The 2021 NFL regular season is nearing its end as the football world arrives at Week 14 of the campaign. That means that we’re one step closer to see which two teams will duke it out in Super Bowl 56 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
When it comes to who’s projected to win next year’s championship, BetOnline is favoring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win their second title in as many years at +525 odds. To put that into perspective, a team hasn’t won back-to-back championships since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005.
It’s funny how the last back-to-back champions happened 20 years ago and Brady continues to dominate the NFL today. He’s a big reason why the Buccaneers are Super Bowl favorites. The 44-year-old currently leads the league in completions (347), passing yards (3,771) and touchdowns (34). If he continues at this pace, he’ll be pretty close to having his first 50-TD season since 2007.
With Brady’s help, the Buccaneers lead the NFL with 31.4 points scored per game. However, their defense has been lacking this year, surrendering 22.5 PPG (T-16th). Fortunately, Tampa Bay has been improving in that area and has given up the eighth-fewest points over its last three games.
Anything can change before the end of the season, but it’s tough not to like the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl odds. They’ve been the favorites on most sportsbooks since winning last year’s championship and it wouldn’t be surprising if Brady and co. pulled it off once again.
Super Bowl 56 Odds Ahead of Week 14
Odds via BetOnline as of Tuesday, December 7
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+525)
- Kansas City Chiefs (+650)
- New England Patriots (+650)
- Arizona Cardinals (+750)
- Green Bay Packers (+750)
- Buffalo Bills (+1000)
- Dallas Cowboys (+1000)
- Los Angeles Rams (+1200)
- Baltimore Ravens (+1600)
- Los Angeles Chargers (+2800)
- Tennessee Titans (+2800)
- Indianapolis Colts (+3500)
- Cincinnati Bengals (+4000)
The complete odds list is available at BetOnline.ag.
Chiefs Hold Second-Best Odds
The Kansas City Chiefs (+650) aren’t strangers to Super Bowl appearances. After all, they’ve played in each of the last two events, winning the organization’s second championship in the first of those appearances.
The Chiefs opened up the 2021 season as BetOnline’s favorite, however, they began to trail off when they started the campaign 3-4. A big factor behind that was how bad their defense was playing. Fortunately, they’ve managed to turn things around and have won five games in a row ahead of Week 14.
The Chiefs have allowed just 10.7 PPG over their last three games (2nd), so it’s clear that their defense has elite potential. If they want to win their second championship in three years, the offense needs to step up. Once seen as the best offensive unit in the league, Kansas City has scored 22 or fewer points in four of its last five games. Coincidentally, each of those four contests had Patrick Mahomes being held to under 300 passing yards and one or zero touchdown passes.
If Mahomes and the Chiefs offense can turn things around to balance out the defense, Kansas City should remain in the Super Bowl 56 conversation.
Patriots Super Bowl 56 Odds
After last year’s disappointing results, nobody really expected the New England Patriots (+650) to be Super Bowl contenders this season. However, you can never count Bill Belichick out because his team is 9-4, which is good for the top record in the AFC.
A big reason why the Patriots are where they are is because of their world-class defense. New England’s defense has held opponents to an NFL-best 15.4 PPG — including just 7.7 PPG over its last three games. The Patriots defense also averages 2.0 takeaways per game (T-3rd) and is keeping the opposition at an average of 310.0 total yards (3rd).
However, that isn’t to take the spotlight off of New England’s offense either. The team is scoring the eight-most points in the league and that’s thanks to a balanced offensive game. While the Patriots have thrown 18 touchdown passes this year, they’ve also scored 15 times on the ground. It’s this type of combination that has team’s guessing what’ll come next. It’ll also need to be a focal point if the Patriots wish to keep their Super Bowl 56 aspirations alive.
