Super Bowl Betting
I think the Buffalo Bills are worthy favourites because of their schedule and the division that they are in but come the crunch time such a comfortable slate of matches might count against them if they are not heavily tested too often. That might open the door to a team who will be battle hardened with the likely ones to take advantage being the Los Angeles Chargers, who despite being in the hardest division in football can still claim a wildcard spot at the very least and then get to work.
The Chargers could only finish with a 9-8 record last season and missed out on the playoffs on the final week of the season. Their only weakness was their defence but that has had significant reinforcement ahead of the new campaign so as long as Justin Herbert can stay healthy then the Chargers should be good for the two more wins which will get them into the playoffs. While the AFC West is a strong division the Chargers look as good as anyone in it and if they were in one of the other three divisions they would be half the price they are. The Vince Lombardi Trophy was taken to Los Angeles by the Rams last season and the Chargers can keep it there.
Division Betting
There isn’t a huge amount I like in the division markets this season. In truth they are not markets I like getting too involved in anyway because if a team runs away with it early doors they can often tank their way in and then all sorts of scenarios can come into play later in the campaign if they come down to a head to head but I think the Green Bay Packers look a little short at 4/7 to win the NFC North.
They feel like a team who need a season for the younger elements of the offense to come up to speed and while that is happening the Minnesota Vikings can take advantage. We saw last season that if Aaron Rodgers misses any matches the Packers struggle and with their receiving core much weaker than before any injury to the star quarterback could be more than problematic. Injuries have been an issue for the Vikings in recent seasons but they start off with a very good offensive core and they look a safer pick than the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears who look another season or two off the pace.
Tips
Back Los Angeles Chargers to win Super Bowl LVII (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with BetVictor (1/2 1-2)
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Back Minnesota Vikings to win NFC North for a 2/10 stake at 3.75 with William Hill
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