Super Bowl 51 Odds & NFL Playoff Picture Update Week 14: Buccaneers Grab 6 Seed, Lions Inching Towards 2017 Postseason Schedule
The NFL playoff picture is becoming clearer for many teams, and after the Week 13 results on Sunday, a few squads have made their dream run towards the postseason become a bit more of a reality.
CBS Sports reports, after falling out of the playoff picture last week, the defending world champion Denver Broncos have regained the sixth seed back from the Miami Dolphins following their 20-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Denver offense once again left little to be desired, but the defense is proving that they are just as good if not better than they were last season.
Denver intercepted Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles twice and held the Jaguars to 333 total yards in the win.
Another team who has jumped into the NFL playoff picture is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs improved to 7-5 on the season following a 28-21 win over the Chargers in San Diego. The victory, along with a Redskins loss vs. the Arizona Cardinals, officially put Tampa in the No. 6 position in the NFC playoff race.
Won’t that be something if Tampa Bay makes the playoffs? Not many experts were predicting that scenario back in July.
Along with the surprising Buccaneers, the Detroit Lions also kept rolling Sunday afternoon. Detroit strengthened their grip on a possible playoff position as they took down the New Orleans Saints 28-13.
The Lions are a very hard team to get a read on.
They have zero running game and statistically they rank in the bottom half of the league in many categories, but all that matters is wins or losses and right now Detroit is 8-4 and leading the NFL North by two games over Green Bay and Minnesota.
The biggest reason for the Lions success is because of quarterback Matt Stafford.
An outsider for the 2016 NFL MVP, Stafford threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns while leading the Lions to their seventh win in eight games. While those numbers are impressive, what is more incredible is how Stafford seems to do this week after week on a team that averages under 80 rushing yards per game.
Stafford is having his best season as a pro and with a couple more victories, the Lions could be NFC North champs and host a playoff game for the first time since January 5, 1991. Detroit beat the Cowboys that day, 38-6.
While the NFL playoff standings keeps changing, so do the odds to win Super Bowl 51.
The New England Patriots are still the favorites to win the 2017 Super Bowl, however, they have taken a step back a bit in the odds.
The Pats were listed at 7/5 odds just a week to 10 days ago, but after the news that tight end Rob Gronkowski will miss the rest of the season due to a back injury, the odds have fallen to 11/4, according to a FOX Business report.
New England always seems to find a way to win, which is a sign of a great team, but losing Gronk will be hard to overcome.
The top five favorites to win the big game this February from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, look this way. The Patriots at 11/4, or basically 3/1, followed by the red hot Dallas Cowboys at 4/1, the Seattle Seahawks at 13/2 and a three-team log jam between the Steelers, Raiders and Falcons at 15/1.
Below is a look at the current NFL playoff seeds, standings and first round matchups if the season ended today. You can check out the current Super Bowl 51 odds for each team by clicking here.
AFC Conference
- Oakland
- New England
- Baltimore
- Houston
- Kansas City
- Denver
Wild Card Round
- Denver at Baltimore
- Kansas City at Houston
NFC Conference
- Dallas
- Seattle
- Detroit
- Atlanta
- NY Giants
- Tampa Bay
Wild Card Round:
- Tampa Bay at Detroit
- NY Giants at Atlanta
[Featured Image by Stacy Revere/Getty Images]
