If you like offense, you’ve come to the right place in the chase for Super Bowl 51. Arguably the four best offenses in the NFL – certainly four of the hottest – are going to be meeting against each other in the conference championship games next week. We’re not just going to see fireworks this week, but in the Super Bowl odds as well.
We already have the record set for the highest total in NFL playoff history with the Falcons and Packers, but the threat is there for Super Bowl 51 to feature its highest total ever if these games both end up being barnburners as most suspect will be the case.
As far as the current Super Bowl betting lines are concerned, the odds are still tight as you would suspect, and though New England remains the prohibitive Super Bowl favorite, no one has firmly run away from this pack of contenders.
All NFL odds courtesy of Bookmaker.eu.
New England Patriots +130
The biggest issue we have with the Patriots right now is the fact that they have beaten exactly three quarterbacks this season who have ever won a postseason game in their career.
One of those was way back in Week 1 (Carson Palmer), and one of those shouldn’t count because he got his playoff win this year against a team that was playing with a third-string quarterback (Brock Osweiler).
Clearly, the triumvirate of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell is going to give the Pats their biggest challenge of the season, and it’ll be up to Matt Patricia and Bill Belichick to get the most out of his men.
The other issue with New England? It turned the ball over three times against Houston last week, and Tom Brady threw as many picks in that game (2) as he did for the entire season. However, let’s not forget the Pats entered the playoffs as a firm favorite and the odds haven’t changed much.
Atlanta Falcons +260
It’s really not often you see a jump like this one on the odds to win the Super Bowl from the divisional round to conference championship week. The Falcons, who were favored against the Seahawks and merely took care of the business they were expected to tend to, went from +700 to +260.
Of course, it helps now that they do get to play one more game at home courtesy of the Green Bay upset of Dallas. The Falcons are playing tremendous offense, as no one has held this team under 28 points since they were on their bye week in the middle of November.
Pittsburgh Steelers +450
Watching the AFC Championship Game had to be brutal for Steelers fans. Six times they managed to get down deep in Kansas City territory, and six times, they walked away with field goals.
That said, Pittsburgh did escape Arrowhead with a win in spite of the fact that it didn’t score a touchdown, though clearly, that isn’t going to cut it in Foxboro this week against a New England team that is notorious for dominating both sides of the ball when it comes to the red zone.
The Steelers have revenge on their minds from so many failures in the playoffs in the past, and a 27-16 loss this year to the Patriots at home came with Landry Jones at quarterback instead of Big Ben and could be avenged as well.
Green Bay Packers +475
The Packers have now won eight games in a row, and the more we see them play, the more we see those Giants teams that went on those great runs to win the Super Bowl under Eli Manning.
Green Bay just seems to have it all working right now, and Aaron Rodgers is virtually perfect in spite of the fact that he doesn’t have Eddie Lacy, doesn’t have James Starks, and last week, didn’t have Jordy Nelson either.
Is this defense great? Not really. The offensive line? Beaten up, too. This team really is all about No. 12, and there isn’t a man on the planet right now – including Tom Brady – that we’d rather have with the ball in his hands in a tight game in the fourth quarter. That alone should make the Packers serious contenders.
Check out all the latest NFL odds on our NFL Odds Comparison page.
For more football betting news, check out Patriots at -6 on AFC Championship Odds Versus Steelers
