Roy Larking | Tue 26/06/2018 - 09:59 EDT

NFL Teams To Make The Playoffs

Early Odds To Make The NFL Playoffs In 2018

Repeating as Super Bowl Champions is one of the toughest tasks in pro sports. That is evident by the fact that earning back-to-back playoff berths is feat on its own - unless you are the Patriots. New England enters the 2018 NFL season on a nine-year postseason run which is five more than Pittsburgh who owns the second longest streak at four. Kansas City (3) Atlanta (2) plus Buffalo, Carolina, Jacksonville, LA Rams, Minnesota, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Tennessee, with one apiece, round out the current streaks. There are some usual suspects in our early odds table.

Please Note: Super Bowl LIII odds, updated weekly during the season, are available here.

Super Bowl 53 Prices Posted: 6:30 PM ET on June 25, 2018. Shaded Green: Best Value!

Super Bowl LIII Odds
New England Patriots	+650	+650	+500	+600
Philadelphia Eagles	+825	+850	+900	+850
Los Angeles Rams	+900	+1000	+1200	+900
Minnesota Vikings	+1000	+1100	+1200	+1200
Pittsburgh Steelers	+1000	+1100	+1000	+1000
Green Bay Packers	+1400	+1400	+900	+1100
Atlanta Falcons	+1600	+2000	+1800	+2200
New Orleans Saints	+1800	+1800	+2200	+2800
Houston Texans	+1800	+1800	+2500	+2200
San Francisco 49ers	+2000	+2000	+2000	+1800
Jacksonville Jaguars	+2000	+2200	+2000	+2000
Los Angeles Chargers	+2000	+2200	+3300	+2200
Oakland Raiders	+2800	+2800	+3300	+4000
New York Giants	+2800	+3300	+5000	+5000
Kansas City Chiefs	+3000	+3000	+2800	+2800
Dallas Cowboys	+3300	+3300	+2000	+2800
Carolina Panthers	+3500	+3500	+2200	+3300
Denver Broncos	+4000	+4000	+3300	+3300
Tennessee Titans	+4500	+4500	+4000	+4000
Baltimore Ravens	+5500	+5500	+4000	+4000
Detroit Lions	+5500	+5500	+4000	+5500
Seattle Seahawks	+6000	+6000	+3300	+3300
Indianapolis Colts	+7000	+7000	+6600	+8000
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	+7000	+7000	+5000	+8000
Washington Redskins	+7500	+7500	+5000	+5500
Cleveland Browns	+7500	+7500	+8000	+8000
Buffalo Bills	+10000	+10000	+6600	+8000
Cincinnati Bengals	+10000	+10000	+8000	+10000
Chicago Bears	+10000	+10000	+10000	+8000
Arizona Cardinals	+10000	+10000	+6600	+8000
Miami Dolphins	+15000	+15000	+8000	+10000
New York Jets	+20000	+20000	+15000	+15000

Although it doesn't always seem to be the case, especially with perennial chalk like New England and Pittsburgh normally in the mix, playoff teams vary year-by-year. That is illustrated by eight of twelve teams being new to the postseason during the chase to Super Bowl LII last season. During the past ten campaigns, every team has at least one postseason appearance except Tampa Bay (NFC) and Cleveland (AFC). The Buccaneers haven't moved past the regular season since 2007 while the Browns last postseason experience was in 2002. Expect those losing trends to remain in place.

Based on early Super Bowl LIII prices, bookmakers are high on some teams making it back to the postseason and have dropped some 2018 contenders out of the 2019 picture. Green Bay, who had an eight-year playoff streak snapped last season, are favorites to replace Carolina in the NFC. A larger turnover is expected over in the AFC as Houston, LA Chargers and Oakland are forecast to displace Kansas City, Tennessee and Buffalo. We can see the Titans making back-to-back playoff appearances, for the first time since 2007 and 2008, plus the Raiders not gaining a playoff berth.

Every team starts their Super Bowl 53 playoff journey with a clean slate and each squad will look different when Week 1 kicks off. The slate opens with a beauty as Atlanta visits Philadelphia on September 6, 2018, which is a rematch of their NFC Divisional Round battle last season. Futures odds, to win the Super Bowl, AFC and NFC Championships, plus the six Division winners, are hot tickets at top rated online sportsbooks as we inch closer to the regular season. Prices remain largely unchanged (at their richest) until training camps open as per this team-by-team schedule.

Team	Training Camp Venue	Location	Rookies	Veterans
Arizona Cardinals	University of Phoenix Stadium	Glendale, AZ	23-Jul	27-Jul
Atlanta Falcons	Falcons Training Facility	Flowery Branch, GA	23-Jul	26-Jul
Baltimore Ravens	Under Armour Performance Center	Owings Mills, MD	11-Jul	18-Jul
Buffalo Bills	St. John Fisher College	Pittsford, NY	25-Jul	25-Jul
Carolina Panthers	Wofford College	Spartanburg, SC	25-Jul	25-Jul
Chicago Bears	Olivet Nazarene University	Bourbonnais, IL	16-Jul	19-Jul
Cincinnati Bengals	Paul Brown Stadium	Cincinnati, OH	23-Jul	25-Jul
Cleveland Browns	Browns Training Complex	Berea, OH	25-Jul	25-Jul
Dallas Cowboys	Marriott Residence Inn	Oxnard, CA	25-Jul	25-Jul
Denver Broncos	UC Health training Center	Englewood, CO	24-Jul	27-Jul
Detroit Lions	Lions Training Facility	Allen Park, MI	19-Jul	26-Jul
Green Bay Packers	St. Norbert College	Green Bay, WI	25-Jul	25-Jul
Houston Texans	The Greenbrier	Sulphur Springs, WV	25-Jul	25-Jul
Indianapolis Colts	Grand Park	Westfield, IN	22-Jul	25-Jul
Jacksonville Jaguars	TIAA Bank Field	Jacksonville, FL	18-Jul	25-Jul
Kansas City Chiefs	Missouri Western State University	St. Joseph, MO	22-Jul	25-Jul
Los Angeles Chargers	Jack Hammett Sports Complex	Costa Mesa, CA	27-Jul	27-Jul
Los Angeles Rams	University of California-Irvine	Irvine, CA	23-Jul	25-Jul
Miami Dolphins	Baptist Health Training Facility	Davie, FL	18-Jul	25-Jul
Minnesota Vikings	TCO Performance Center	Eagan, MN	24-Jul	27-Jul
New York Giants	Quest Diagnostics Training Center	East Rutherford, NJ	22-Jul	25-Jul
New York Jets	Atlantic Health Training Center	Florham Park, NJ	24-Jul	26-Jul
New England Patriots	Gillette Stadium	Foxboro, MA	22-Jul	25-Jul
New Orleans Saints	Saints Training Facility	Metairie, LA	18-Jul	25-Jul
Oakland Raiders	Napa Valley Marriott	Napa, CA	23-Jul	26-Jul
Philadelphia Eagles	NovaCare Complex	Philadelphia, PA	25-Jul	25-Jul
Pittsburgh Steelers	Saint Vincent College	Latrobe, PA	24-Jul	25-Jul
San Francisco 49ers	SAP Performance Facility	Santa Clara, CA	25-Jul	25-Jul
Seattle Seahawks	Virginia Mason Athletic Center	Renton, WA	25-Jul	25-Jul
TB Buccaneers	One Buccaneer Place	Tampa, FL	23-Jul	25-Jul
Tennessee Titans	Saint Thomas Sports Park	Nashville, TN	22-Jul	25-Jul
Washington Redskins	Bon Secours Training Center	Richmond, VA	25-Jul	25-Jul

AFC Playoffs: Recent Contenders and Pretenders

Trapped in the AFC East, with New England who have won the division nine straight times, hasn't offered Buffalo, New York and Miami much of a path to the playoffs. The Bills broke a 17-season NFL playoff drought as they earned a Wild Card berth last season. There haven't been many second seasons in South Beach either as Miami has just two playoff appearances (2008 & 2016) since 2002. After rising up in 2009 and 2010, the Jets have not enjoyed a postseason match in seven years.

Teams in the AFC North, apart from Cleveland with zero appearances, have shared the playoff wealth over the past decade as Pittsburgh (7) Baltimore (6) and Cincinnati (6) have all represented well. During that time, the Steelers have an 8-6 record and won Super Bowl 45 after the 2010 season. The Ravens have also had a good run as they are 10-5 during their six playoff trips which includes a victory in Super Bowl 47. The Bengals are 0-6 during their last six playoff contests.

Far from fertile, even though at least one team has to advance, postseason berths have been tough to secure in the AFC South during the past ten seasons. Indianapolis (6) Houston (4) Tennessee (2) and Jacksonville (1) have punched a playoff ticket 13 times. Ten of those berths were AFC South titles plus the Colts (2) and Titans (1) each advanced as Wild Card squads. Only Indianapolis has made it to Super Bowl Sunday as the Colts lost the 2009 NFL Championship vs New Orleans.

Pretenders, more than contenders, AFC West squads have 13 playoff appearances during the past decade. Denver leads that group as the Broncos won five straight division titles (2012 to 2016) and claimed Super Bowl 50 during their clash with Carolina. Kansas City (5) and Los Angeles (3) have just three wins during their combined eight playoff appearances. Oakland lost during their 2016 run which was the Raiders first playoff berth since losing to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl 37 in 2003.

Early AFC Playoff Projections: Patriots, Steelers, Jaguars, Chargers, Chiefs and Titans.

NFC Playoffs: Preseason Favorites and Underdogs

Apart from New England, Pittsburgh and Houston, the NFC owns seven of the top ten Super Bowl LIII chalk spots heading in the 2018 NFL season. Defending Champion Philadelphia leads the way in the NFC East as the Eagles are consensus second chalk behind the Patriots. Super Bowl winners, following the 2007 and 2011 seasons, New York posted a 3-13 record last year but they are second favorites for some reason (RB Saquon Barkley?) while Dallas and Washington are distant underdogs.

Looking to rebound, after their 2018 NFC Championship loss to Philadelphia, Minnesota is pegged to make the playoffs out of the NFC North and the Vikings will be solid again this year. Posting a 7-9 record in 2017, largely due to missing QB Aaron Rodgers for most of the season, Green Bay missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Projected to be back in the hunt, the Packers (+900) are chalk over the Vikings (+1200) at Bet365. Detroit and Chicago are both big underdogs.

Spread more evenly than any other division, Carolina (4) New Orleans (3) and Atlanta (3) have won the last ten NFC South regular season crowns. Of those three, the Saints (Super Bowl XLIV) were the only team to claim the NFL Championship. The Panthers and Falcons lost Super Bowl 50 and 51 to the Broncos and Patriots respectively. Posting a 59-101 record, over the past decade, Tampa Bay are inflated pups to make their first playoff appearance since earning a 2007 Wild Card berth.

Shifting the balance of power, the LA Rams won the NFC West division last year - their first regular season crown since they were the St. Louis Rams in 2002. Bodog likes the Rams chances to repeat as they are (+135) chalk over San Francisco (+275) Seattle (+400) and Arizona (+1200) to repeat as NFC West Champs. If QB Jared Goff and RB Todd Gurley reproduce their 2017 numbers, we see the Rams repeating as the Seahawks, 49ers and Cardinals all appear to be pretenders in 2018.

Early NFC Playoff Projections: Vikings, Eagles, LA Rams, Saints, Falcons and Panthers.

Top Sportsbooks Are Loaded With NFL Options

Although the NFL is slumbering, prior to training camps opening, there are a ton of options on betting boards for the 2018 season. In addition to various Championship options, NFL focused bookmakers have posted win totals for all 32 teams. The Patriots (11) Steelers (10.5) Eagles (10.5) Vikings (10) and Packers (10) are top contenders at SportsInteraction while the Cardinals (5.5) Browns (5.5) Bears, Giants, Dolphins, Colts and Bengals (6.5) are longshots to post a winning record. We certainly won't be betting OVER on the win total of any of those underdog squads.

For those brave enough to jump in the deep end early, odds for Week 1 action are also posted at bookmakers like Bodog. While the numbers should change over the next two months, we were surprised to see the Dolphins getting some respect as slim +2 (-110) home underdogs versus the Titans. That price will probably be +4, or more, by game day on September 9, 2018, and we have already placed a wager on Tennessee to cover. Top online sportsbooks are all over the race to the MLB World Series and they have also posted futures odds on the 2018-19 NHL and NBA seasons.

When it comes to pro sports wagering, these bookmakers are the very best in the business.....